Vivek Singh’s masala omelette
This is quite simply my kind of soul food. I remember taking masala omelette and bread in my lunch box pretty much every day of my 10-odd years of school. I don’t care if it’s cooked too much or soft, whether cold or hot, I can have a masala omelette any day of the week, any time of the day.
Serves 2
chicken or duck eggs 6 free-range
red onion 1 medium, finely chopped
green chillies 2, finely chopped (or 1 tsp of crushed dried red chilli flakes)
cumin seeds 1 tsp, roasted, coarsely crushed
turmeric ¼ tsp
green coriander 1 tbsp, finely chopped
salt 1 tsp
ginger 1-inch piece, peeled and finely chopped
oil 2 tbsp
Break the eggs and whisk together with all the other ingredients except oil. Take a large, shallow non-stick frying pan and heat 1 tbsp of oil until quite hot. Pour in half the egg mix and cook while stirring, pulling the coagulated egg towards the centre of the pan, so the liquid flows and fills the empty spaces on the pan. Cook for a minute or so on a high heat until most of the egg mix is cooked. Then you can either fold to get a crescent shape or, if you wish, you can keep it as an open omelette. The bottom of the omelette should start getting coloured and that’s fine. Turn over and cook the second side for 30-45 seconds on a high heat to finish on the hob, or finish under the grill if you don’t feel comfortable turning over a large round omelette.
Repeat the same with the remaining mix to make the second omelette.
Serve with generously buttered slices of crusty bread, tomato ketchup and I love my omelettes with a spoon of English mustard too!
You could add finely chopped vegetables like asparagus, olives, spinach or artichokes to the omelette if you like: toss the vegetables first and add the egg mixture and cook as above.
Vivek Singh is executive chef and CEO of The Cinnamon Club, London; cinnamonclub.com
Fischer’s Austrian Gröstl with fried egg by Ray Masson
Serves 4
For the onions
caraway seeds 10g
vegetable oil 10ml
white onions 3 large, diced
sweet paprika 10g
hot paprika 5g
salt and pepper to season
For the gröstl
Agria potatoes 4 large (Agria is best, but you can use any potato suitable for roasting)
vegetable oil for frying
bacon 300g (smoked or cured bacon for a better flavour) or lardons
gröstl onions 600g (see above)
salt and pepper to season
parsley 10g, chopped
eggs 8 large, free-range
First prepare the onions. Toast the caraway seeds in a dry frying pan or under the grill for a couple of minutes. Add the vegetable oil to a large, heavy bottomed pan, add the diced onion and cook slowly over a low heat for 15 minutes.
Add the paprika and toasted caraway seeds and continue to cook until the onions are soft. Season with salt and pepper.
To make the gröstl, peel the potatoes, cut into quarter wedges and either steam or boil until three quarters cooked. Break the potato into large chunks and either deep fry or pan fry in vegetable oil until golden, crispy and cooked all the way through. Finish in the oven if needed.
Cut the bacon into lardons (small strips), place in a frying pan and slowly cook until golden and crispy. Add the gröstl onions to the bacon and warm through, then add the potatoes, season with salt and pepper, then the chopped parsley.
Mix all the ingredients together and place onto your serving dish.
Crack four eggs into a frying pan with some vegetable oil, then take the yolk only from the other four eggs and add to the pan produce a double yolk fried egg.
When cooked to your liking, place on top of your gröstl and serve immediately.
Ray Masson is head chef at Fischer’s, London; fischers.co.uk
David Frenkiel & Luise Vindahl’s deluxe acai bowl
In Santa Barbara we rented the top floor of a large and lavish house only a few blocks from the beach. After having spent the previous weeks in shabby motels, we felt like a royal family.
In a back alley, only a short walk from the house, we found a cafe where all the cool kids hung out. It served an array of purple açaí bowls that we soon learned were both delicious and very healthy. After leaving Santa Barbara and continuing down south, we started stocking up on frozen açaí pulp and making our own bowls whenever we had access to a kitchen. Nowadays we make our bowls with açaí powder and other kinds of frozen berries. It can be found in most health food stores.
