The CookMobile » Eggs

Huevos con Nopales (Eggs with Nopal Cactus)

Lalaine — Tue, 04 May 2010 03:16:31 +0000

As I am ending my Cinco de Mayo food trip here at The CookMobile, I can’t think of a better recipe to round things up than huevos con nopales or eggs with nopal cactus for us non-Spanish speaking folks. And as I am imagining these slightly tart, crisp and juicy green nuggets enveloped in fluffy eggs and served with a side of Spanish rice, refried beans and warm tortillas, I also can’t think of a better breakfast to wake up to in the morning!

Nopales, the young segments of the prickly pear cactus, are not only touted as a good source of fiber, vitamins and minerals but are also known for their positive contributions to diabetes management. Their preparation easy and their uses many, these flat, fleshy pads are widely used in Mexican cuisine, from tacos to salads, and are available bottled, canned or fresh in most Mexican grocers.

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients

1 pc of Nopal (about 1 lb)
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
3 to 4 cloves garlic
1 tsp of baking soda
4 eggs
1 tsp of oil
salt and pepper to taste
water

Procedure

Using a vegetable peeler or a small paring knife, scrape and remove the thorns or spines from both sides of the cactus paddle. Trim off the edges and any blemished or discolored areas. Wash well with cold water. Cut the paddle lengthwise into half-inch thick strips and then cut crosswise into 1 to 1 1/2-inch lengths.

Add nopales strips and 1 tsp of baking soda (to eliminate the “babas” or “slimy goo” that is natural of the cactus) into a pot of boiling water. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes then using a colander, drain, dispose of liquid, and rinse nopales with cold water. Bring another pot of water into a boil, add back in the nopales, garlic cloves, half of the chopped onions, and salt to taste. Continue to cook the cactus in the boiling water until tender yet crisp, about 15 minutes. Drain well, disposing of cooking liquid and the aromatics. This comes to about 2/3 to 1 cup of cooked nopales.

Heat a teaspoon or so of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the remainder of the chopped onions until tender and translucent. Add nopales and stir until heated through. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk eggs with about 2 teaspoons of water and salt to taste, and then beat vigorously for about 2 minutes. Pour the egg mixture into the pan of nopales. When the eggs start to set, stir. Use a spatula or a flat wooden spoon to push eggs toward center while tilting skillet to distribute the liquid part of the eggs in the pan. As the eggs form, break apart large pieces. Transfer eggs and nopales to plate and serve hot with salsa of choice. Note: You can add heat to this egg dish by adding and sauteeing sliced jalapeno peppers with the onions.

Other Mexican Breakfast Recipes in The CookMobile Archive:

Chilaquiles

Papas con Chorizo Omelet (Potatoes and Sausage Omelet)

Shrimp and Mushroom Omelet with Deep-Fried Leeks

Lalaine — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:30:58 +0000

Much has been said and written about breakfast being the most important meal of the day. Not only does this first meal refuels the body and breaks the 8-12 hour fast, it also helps with weight management efforts by preventing binge-eating and by curbing appetite later in the day. The problem is, in a toss up between drooling over food and drooling on sheets at 7AM, I’ll pick the latter. I love to sleep and and my answer to my family’s regular request for a decent plate of eggs and bacon in the morning? DREAM ON! I love them dearly but sorry, I need my full eight hours of sleep so I can continue to work a full-time job, to cook and wash dishes, to launder and iron their clothes, to clean and pick up after them…

Our usual weekday breakfast pattern at home is a bowl of cereal for my daughter, coffee picked up from the gas station on the way to work for hubby and me. Our weekend ritual is bed till ten and delicious deep-fried tofu at a nearby dimsum house by eleven.

Today, however, was a nice suprise for my beloved duo. My hubby and daughter pleasantly awakened to the inviting aroma of this delicious shrimp and mushroom omelet at 7 AM! And what roused me from my blankets? A full bladder. At 5 AM, I left my bed to meet the need to void and in the process was abandoned by sleep. I brewed myself some coffee, spiked the java with Stok, enjoyed the sunrise (it was very Folger’s commercial-like!) and went a-chopping.

Makes 6 Servings

Ingredients

6 large eggs
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 cup bean sprouts
1 lb raw jumbo shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 leek, trimmed and sliced
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsps cornstarch
4 tbsps sunflower oil
1/2 cup additional leek, sliced to strips
3 tbsps water

Procedure

In a bowl, combine cornstarch and salt. Toss in shrimp to fully coat.

