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- Jan 26, 2002
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OK, we HAD the threads on cast iron cookware, and a bunch of recipes.
Let's try again.
Here's one of my cheap and easy things derived from being too cheap to go out, and my admitted obsession with collectiong cookbooks describing cuisine from various part of the world. Nearly all my cooking is bastard cooking, and if I follow a recipe, it's only the first time, so things are not exact, you may have to try couple times for optimal results. Everybody's oven is different anyway.
Anyway here's a thing I made today today in a cast iron skillet, that I often make.
1) Take a flour tortilla bigger than the bottom of your skillet. bigger by something between an one or two inches bigger. Remember how much bigger it is and put it in a safe place.
[tonight, the tortilla was 8" in diameter, and the skillet was 6 3/4" at the bottom] Tortillas that have some oil in them are easier to work with (where I live the "Guerro" brand is superior to the ubiquitious crap "Mission" brand).
2)Set the oven to about 350-375 and turn it on.
3)Oil the skillet and place in the oven now for a few minutes.
4) While the skillet and oven are starting to heat beat a some eggs in a bowl. Imagine lining the skillet with the larger tortilla to make something like a pie crust. You want an amount of eggs that is a little smaller than the volume of the crust. [For tonight's pan and tortilla, three large eggs was right]
5) Optional, but highly recommended: Add a bit of flour to the eggs [about 1 tablespoon per three large eggs] of flour and a bit of baking powder [about 1/2 teaspoon per three large eggs] to the beaten eggs. Thoroughly beat until no lumps remain with a whisk. (sorry, you really need a whisk to accomplish this). You now have a batter that is mostly scambled eggs that will want to rise a bit and be slightly airy when cooked.
6) Assemble a collection of stuff that you enjoy in omlettes, and chop fairly small. Stuff like onions, hard cheese, chives, left-overs, peppers, ham, whatever. If cutting up this stuff is a big deal, you may want to do it first. [tonight I used, onions, chives from the yard, cheddar cheese, green olives, and a bit of spicy beef dried sausage]
7) Add any soft, or runny stuff to the egg mixture. Stuff like Tobasco. Or if using yogurt or cream cheese, add it to the egg mixture and whisk until evenly distibuted. Stuff like black pepper, salt (think if stuff like any cheese is salty!), should be thoroughly misxe in here.
8) Take out skillet. It should be quite warm, but not really hot.
9) Soften the flour tortilla by gently heating and moisten if needed. You want it flexible. I nuke mine in the microwave for a short time and maybe mist them with a bit of water first.
10) Form the now tortilla in the warm skillet. You should get something like a pie crust with a few small folds on the edge. The skillet should be warm to help forming, but not hot enough to make the tortilla puff out a lot.
11) Fold all the stuff from step 6 into the egg mixture, and pour into the formed tortilla.
12) Put skillet into the now pre-warmed oven and cook for 30-40 minutes. Until eggs are fully set and any cheese used is starting to melt.
13) Optional: The top can be briefly browned under the broiler. More cheese or some other topping could be added here.
This may sound pretty complicated, but it's not. It's just a bunch of fancy scrambled eggs cooked in a flour tortilla pre-shaped to the skillet. I just broke it into tiny steps.
If the egg stuff overflows, it is OK, the skillet seasoning was tuned up and it won't stick. If the eggs stuff stays inside, it looks like you made some kind of fancy super thin crust and any snooty friends will be impressed--and clean up is really easy.
You can do drained spinach and feta cheese for Greek, leftofver hash-browns and bacon for breakfast, whatever you have. Just add a bit more flour if the stuff you're using is really wet.
A couple times I've recycled left-overs this way, and taken them to parties and gotten compliments! Yeah, I'm a cheap bastid.
Let's try again.
Here's one of my cheap and easy things derived from being too cheap to go out, and my admitted obsession with collectiong cookbooks describing cuisine from various part of the world. Nearly all my cooking is bastard cooking, and if I follow a recipe, it's only the first time, so things are not exact, you may have to try couple times for optimal results. Everybody's oven is different anyway.
Anyway here's a thing I made today today in a cast iron skillet, that I often make.
1) Take a flour tortilla bigger than the bottom of your skillet. bigger by something between an one or two inches bigger. Remember how much bigger it is and put it in a safe place.
[tonight, the tortilla was 8" in diameter, and the skillet was 6 3/4" at the bottom] Tortillas that have some oil in them are easier to work with (where I live the "Guerro" brand is superior to the ubiquitious crap "Mission" brand).
2)Set the oven to about 350-375 and turn it on.
3)Oil the skillet and place in the oven now for a few minutes.
4) While the skillet and oven are starting to heat beat a some eggs in a bowl. Imagine lining the skillet with the larger tortilla to make something like a pie crust. You want an amount of eggs that is a little smaller than the volume of the crust. [For tonight's pan and tortilla, three large eggs was right]
5) Optional, but highly recommended: Add a bit of flour to the eggs [about 1 tablespoon per three large eggs] of flour and a bit of baking powder [about 1/2 teaspoon per three large eggs] to the beaten eggs. Thoroughly beat until no lumps remain with a whisk. (sorry, you really need a whisk to accomplish this). You now have a batter that is mostly scambled eggs that will want to rise a bit and be slightly airy when cooked.
6) Assemble a collection of stuff that you enjoy in omlettes, and chop fairly small. Stuff like onions, hard cheese, chives, left-overs, peppers, ham, whatever. If cutting up this stuff is a big deal, you may want to do it first. [tonight I used, onions, chives from the yard, cheddar cheese, green olives, and a bit of spicy beef dried sausage]
7) Add any soft, or runny stuff to the egg mixture. Stuff like Tobasco. Or if using yogurt or cream cheese, add it to the egg mixture and whisk until evenly distibuted. Stuff like black pepper, salt (think if stuff like any cheese is salty!), should be thoroughly misxe in here.
8) Take out skillet. It should be quite warm, but not really hot.
9) Soften the flour tortilla by gently heating and moisten if needed. You want it flexible. I nuke mine in the microwave for a short time and maybe mist them with a bit of water first.
10) Form the now tortilla in the warm skillet. You should get something like a pie crust with a few small folds on the edge. The skillet should be warm to help forming, but not hot enough to make the tortilla puff out a lot.
11) Fold all the stuff from step 6 into the egg mixture, and pour into the formed tortilla.
12) Put skillet into the now pre-warmed oven and cook for 30-40 minutes. Until eggs are fully set and any cheese used is starting to melt.
13) Optional: The top can be briefly browned under the broiler. More cheese or some other topping could be added here.
This may sound pretty complicated, but it's not. It's just a bunch of fancy scrambled eggs cooked in a flour tortilla pre-shaped to the skillet. I just broke it into tiny steps.
If the egg stuff overflows, it is OK, the skillet seasoning was tuned up and it won't stick. If the eggs stuff stays inside, it looks like you made some kind of fancy super thin crust and any snooty friends will be impressed--and clean up is really easy.
You can do drained spinach and feta cheese for Greek, leftofver hash-browns and bacon for breakfast, whatever you have. Just add a bit more flour if the stuff you're using is really wet.
A couple times I've recycled left-overs this way, and taken them to parties and gotten compliments! Yeah, I'm a cheap bastid.