Makes 2 bowls
frozen strawberries 300g, slightly thawed
bananas 2, frozen, sliced
açaí powder 4 tbsp
unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice) about 250 ml
any of the following: nut or seed butter, plant-based protein powders (made from hemp seeds, brown rice, sprouted peas or seeds), or soaked nuts or seeds 2 tbsp
For the toppings
fresh fruit sliced
hemp seeds
bee pollen
goji berries
clear honey (preferably unheated) optional
Place the frozen fruits, açaí powder and milk in a strong blender. Add the nut butter, protein powder or soaked nuts or seeds, if using. Mix until smooth. Aim for a frozen yoghurt consistency. If you do not have a strong high-speed blender, use a hand blender and mix in a tall jug. Spoon the açai mixture into bowls and top with sliced fruit, hemp seeds, bee pollen, goji berries and a drizzle of honey, if using. Serve immediately.
From Green Kitchen Travels by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl (Hardie Grant, £25). Click here to order a copy for £20 from Guardian Bookshop
Nigel Slater’s simple homemade yoghurt
There are as many ways to make yoghurt as there are to spell it. This is the one I use when I want a result that is not too thick – say, for breakfast muesli or a smoothie.
Makes 500g
organic yoghurt 2 heaped tbsp
organic milk 500ml
milk powder 3 tbsp
Bring the yoghurt to room temperature – this will stop it cooling the milk too quickly. Warm the milk to no higher a temperature than 46C. This is the optimum heat, but a few degrees more or less will probably still work. If you don’t have a thermometer, then test it with your finger. If it feels comfortably warm and rather good then it is probably about right. Whisk in the milk powder then pour the misture on to the yoghurt. Immediately cover the dish in clingfilm, wrap it up in a thick towel (or put it under a tea cosy, or next to a hot water bottle) and put it in a warm place overnight. The next day, transfer to the fridge and let it chill thoroughly.
This second version of my recipe is a richer yoghurt than the simple homemade one – thick and creamy and mild tasting.
Makes 500g
organic milk 400ml
single cream 100ml
milk powder 2 tbsp
yoghurt 3 tbsp, at room temperature
Warm the milk and cream until it is brought up to a temperature of 46C – or as near to that as you can – then whisk in the milk powder till it has dissolved. Pour into the yoghurt and stir, then tip into a spotlessly clean, warm bowl. Wrap in clingfilm, then put in a warm place (such as the airing cupboard) with a hot water bottle close to it and a towel placed over the top. Leave overnight. Transfer to the fridge, covered, where it should keep in good condition for a few days.
Claire Ptak’s American pancakes
American pancakes were, for me, the symbol of vacation. Every time my family went on a break, it usually involved a road trip which inevitably involved a stop at a roadside diner. Sat among truckers and Boy Scouts, my family would nestle into a plastic booth and order pancakes with bacon on the side. They would come, minutes later, steaming and fluffy, drenched with warm maple syrup. Below is my version. Rich and buttery and just a little bit sweet.
Makes 6-8 large round pancakes
plain flour 210g
bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp
baking powder 1 ½ tsp
fine sea salt ½ tsp
caster sugar 3 tbsp
unsalted butter 50g, melted and cooled slightly, plus more for cooking and serving
egg yolks 4
plain yoghurt 200g
milk 180g
icing sugar, maple syrup, lemon, berries and butter to serve
Weigh your dry ingredients into a bowl and use a whisk to mix. Set aside. In another bowl weigh out your melted butter, egg yolks and yoghurt and whisk together well. Whisk in the milk. Making a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, slowly pour in the wet and whisk until smooth. Transfer to a jug and let sit for 10 minutes.
Heat a cast iron skillet on medium heat and melt of knob of butter in it. When it starts to foam, pour 1/6 to ⅛ of the batter into the pan to form a single large pancake. Cook for a few minutes (using a spatula to coax the sides of the pancake into a perfect round shape). When bubbles form and start to pop in the batter, flip the pancake over. Cook on the other side for a few more minutes then remove to a plate and keep in a warm place (in oven or on top) until finished cooking all the cakes.
Serve with more butter, icing sugar or maple syrup, lemon zest and juice and berries – and bacon on the side.
Claire Ptak is a food writer and owner of Violet Cakes, London; violetcakes.com
