April 11th - Zucchini and Cauliflower Omlette - Snapper with Swiss Chard and Zebra Quinoa

Sundays are a good day for Omlette. We normally have several bits of vegetables left in the fridge from the week.  Omlettes are great for using these up.  You can use just about any vegetable in your Omlette or Frittatas.  I would not have thought to use Cauliflower but it worked out nicely.  We did have to sautee the veg first to ensure it was softened.

Zucchini and Cauliflower Omlette

1/2 small Zucchini, sliced and quartered
200 g Cauliflower florets, cut small
6 Button Mushrooms, brushed and sliced
1/4 c smoked Salmon, chopped
1/2 c shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 Green Onion, chopped
4 large Eggs
1 T Butter

Beat the eggs in a bowl with 1t of Salt

Sautee the Zucchini, Cauliflower, Mushrooms and the whites of the Green Onion for a few minutes in the same a med/large pan you are going to make the omlette in.  Season to taste. Set aside on a plate.

Now when we are doing one large omlette for the two of us rather than individual, we do not use the classic french method but its pretty close.  We do not over cook the middle.

Add the Butter to the pan, on medium heat.  Add the eggs and swirl. Since this is large you will need to move the egg with a non stick spatula rather than just shimmying like a smaller won.  Shove it around like you're moving a wavy table cloth around on a table.  Gently getting some of the raw egg under the cooked egg, just until most of the wiggly egg is cooked off.  If you like your egg more done, flip briefly, I mean briefly onto 'top side', 30 s.  But flip back to 'bottom side' before adding the vegetables back. Add the Salmon. Add the cheese and fold over.  Cut in half and serve with the green of the Green Onion as garnish.

I cut up some of the Cherry Tomatoes as a side.

Dill and Chipotle with Swiss Chard and Zebra Quinoa

Sauteed Swiss Chard
10 leaves Swiss Chard, washed, stems trimmed just at bottom
3 cloves garlic
1 shallots
Salt and Pepper

Roughly chop the garlic and slice the shallots.  In a skillet (straight sides), sautee the garlic and shallots on medium heat.  Trim the bottom 1cm of the stem off.  Unlike Kale, the Swiss Chard stems are very edible and cook easily.  Wash the leaves and do not shake off.  Add the Swiss Chard to the Garlic and Shallot and sautee for 10 minutes.  The water from the washing is sufficient to aid cooking.  MMMMMM  If you would prefer, cut in half but it is not a tough green so it is easily managed at the table.

Zebra Quinoa
1/2 c Black Quinoa
1/2 c regular Quinoa
2 c Water or Veggie Stock
1 t Salt

Okay I have to make a change to my standing guidelines for Quinoa and I am not happy.  When I make a single serving of Quinoa, I use 3 to 1, water to Quinoa and usually do this well in advance of eating.  I usually start 30 minutes early because I do not like to rush the grain.  Anyhoo.  When I make the single serving, I use my favourite small non-stick saucepan.  It has a lid with a vapour hole.  I let it simmer away for the 20 minutes or so. Well, when I doubled the recipe, I had to go to a larger saucepan and the Caphalon pot does not have a vapour hole so the water did not cook of as easily so I had to simmer for a while with the lid ajar.  Therefore I would say, if you do not have a vapour hole, I would reduce the water to 1.5 to 2 c.  D had to drain some of the water off because I used 3 c.

Dill and Chipotle Snapper
500-600 g Snapper fillets, cleaned, deboned, skin on (skin not obligatory) (2 portions)
1/2 T Dean and Deluca (or any brand) Chipotle Dry Spice rub
1/2 T Mermaid Lemon and Dill Dry Spice rub (this was a salty rub so we are offsetting with an unsalted one)

Pat the fish dry.  Rub with a bit of olive oil.  Sprinkle the rub and press in. 

In a large Sautee pan (sloped sides), add 1 T olive oil on medium - medium - high heat.  Add the fish skin side down.  Let sit, do not move for 3-4 minutes.  When the skin is cooked or even the first side without skin, it will be easier to move.  You will make a mess if you move it too soon.  Most of the cooking should be done on the first side. Using your thinnest spatula (a wide, thin fish spatula is best), flip and cook on the otherside for another 2 minutes.  Check the middle to make sure it is cooked through.

I really like Snapper.  It is a nice sturdy fish.  When the skin is done well, it crisps up really well.  It is very versatile and can be broiled, butter fried with herbs, baked, stewed, stir fried, fricaseed.... D thinks it is a bit blah.  Maybe I feel differently because my mom frequently bought super fresh whole snapper all the time.  It does really well in Korean fish stews.  It does not dissolve and fall apart.  MMMMM

We had a Basa Rueda Blanco 2007, great Spanish wine for simple seafood dishes like this. Yummo!