It’s sad-o’clock on Sunday afternoon, I’m drinking iced coffee and thinking about omelettes. In fact, omelettes have been on my mind since Friday lunchtime, when the thought popped up unsought and baseless and unshakeable. I cancelled my plans and instead had a divine Elizabeth David style evening, on omelette and a glass of wine.

Korean eggs.

That first omelette in an eternity was spectacularly eye opening. Three eggs cooked in my new happy-yellow pan (which just turns out to be perfectly omelette sized), filled with king oyster mushrooms and home-made ricotta, the egg ranging from gently browned on the outside to wibbly wobbly soft on the inside. It came out of the pan beautifully folded, like a wrapped present hiding some secret surprise.

In the short interval between then and now, I’ve made and eaten more omelettes than I care to admit. French style, purely egg or with a shaving of parmesan, or filled with mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, bacon, spring onions, home-made ricotta. A dressed green salad on the side makes a perfect lunch, add a glass of wine for a satisfying dinner.

French style omelette. Egg, seasoned with a splash of milk, cooked in butter and oil over high heat very quickly to ensure the egg gets no colour.

It is an understatement to say that I never understood the allure of an omelette until now. It was a standby family dinner when the chickens were laying beyond control, but I thought an omelette was just egg. Now I realise that it is inexplicably so much more. In fact, I cared so little about omelettes before that I only learnt out to properly spell the word last year when I was teaching English in Hanoi and it appeared on a food vocabulary list.

There are a million reasons to love this kind of omelette. Plain or shot with cheese they are delicate and comforting, plain perfection when you’re feeling fragile. Possible fillings are many and varied, fridge scrapings can be rejuvenated into a delicious meal by being sauteed and then enveloped in carefully fried egg. Plus, they’re incredibly quick to prepare, though technically quite difficult to execute (practice makes perfect), and they’re my new favourite post-work dinner. Just prepare your fillings, beat the eggs (lightly, mind, just enough to incorporate the whites). Heat a splash of oil and a knob of butter until the butter foams, then pour in your eggs. For a country style filled omelette we are looking for rustic, large sections of egg, so let your eggs sit for a moment in the pan, bubbling and setting. Pull an edge into the centre, tipping the pan to let the raw egg flow in and fill up the gap. Continue this action for another 20 seconds or so, or until your egg is mostly set. Put your filling ingredients in and flip up the egg to cover them using a spatula, fork or deft pan flick. Tip onto a serving plate and you’re done. It’ll take you longer to read this paragraph than to make your dinner.

A fine french omelette uses a slightly different technique to produce a much more delicate and ephemeral meal. Let Julia Child teach you, but don’t be scared give it a whirl, it’s only eggs.

I believe that all people come to things when they’re ready. A child who hates mushrooms may not always. We grow into and out of things constantly and forcing the issue rarely works. It seems that Easter 2011 I finally grew into a love for omelettes that I hope never dies. But I do hope that it dims, I’m not sure it’s healthy to eat as many eggs as I’ve eaten this weekend.

I came to Hanoi not because I like Vietnamese food but because it was the best option for me at the time. Friends in Australia were jealous of all the amazing food I’d have easy and inexpensive access to, something that I was excited about after the wallet emptying doldrum that is Sydney. Delicious, cheap and interesting eating is everywhere here, I discover new places all the time but I have to admit it, I’m getting sick of Vietnamese food. On holidays I attempt to eat the local food as much as possible but I’ve been here for almost 5 months, this isn’t a holiday now it’s life.

In my old life I zig-zagged the globe when I ate out, Indian food one night, Greek the next. But obviously Hanoi is no where near as developed or multicultural as Sydney, and the dining scene reflects this. But I live in an area with a high expat population which is dotted with miniature grocery stores selling all manner of imported goods. Despite Hanoi’s dire restaurant situation I have been introduced to all kinds of food by new international friends, and can replicate dishes with ingredients that are easily accessible here but difficult to find in Sydney. Who’d have thought!

Even though I’ve never had a good Mexican meal in Sydney I still hold the cuisine in high esteem, even more so after a recent eye opening and delicious brunch of Huevos Rancheros. Fried eggs with soft wheat tortillas, cooked tomato salsa, black beans and cheese. All of the ingredients, bar some spices, easily available locally, a delicious fleeting snapshot of Mexico from a dining room in Hanoi. And a flavour that I couldn’t forget. I wasn’t interested in all the time and effort involved in bean cooking and cheese grating, so I made my own quasi Huevos Rancheros; Egg, tortilla, salsa.

