
So in my informal add them to everything way, which is what I happily do when something is in such lavish abundance, I’ve added them to today’s feta cheese omelet–because added chunks of feta cheese to beaten eggs and frying it flat in olive oil is the starting point for any of a zillion wonderful omelet/fritattas. By itself its great, don’t get me wrong, but adding other things makes it even greater: potatoes, spinach, herbs, sausage, and so forth. This time I was adding ramps and toasted cumin breadcrumbls and sprinkling it all with Szechuan and black peppercorn roasted salt.
- the little saucer holds the roasted szechuan and black peppercorn sea salt.
Anyhow, lets start with the crumbs: actually lets start with shopping today. if you’re buying good bread, the kind in a whole crusty loaf, preferably whole-grainish, you need to buy a little bit too much.
Leftover stale bread is awesome and wonderful and could fill a whole books worth of recipes. But today I just want to talk to you about crumbs.
When you look around your kitchen and your eye light on a chunk of stale bread, using either your quick-whiz food processor or ordinary hand grater especially the kind that is shaped somewhat like a box with a handle on top, grate (using the large holes) the stale bread up into crumbs.
With these crumbs you can do so many wonderful things. I leave them in a cool dry place to further stale or i lightly toast them in the oven.
TOASTED CRUMBS WITH CUMIN SEEDS
A chunk of stale bread
somewhere in the vicinity of 1/2 to 1 teaspoons cumin seeds depending on how much bread you have
Using a food processor; cut the bread into smallish pieces and whirl off and on, until it forms crumbs, preferably uneven ones. if you are using a hand grater, preferably one shaped like a box, grate the bread (crusts included) in the large holes. Sometimes the softer parts come off in larger chunks and i find that this texture is wonderful and varied and a delight when you come across the uneven-ness.
In a heavy frying pan or wok, throw in a small amount of olive oil–a drizzle depending upon the size of the pan, over medium or low-medium heat, then add the cumin seeds; the seeds will toast and sizzle very quickly–do not let them burn! Remove from the pan, and to the hot pan with its small amount of cumin-scented oil add the breadcrumbs. Toss over medium heat for a few minutes until they turn golden and crisp and fragrant. Return cumin seeds and toss together. If you like, you can add a pinch of salt to the mixture. Set aside to use as you like.
Segue moment with TWO DISHES: the thing about food postings and having wonderful ingredients on hand, is that you can look around your kitchen and realize: oh god if i put this together with THAT, it could be wonderful. In fact, i’m beginning to think of it as Accidental Genius. And I MIGHT devote a posting a month to Accidental Genius recipes/ideas. But thats getting away with myself: the thing is that with those crumbs: here are a few things you can do with them. There will be more, many many more, but I just made the crumbs a few days ago and so far–we’ve not even gotten to the omelet yet–so far i’ve tossed them into sauteed cauliflower and shallots with spaetzel and it was wonderful. and I’ve also sprinkled them generously, very generously, into a salad: strips of cucucumber, sliced radishes, diced tomato, sliced red onion, preserved lemon….i think that was it. In fact there were black olives in it but it didn’t do anything really for the salad, next time i leave em out though i probably would include red an/or green pepper. Anyhow, toss it together, a little cider vinegar, a little evoo, a little chopped garlic. Then before serving spoon in lots of the crumbs with cumin. Lush!
So back to the story: there i am, making my coffee, stumbling around the kitchen thinking about Brunch this being a Saturday, then I flash on the crumbs (leftover from last nights dinner) and think: hmmmm what would these crumbs be brilliant in. Last night’scaulfilower with spaetzel and olive-oil sauteed shallots, tossing lots of roasted rye crumbs and cumin seeds into the mix at the end. It was amazing and even though making spaetzel is a bit messy and a tiny bit time consuming, I think any stubby pasta or any pasta at all would be wonderful cooked like this. And I have to say that if you find yourself up in the middle of the night having a little nosh, and your 3 Jack Russells happen to wake up because they just KNOW you are eating something, they will love a tiny bit of the cauliflower too.
Brief segue: a million years ago in my happy-hippie-era, first husband, first cookbook life, I and a group of chums drobe a VW camper from Amsterdam throughout Europe. We ended up in Crete, rolling off the ferry because the van was so knackered it couldn’t drive any longer. My first hours in what would turn out to be a six month or so stay was, therefore, spent with an auto-mechanic. The van needed a lot of work, a whole mornings worth, so the mechanic took us somewhere–was it a cafe? was it his mother’s house? i don’t remember. What i remember was this: a feta cheese omelet that would travel with me throughout the rest of my life.
I add this, I add that, and even if I don’t add anything, good Greek feta cheese, beaten eggs, cooked in extra virgin olive oil until its edges are browned then flipped over, is one of the most delicious best friends to travel through life with. I don’t have the van any longer, and i don’t have even the husband any longer, but i do have this omelet.
