Red Onion and Red Pepper Omelette with Tarragon

A simple dish to wind up the day. Half a diced red onion, and a third of a red pepper, also diced, fried in sunflower oil for around seven minutes at a medium heat.

Two large free-range eggs were beaten with a little water and a pinch of salt, plus some oregano and tarragon. Then added to the omelette pan, and cooked at a low heat, after an initial medium heat. The pan was covered for the cooking at a low heat. Judge progress by eye. Ten minutes should be enough to ensure the omelette is fully cooked.

Chorizo Sausage, with Baby Plum Tomato and Scrambled Egg

A variation  on a favourite dish: Scrambled Egg with chorizo - in this case with fried baby plum tomatoes..

Two large eggs were cracked into a bowl with 300 mls of milk and a pinch of salt, and stirred thoroughly.

The Chorizo was diced and fried slowly in its own fat in a skillet. The tomatoes were diced and added to the pan, and cooked together for five minutes or so.

Then the eggs and milk mixture was added to the pan. and allowed to cook for two minutes before being broken up with a spatula. Stir occasionally. The dish is ready after about five to six minutes at a moderate heat. Serve on a little ground pepper.

Chocolate Muffins

Chocolate muffins for New Year's Day.

I made these on the spur of the moment, and didn't follow a recipe as such (I've made them before). I used 250g of spelt flour, three teaspoonfuls of baking powder, a dessert spoonful of sunflower oil, six dessert spoonfuls of drinking chocolate powder, six teaspoonfuls of black treacle, a dash of nutmeg and half a teaspoonful of mixed spice. Plus two large eggs and two pinches of salt.

I added the eggs to 300 mls of cold water, the treacle, and the salt. Beaten thoroughly. Then I began to add the dry assemblage of the spelt, chocolate powder, baking powder, plus the nutmeg and the mixed spice. Beat thoroughly together along with the sunflower oil. Allow to stand for ten minutes or so.

The oven was preheated to 180 deg C. Add three dessert spoonfuls of the muffin mixture to each muffin case. Cook for thirty minutes, watching progress carefully.

Chorizo and Spring Onion Omelette

Finely dice about 50 grams of Chorizo sausage, and fry slowly in an omelette pan for about twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. No additional oil is required, since the sausage cooks in its own fat.

Add a medium sized diced red onion and cook for a further fifteen minutes at a medium heat, stirring frequently. Add diced spring onion during the last five minutes.

Add two large eggs beaten together with two dessert spoonfuls of salted water,  and with a quarter teaspoonful of Herbs de Provence. Turn the heat right down to the lowest level, and cook under glass for twenty minutes, without turning.

Loosen the omelette if it is at all adhering to the pan. Invert the pan and tap it with a wooden spoon, so that the omelette drops onto the serving plate. Dress with black pepper, and serve with two squirts of tomato ketchup.

American Cornmeal Pancakes, with Stewed Apple

A wonderfully filling and satisfyingly delicious breakfast. Made with two eggs, two dessert spoonfuls of  cornmeal flour, milk (a third of a pint), half a teaspoonful of salt, and a little sugar, or alternatively a dessert spoonful of maple syrup.

Prepare the mixture in a glass bowl. Add the cornmeal, the milk, the salt, and the sugar, and stir together vigorous with a whisk, until the mixture is smooth. Decant the mixture into a measuring jug which has a lip for pouring. 

Heat a dessert spoonful of sunflower oil in a standard omellete pan. Don't let it burn, but let the oil get close to that temperature (check your cooker hood is working properly before you start just in case!). Add one third of the mixture to the pan evenly. Turn down the heat to the lowest setting. Allow to cook for two and a half to three minutes, and then turn or flip the pancake. Cook for another two to three minutes. Repeat the process for each of the other two thirds of the mixture, after turning up the heat again, and adding a little more cooking oil if necessary.

Served in this case with stewed apples. Normally I would prepare my own stewed apples, prepared with a little preserving or jam sugar (ordinary granulated will do just fine instead). In this case I had some commercially produced stewed apple in the fridge, and I used that, after allowing it some standing time to come close to room temperature.