Monthly Archives: February 2010

Speedy Breakfast Tip: Microwave yo’ Eggs

For the last year or so, I’ve made it the habit of preparing eggs in some format in the morning — hearty start, good protein and fat to start the day, and an excellent way to recycle just about any leftovers from the night before and make them feel breakfast-y.

Problem is, on mornings where time is tight or when running on empty, heating up a pan to fry or scramble some eggs means one less snooze button press, or another 10 minutes late to work.

I’d read about microwaving eggs before, but I’d always dismissed it as foolish and gross. Turns out though, with quality ingredients and just a tiny bit more time, microwave eggs are quick, nearly mess-less, and can be pretty good. They’re never going to have the deliciousness of perfect sunny side ups or the luxurious feel of a tasty omelette, but for something that you can whip up with only a microwave in under 3 minutes, they’re pretty damn good.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large egg
  • spices, I used:
    • dill weed
    • black pepper
    • hot pepper flakes
  • a teaspoon of olive oil or butter
  • a teaspoon of cream or whole milk (optional)
  • small slice of cheese, or pinch of grated cheese
  • english muffin or toast

Put an english muffin or a couple slices of bread in the toaster. (Optional, of course — but eggs + bread are the best!)

Crack an egg into a bowl, add in dill weed, black pepper, hot red pepper flakes, and a pinch of kosher salt, and about a teaspoon of cream if you have it around, then scramble with a fork.

Use a paper town to smear olive oil (Or butter, if you roll that way.) around the edges of a ramekin, then dump the egg mixture in. Cut a small slice of cheddar cheese and place it on top.

Microwave for one minute. (This is in my shitty $20 Target microwave, if you have a legit microwave, you might want to cut down the time a bit.)

Inspect the eggs — they shouldn’t be runny. If they are, nuke ‘em for another 15 seconds or so. Extract the eggs with a fork or just dump them out vigorously onto your toast, which should be popping out of the toaster just about then. Enjoy!

Shockingly tasty, only two dishes dirtied, both dishwashable. And I dare you to  look at that first picture and tell me that doesn’t look good. Mmm.

Buffalo Chicken Tikka Masala

I just want to begin by noting that this particular recipe is exceptionally just. Combining the buttery, tangy, spicy goodness of buffalo sauce with the spicetastic flavor of chicken tikka masala, it’s not to be taken lightly.

There’s nothing all that crazy about it, actually — with a normal chicken tikka masala recipe, you make the spice mix, maybe marinate the chicken, saute your onions/ginger etc, cook up the chicken, then add in tomatoes and cream at the end. What we’re going to do here is basically sub out a bit of cream and tomato at the and and sub in buffalo sauce. When I first learned exactly what buffalo sauce is, I was astonished — Frank’s Red Hot and lots of butter — but it makes sense if you think about it. “Oh, that’s why buffalo wings taste like that..”

Ingredients:

  • 4 skinless chicken breasts (~2.5 lbs), cut into bite-size pieces (You could do this with thighs also, and it might be even better!)
  • 4 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • vegetable oil
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 tablespoon garam masala or other curry powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
  • 1/2 tablespoon cumin
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 3/4 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
  • 2 oz butter (half a stick)
  • 1/2 cup light cream
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste

Get a Ziploc bag and squeze the lemon juice into it. Add the garlic, half of the ginger, and a bit of vegetable oil. Dump the mixture into a Ziploc bag with the chicken cubes inside and throw in a bit of salt and pepper. Leave to marinate for however long you have — 30 minutes, 2 hours, overnight — whatever.

Put a large skillet over medium-low heat. Once it’s hot, put in a bit of oil and saute the onion and remaining ginger until soft, about 8 minutes. Add in the spices and cook for a couple more minutes. Pull everything off and set it aside in a small bowl.

Turn up the heat to medium-high, add a bit more oil to the pan if you need to, and put the chicken in. Cook the chicken, turning it, until browned.

While the chicken is cooking, melt the butter in another bowl or a Pyrex measuring cup in the microwave.  Mix the molten butter with the onion/ginger/spice mix and the Frank’s Red Hot sauce.

After the chicken is browned, pour the sauce mix and cream on top of it in the pan. Add the tomato paste and mix until combined.

Serve with basmati rice or naan and some cheap beer. A side of blue cheese dressing and celery would go great also!