So this morning as I was making coffee and thinking: hmmmmm wonderful crumbs what shall i put them in? I was also–every the multi-tasker–simultaneously thinking: hmmmmmm look at those wonderful fresh ramps, I must do something with them.
In the past I have put salami, potatoes, all sorts of vegetables like spinach, or leeks or zucchini, into this omelet, and herbs running the spectrum of tarragon and dill to oregano and chives, even Thai basil. I have a wonderful recipe in my book Yummy Potatoes published by Chronicle Books.
In any event: lightbulb flashes in my mind as I’m sipping coffee perusing my kitchen. There are the crumbs, and oooooh yes there is a bowl of ramps I picked in the forest yesterday. The resulting omelet was luscious, perfectly delicious or should i say deliciously perfect this spring day: my Greek motor mechanic’s feta cheese omelet with handfuls of coarsely chopped raw ramp leaves, diced feta cheese (greek, both sheeps and goats milk) and a sprinkling of the toasted cumin crumbs. cooked in olive oil of course. And a handful of those toasted crumbs and cumin seeds at the end.
Okay ookay: you’d think that the crumbs and cumin would be the secret ingredient, but nooooo….there was also another secret ingredient involved: the roasted szechuan-blackpepper-salt mixture I made during the week. Since its OMG wonderful in surprisingly and mysteriously nearly everything, I’m going to give you the recipe right here:
ROASTED SZECHUAN AND BLACK PEPPERCORNS WITH SEA SALT
About 2 tablespoons each: szechuan peppercorns, black peppercorns, and coarse sea salt
In a heavy dry (ie ungreased) frying pan lightly roast the szechuan peppercorns until they slightly lighten in colour or you can sniff a fragrance ever so lightly: to me it is the lemony edge of fragrance that comes through but it may well be different for you. When the peppercorns reach this state push them to one side or remove from the pan and add the black peppercorns and salt. Toast together a further few minutes until they just seem that little bit toasted. I go by feel as the difference in Szechuan peppercorns is strong, the difference in the black pepper and salt a bit more subtle.
When they are all toasted, leave them to cool. You can keep them like this in a jar, and take out a few spoonfuls at a time to crush and use. I suggest this.But if you prefer to crush more at one time, do them all and keep the pounded mixture in a jar ready to use.
Oh, okay, pounding it, crushing it, a teensy little detail i seem to have left out. Until NOW.
Get yourself a nice sized mortar and pestle. I like stone or marble. If for any reason you don’t feel like using it right away-i too have been intimidated by such things, just get one and keep it on your windowsill. One of these days you’ll be ready.
So place a tablespoon or two of the mixture into the bowl, or the mortar, and using the pestle, pound up and down on the peppercorn mixture and salt. When it starts to get crushed a bit but is still very very coarse, you can use the pestle with more of a grinding motion until the mixture is the xoncistency and texture you wish. I like something between very coarse and almost fine, so that each bite has variety of pepperish (and salty) flavour.
FETA CHEESE AND RAMPS FLAT OMELET WITH WHOLE WHEAT-RYE CRUMBS AND CUMIN SEEDS, SZECHUAN/BLACK ROASTED SALT-PEPPER
In case I haven’t mentioned the reason for adding the crumbs, its this: the crumbs add substance and heft to the omelet and help keep it from being too runny or thin. Often Italian fritattas have crumbs added for the same reason.
Serves 2: halve it to serve one, or make a big one and adjust it accordingly. Flipping it is the hard part, i recommend a non stick frying pan and turning it over using a plate on top and inverting it. If you don’t have crumbs, this is delicious without it too; ditto for the pepper-salt mixture.
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or as needed
3-4 eggs beaten lightly with a few spoonfuls of milk or water
Handful of young ramp leaves, sliced thinly crosswise or similar oniony greens (wild garlic is wonderful, or even ordinary storebought scallion leaves
4-6 oz/ 125-15 g Greek feta cheese, cut into large dice/small chunks
2-3 tablespoons toasted crumbs with cumin seeds (recipe above)
Sprinkling of Szechuan/black peppercorn crushed with sea salt (recipe above)
Heat a non stick frying pan large enough to hold the mixture but not so large it will be crepe thin; when it is smoking just a little bit, ie hot enough to cook and sizzle the eggs, add the olive oil.
Into your bowl of eggs add the ramps and feta cheese, then pour into the pan, evenly distributing the cheese and ramps throughout the surface of the eggs and pan. Adjust the heat so that it sizzles and browns but does not burn.
While the eggs are still runny-ish, sprinkle the crumbs and cumin over the top.
Turn the omelet over when the eggs are no longer so runny that they will run away from the omelet. Place a plate on top of the omelet, then flip it over, return the pan to the heat, and flip over the plate with the omelet so that the second side cooks. Alternatively you could place it under the broiler/grill.
Eat right away, when lightly browned on both sides, sprinkled with the roasted Szechuan-black peppercorn salt, to taste.