Meanwhile, heat around 1 each of sunflower oil in a wide skillet or pan. Deep-fry strips of leek until golden brown. Remove and drain on a paper towel. Set aside.

Spoon out oil from pan, leaving only around 2 tbsps oil. Add the other sliced leeks and stir-fry for around 3 minutes. Add coated shrimp to pan and stir fry until almost cooked through for around 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and bean sprouts and stir fry for another 2 minutes.

Beat eggs lightly with the water. Pour egg mixture over sauteed vegetables. Cook until the egg is just set. Carefully turn omelet over once. Turn omelet out onto a clean board and divide into 6 servings. Garnish with deep-fried leeks. Serve hot.

TIP:
Omelet can be divided and prepared in six individual batches after vegetables have been sauteed.

Fish and Seafood Recipes in the Archive:

Spaghetti with Creme Fraiche and Smoked Salmon

Shrimp and Vegetable Soup

Zucchini and Cheese Omelet

Lalaine — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 05:06:41 +0000

A few years ago, I got pretty hooked on a high-protein diet. Wow, Did the pounds peel off! I dropped close to 40 pounds in three months by making wiser food choices and revving up my exercise program. As all accomplishments, I had so much background support. A friend to go to the gym with, a husband who enticed with sexy little purchases for me from Victoria’s Secret, Billy Banks shouting for one more abdominal crunch, and a cook named Gregoria.

Gregoria was one of my cooks at the hospital I worked at. She has seen me pack weight from one year to the next year ending at 180 pounds at my heaviest. Fat people are happy. Sure I was. On most days, that is. But not when I am panting trying to zip the pants I just have to have at Macy’s. Not when the soles of my feet are crying with carrying too much of me. And certainly not when my husband’s eyeballs furtively dart to the corner to take a peek at a passing trim gal. No cause for divorce, just a mean fact of life. When I made the conscious decision to take control, Gregoria was way too happy to help. Every morning, I’ll have a waiting breakfast of omelet, warm tortilla and salsa at my desk!

Makes 1 serving

3 egg whites
2 tbps fresh zucchini, sliced to matchsticks
1 tbsp mozzarella cheese
1 tsp onions, finely chopped
Vegetable oil
Aerosol oil spray

Saute onions in pan with a little vegetable oil until translucent. Add zucchini strips. Do not overcook. Remove from pan.

Whisk egg whites.

Spray pan with aerosol oil spray. Pour egg to pan. Wait until the sides set slightly.

Add zucchini and onions onto eggs. Sprinkle cheese.

Flip egg to form omelet. Top with tomato salsa or hot sauce for extra kick. Serve with a warm corn tortilla on the side.

Tips:
1) Make sure skillet is hot so you’ll require less oil to keep eggs from sticking.
2) I love zucchini but sliced fresh mushrooms, diced bell peppers, and shredded carrots are also amazing variations.
3) You can use other type of cheeses-cheddar, monterey, swiss. etc.
4) Note that portions of ingredients are small. You are cooking for one. I think that’s the best key for weight management. No deprivation, just moderation.

Recipes for Morning Fuel in The CookMobile Archive:

Ginisang Carne Norte (Sauteed Corned Beef)

Shrimp and Mushroom Omelet with Deep-Fried Leeks

Leche Flan

Lalaine — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 05:05:13 +0000

When two people are dating, there will come a point in the relationship when one is hit by the realization that liking is now loving. Actually, my realization came pretty fast. On our fourth date, while watching TV in his apartment, my then-boyfriend-now-husband states “I make the best Leche Flan”. Visions of me sitting comfortably on the sofa every night while he labors in the kitchen preparing our dinner came swirling in my head. I am marrying this man!

Leche flan, though only has a few ingredients, requires quite a few tricks to be good leche flan. Anyway, out we went to a nearby Ralphs to pick up the milk and eggs and sugar that a single guy never to seem to have at home. As it turned out, he does make the best leche flan. As it also turned out, that’s all he knows how to cook. Found out too late that my sitting comfortably on the sofa waiting for my dinner to be served is just what it was…wishful thinking.

When I got home from work last night, I found my kitchen piled with shell eggs, lineras (aluminum pans) and milk cans. Amidst the mess was my husband busily straining the egg-milk mixture with a cheesecloth into the pans. “Party at so and so tomorrow. They asked me to make my leche flan.” I wanted to start my first post last night. But with him calling me every two seconds (ten years in the same house and he still doesn’t know where the tongs are) and with the clean-up he left behind, had to wait till today. So here I am, savoring the best leche flan ever, finally ready to write my very first post! Exciting! I actually took my own pictures of the flan but my daughter found this on flicker.com by “simply anne” and I thought it ties in perfectly with my blog!