For weeks I dreamed of this ensemble, tangy hot salsa, crisp tortilla, runny egg yolk all combining to form one great big mess of delicious. Then I took these photos, dreamed up this blog post and my desire for quasi-Mexicana seems to have waned, though I fear the actual posting may have re-ignited the fire. Tonight I am having a casual birthday dinner at a Japanese restaurant, tomorrow I may recall my Vietnamese-ised meal and drown my sorrows with some more fried eggs with tortillas and salsa.

Egg, tortilla, salsa.
If you can’t buy ready made tortillas then you can make them yourself. I never have but there are recipes online. If you are in Sydney you can substitute Greek flatbread (I’m not sure of the brand). It is readily available but much thicker than tortillas. Adjust recipe accordingly.

Freshly made wheat and corn tortillas are available here and can be used for this dish, though I prefer the wheat version.

Serves 1

1 clove garlic
red chilli to taste
1 ripe roma tomato, diced
coriander
lime juice
salt and pepper

2 tortillas
2 eggs
oil

1/4 avocado, flesh diced and mixed with salt and lime juice

Cut garlic finely and crush to a fine paste with some sea salt. I use the side of my knife to pulverise the garlic/salt mixture against the cutting board, but you could use a mortar and pestle if your kitchen was thusly equipped. Cut chilli finely. In a bowl mix tomato, garlic and chilli to combine, season with lime juice salt and pepper to taste, set aside for 15 minutes to enable the flavours to develop.
Heat a frying pan large enough to hold a tortilla over medium heat. Add 2 teaspoons of oil. When hot place both tortillas in the pan, and turn them almost immediately. Fry until bottom tortilla is golden, then turn again. Now you have a choice: fry eggs on top (it will be layered tortilla, tortilla, egg), or fry eggs between the tortillas (tortilla, egg, tortilla). Whichever you chose, add eggs as soon as you turn the tortillas. Season and cook until whites are set. Check the bottom tortilla as you may need to flip the whole eggy mess over. Don’t worry about this too much it will taste delicious even if it looks odd.
When eggs are cooked turn out onto a plate.
Mix roughly chopped coriander with the tomato salsa and arrange on top of your egg. Note: my salsa always turns out quite liquidy, I don’t pour all the liquid on the eggs as I don’t like it soggy. Use your judgement. Top with avocado.
Enjoy!

I wake up hungry. It is breakfast, rather than the promise of the day to come that gets me out of bed in the morning. But I have a little issue with crankiness related to hunger, so I rarely eat breakfast out, and as a die-hard creature of habit I get hooked on a breakfast and find it difficult to shake. Growing up it was vita brits with banana and sultanas, or muesli for breakfast and afternoon tea, gladly I’ve moved on a little from there, but that empty growling in the my stomach forces me to eat something first thing, still.

Toasted muesli, bircher muesli and now Banana Toasted Muesli. I actually think that this latest addition to my breakfast repertoire might be my favourite. It is unusual, unbelievably healthy (for toasted muesli) and wonderfully clumpy. Though it smells like a a banana cake while it is baking, the banana just adds an ethereal sweetness to the finished product. As usual with this kind of a dish, add whatever dried fruit and nuts you’d like. I was in the midst of project ‘clear cupboards out’ when I made this, and added some excess cashews, sunflower seeds and sultanas that I had lying around. The cashews had a great texture when cooked, perhaps I should buy some more just to make this toasted muesli again.

Banana Toasted Muesli
Adapted from Pretty Darn Healthy Granola from The Amazing adventures of Diet Girl

5 cups rolled oats
4 small ripe bananas
1.5 cups water
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 cup cashews, chopped
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
2 cups sultanas

Preheat oven to 180C and line two baking trays with paper.
Blend banana with the honey, cinnamon, salt and water until smooth.
Mix all remaining dry ingredients in a large bowl and pour the liquidised banana mush over the top. Mix it really well then layer onto trays and bake, stirring occasionally, taking care not to let it burn, until brown, dried out and crisp. Cool completely then store in an airtight container in the fridge. Should last about a week (though it will likely disappear before then).

