Home After the Wars- Egg Melange

DH and I like to travel.  Most often, there is an element of work involved although as time goes by, much less for me than for him.  If we are traveling to the USA, I get a chance to both visit family and friends and shop till I almost literally drop at Macy’s Herald Square store.  I actually have learned to pack a sandwich to take with me so that I can just keep going since I usually only get 2 days to shop intensively. Be prepared is my motto 😛.  This past trip I got bitten by some insidious creature – still unidentified but possibly a mosquito – and my body responded in outrage with an outbreak of hives.  You know the expression I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy?  Well, this I would.  May our enemies be smitten with hives.  It feels like fire ants crawling under your skin and scratching makes it worse.  It was one of the most hideous interludes I can remember and it lasted over two and a half weeks.  I feebly powered through this and what made it tolerable were the get togethers with family and friends who buoyed my spirits and an especial shout out to my girlfriend Malka who was my personal shopper for a day at Macy’s- great fun!!  I find myself overwhelmingly grateful to G-d that I am nearly all healed and the miraculous nature of the human body to recuperate.  This is why I haven’t blogged in so long, it was just too much.

However, I am back in the saddle. I find it strange but because I was on Cortizone I woke up in the morning starving in a way that I normally am not. I found myself jumping out of bed and  practically running down the steps to my kitchen to prepare something to eat.

Most mornings I eat some form of eggs.  I was just not in an omelette frame of mind and I decided to make something a little like shakshuka without the sauce.  Most of the time I’m not a big fan of heavy tomato sauce so I do work arounds in recipes that call for it (except of course pizza where I  use very little sauce). So I pulled an onion out from the fridge and half a bell pepper and fresh mushrooms and cut them thinly and sprayed the pan with oil spray and then layered the onions first, with the peppers on top and sprayed it all again and covered them. After that I threw the mushrooms on top of that and sprayed everything with the oil spray again lowered the heat and let them cook down without stirring for about four minutes. They must be watched carefully so as not to burn. After that I cracked three eggs into a bowl and checked them, carefully poured them over the whole mixture with a little salt, covered the pan again and let it cook for a few minutes. At this point it is your own taste buds that will guide you. I like my yolks a bit moist but still a little firm. You could make them as firm or as loose as you choose. The whole magnificent melange turns into a frittata like thing and I slid it onto my plate with enthusiasm. The bottom comes out a bit crispy and the top soft and pliable. Let me tell you by the time you can say Bob’s your uncle that frittata was gone.  Normally I do not indulge in three eggs at a time – yes those were three eggs, yikes – however I made a calculated decision to go with that as opposed to adding toast. If you don’t feel health-wise that you can bear the thought of the three eggs simply dump one yolk and try not to feel guilty about it and you will have the same volume with one less cholesterol item. It was awesome – I’m still smiling.

Melange of Eggs n Mushrooms n Peppers

3 whole eggs or 2 eggs and one egg white

very very thinly sliced onion (paper thin, for real) about 3 slices

fresh sliced mushrooms about 5

1/2 a red pepper sliced

Spray oil

salt

Take a good non stick pan (I love my Calphalon) and spray well with oil spray.  Turn the fire on under the pan and put the paper thin onion on pan and respray with oil. Keep temp low and watch like a hawk.  Throw sliced pepper on and on top of that the mushrooms.  Spray again and cover with a lid or tin foil.  Cook about 3-4 minutes and peek at veggies to make sure they don’t burn.  Sprikle with salt, carefully pour eggs over the veggies and recover pan and cook till yolks are set but still moist and a drop gushy, my favorite. Slide the crispy yummy thing on a plate and dive in.  Can be eaten with toast and then you will need a nap but oh so worth it.