Makes 6 Lineras

Ingredients

30 eggs (egg yolks only)
4 cans evaporated milk (14 oz)
3 cans condensed milk (12 oz)
Sugar
lineras
Cheesecloth
Aluminum foil

Procedure

Prepare caramel base by putting 1-2 tbsps sugar on each linera and running the pans on the stove, using tongs to move pans over very low heat. It will take just a couple of minutes to melt the sugar into a rich, brown liquid.

Separate yolks. Remove all white part of egg as possible whites will not be used in the recipe). Add in evaporated and condensed milk. Mix mixture with a spoon in one circular direction to avoid building of “foams” in the mixture.

Using a cheesecloth, strain the mixture into lineras until 3/4 full. Cover the lineras tightly with aluminum foil.

Arrange lineras in a deep aluminum pan (roasting or buffet trays will do nicely) filled with water halfway of the lineras. Add more water in the middle of the cooking time, if needed, to prevent burning of bottom. This cooking process or technique is called baine-maire.

Cook in oven at 375 F for around 30-40 minutes. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick in the center of custard. Toothpick should come out clean.

Cool in the refrigerator for a few hours to fully set.

TIPS:
1) I find cold eggs allow better separation of yolk from white. There is also a tool called “egg separator” that can be purchased for around $2 (Pardon my misplaced humor but this link is way funny for me to pass.). However, I find it faster to just transfer the egg from one hand to the other. Messier, but easier. Some recipes include the white part of the egg. You can if you want, but that creates a denser, tougher product. This recipe creates a very smooth, melts-in-your-mouth texture. You can use the leftover egg whites for your meringue recipes or for your morning omelets such as with zucchini and cheese.
2) Lineras are oblong-shaped aluminum pans that you can buy from any Filipino market. If you can’t find one, a regular muffin or cake pan will do.
3) Straining the egg mixture with a cheesecloth is an important step. This process removes the foams that may create bubbles when flan is cooked. Soft cotton cloth like that of a t-shirt will work just as well.
4) The amount of sugar you use for your caramel depends on how sweet you want your flan. Be careful not to rush the melting procedure by using high flames as this will burn the liquid resulting to a very bitter taste.
5) My husband experimented yesterday by adding fruit to the regular recipe. He just placed 2-3 tablespoons of canned fruit cocktail on the linera before pouring mixture. This is an excellent way to sneak in fruits into the kids’ diet.

12/31/2007 UPDATE: When I found out about the BEST of 2007 blog event today, I knew right away this is the recipe I am sending because of three reasons:
1) This leche flan recipe connects me to the time when my relationship with my husband was at its sweetest. It was when he wouldn’t be in front of the TV watching and I won’t be in front of the computer blogging!
2) This was my very first blog post! I didn’t even know how to upload pictures then!
3) It really is the best leche flan recipe! My friends who have eaten lineras upon lineras can testify to that.

Sweets and Treats in The CookMobile Archive:

Lychee-Buko Sorbet (Lychee and Young Coconut)

Caramelized Banana with Honey, Mascarpone and Mint

Mini Egg Pies (Custard Pies)

Lalaine — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 04:45:23 +0000
I could have made one big pie and be done in 2 minutes but Nooo! I like making it difficult for myself…15 minutes individually lining muffin pans with pie crust. Yes, yes, I do have a life. But it’s a life that enjoys being in the kitchen. Besides, I think this cute mini eggpie one-servings will present better on a dessert table than messy, have-to-slice pies and they are going to join THE MINI PIE REVOLUTION hosted by Karyn and Anne to prove my point!

Makes 24 Mini Egg Pies

Ingredients

Pie Crust

1 cup (8 oz) butter, slightly softened
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup iced water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp granulated sugar

Filling
1 can (10 oz) condensed milk
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
4 egg yolks

Procedure

Cut butter into pieces. Add in flour, sugar and salt. Using hands or two forks, combine until mixture turns to ”pea-sized” pebbles. Add in water and continue to gently mix until a crumbly dough forms.

Divide dough into 24 balls and flatten into rounds of crust sheets. Grease two 12-hole muffin tin pans with non-stick spray. Line muffin holes with pie crust rounds. Trim edges.

Mix filling ingredients together. Pour or spoon into prepared muffin-sized crusts until 3/4 full. Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes, or until middle is set and toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Recipes From the Oven in The CookMobile Archive:

Palitaw

Bunuelos