I didn’t realise that so many were unfamiliar with quinoa, so an introduction is in order. Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is an ancient grain which was apparently eaten by the Inca’s which is why I associate it with The Mysterious Cities of Gold and probably also why it holds a special place in my heart. There are several varieties, though I have only tried the regular pale one and the red. Quinoa has many health benefits, but in all honesty I find the taste a little bland. It is slightly earthy and quite nutty, but for me, it’s lack of flavour and wonderful nutritional properties makes it perfect for breakfast, when often you don’t want something that is punch-in-the-face flavour. Your quinoa will need to be cooked, and when it is the tiny grains puff up and little spirals pop out, and can be used in a number of ways, such as salads, as breakfasts or as a replacement for other grains. 

Two breakfast post in a row. Well, sometimes all I feel like eating is breakfast. Especially on chilly, rainy Sundays when you need all the energy you can muster to fight what feels like a losing battle. When you don’t want to read your email for fear of what you might find. To give up now would be easy, but it feels so wrong to step down and just allow someone else to benefit from your hard work. So, this sunday was filled with reading and thinking and breakfasts.

For a while now I had been eyeing off a fruity cinnamon quinoa recipe at 101 Cookbooks. Although I had red quinoa in the cupboard, none of the other ingredients were to be found, and I certainly wasn’t going out in the rain. So I used a pear instead, just ripe and sweet and when warmed through with the nutty quinoa and cinnamon it complemented wonderfully. Add almonds for crunch and second breakfast was served, giving me just enough energy to fight a little longer.

Quinoa and Pear, for Breakfast
Adapted from the the Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa on 101 Cookbooks.

serves 2 or 3.

1/2 cup quinoa, I used red, though this is not necessary/
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 pear, cut into small cubes.
1/2t ground cinnamon
2t sugar
handful of toasted almonds.

Rinse quinoa well. Carefully shake as much water as you can off and place in a pan with the water and milk. Cook covered over medium heat, stirring frequently until quinoa is cooked, about 15 mins. When the quinoa is ready, stir in the pear, cinnamon and sugar and heat through. Serve sprinkled with almonds.

Recently I’ve been seeing headlines around about how store bought cereal isn’t healthy. Surprise surprise! Now really, dismiss the advertising, step back and give the sugary treats a taste, read the mile-long ingredients list and make your decision about whether or not this food is good for you. Now that said, sometimes you just need a little sweet pick-me-up for breakfast, think brown sugar on your porridge, honey and ricotta on toast, or home made toasted muesli.

I’ve been making my own combination of cereal for breakfast (or afternoon tea) for an age, and highly recommend processed bran with plump juicy sultana and plenty of cold milk (full cream, of course!), or rolled oats with yoghurt and banana. I’ve fallen for home made bircher muesli, and more recently, homemade toasted muesli. Now, this isn’t as guilt-free as the bircher, but it is natural, tasty and texturally fulfilling. I eat this with vita brits, banana, homemade yoghurt (I am still figuring out the formula, the yoghurt in the first picture separated, so I drained it and it turned into yoghurt cheese!) and milk, so the full amount of this recipe lasted over two weeks. 

Plus, it is incredibly easy to make and the ingredients are cheap to buy so next time you’re in the cereal section of the supermarket, ignore the brightly coloured boxes (shiny!) and look on the lower shelves for rolled oats, then come home and turn them into a tasty breakfast treat.

Homemade Toasted Muesli (or Granola, if that’s the way you roll)
This is a very basic recipe, you can add and remove at will. Experiment. This makes quite a dry and fine toasted museli. If you want clumps then add more liquid and be careful when you stir it.

5 cups rolled oats (not the quick-cook kind)
1 cup pepitas
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup flaked almonds
1 cup coconut (damn, what is that coconut called? It isn’t desiccated, its… ? God I don’t know, just look at the picture above, use the coconut that looks like that)
2T sesame seeds
2 cups sultanas
handful of dates, sliced

3T unflavoured oil – I used grapeseed oil.
80g honey

Heat oven to 160C. Line two baking trays and set aside.
Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Heat oil and honey together until melted, then stir into the dry ingredients mixing well. Spread evenly over the two trays, the mixture should be quite thick, and pushed out to the edges.
Place in oven and bake for about 30 mins, stirring regularly to prevent burning. You want to get the ingredients browned, and for the fruit to become chewy. When the mixture is browned to your liking remove from oven and cool completely before storing in an air tight container.