Tamagoyaki (Japanese) Omelettes

I am really into these Japanese tamagoyaki omelettes at the moment, so much so that I have bought a tamagoyaki pan but you can use a normal frying pan if you want to give them a go. Instead of pouring all the egg mixture into a pan, as you do when making a normal omelette, with these just enough egg mix is poured in to coat the bottom of the pan then as it cooks you roll it up and push it to the side of the pan. More egg mix is added to the pan and you roll the first bit of egg over it, increasing its size. It's a bit like rolling snow to make a snowman, you keep adding more egg and rolling it over until you get an omelette log.

Here I layered nori Japanese seaweed in one and ham and cheese in the other. They make tasty alternatives to a plain omelette and look pretty good too.

Ingredients:

Eggs (2 per person, 3 if you're hungry)
Mirin rice wine
Dashi stock powder
Soy sauce
White pepper
Spray cooking oil

Optional:
Togarashi Japanese spice
Sugar


Method:

1. Mix the eggs in jug.
2. Add a splash of rice wine and soy sauce with a sprinkling of dashi stock powder and white pepper. Add the spice and sugar here too if you are using them. I like mine spicy but omit the sugar. Mix well.
3. Heat the pan on a medium heat and spray with oil. Pour in just enough egg mix to coat the bottom of the pan.
4. Roll the cooked egg up into a log and push to the side of the pan. Spray in some more oil and pour in a bit of egg and repeat the process.
5. Remove the egg log from the pan, slice and serve.

Tip:

Have a look at this video on youtube Cooking with Dog 😀. I don't use chopsticks, that looks far too tricky, I have a very thin spatula that does the job just fine. I don't have a dog for company either.

Crispy Bacon and Scrambled Egg on Polenta with Sausage Gravy

This Easter we took the kids on a once in a lifetime trip to Florida and it was so good we're now hoping it wont be 'once' in a lifetime. The American food certainly was interesting, one day for breakfast at Egg City I had their City Mush, which was grits with cheese, sausage gravy, scrambled eggs and bacon. Now I just had to try and replicate it back at home, or even better in the van, but as we cannot get grits easily I've replaced them with polenta, which is probably the closest substitution. 'Sausage gravy?' I hear you ask, yep its a gravy made from sausages but don't knock it until you've tried it. I think this is great alternative breakfast, even if it is a bit unusual for us Brits.

Ingredients:
(serves 1)

Polenta (about a handful)
Grated cheddar cheese (about a handful)
1x Blob of butter
Salt and pepper

2x Sausages
1tbsp Flour
1x Glass of milk
1x Blob of butter
Salt and pepper

2x Eggs
2x Bacon rashers


Method:

1. Start with the sausage gravy by removing the skins and chop the meat into small pieces.
2. Put them in a pan on medium heat with a blob of butter and gently brown all over.
3. Reduce the heat then add the flour and mix well. The flour is mixing with the fat to kind of form a roux.
4. Pour in the milk and stir continuously. You will have to judge the amount of milk needed by eye but it should form a really thick gravy after about 10 minutes. Season to taste.
5. Now the polenta is pretty easy and you can follow the packet instructions or just put a handful of polenta into a pan with double the amount of water and bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir frequently and when its thickened add the butter and cheese and allow to melt. Season to taste.
6. Fry the bacon in a frying pan until crispy then set aside but keep the fat in the pan.
7. Scrambled eggs are easily done in the microwave in about a minute but they're also delicious cooked in the leftover bacon fat. Mix together your eggs then pour into the frying pan with the fat on a medium-low heat, stir constantly until done to your scrambled liking.
8. All that's left to do now is plate up! Pour the cheesey polenta into a bowl and top with the sausage gravy then the eggs and finally the crispy bacon. Enjoy..

Gammon, Egg and Chip-Henge

I have mentioned before how the temperature difference between the top and bottom shelf in a caravan oven can be frustratingly far apart. Usually it is a nuisance but occasionally it can work in your favour when you have two dishes that need to be cooked at different temperatures. In this case I had chips that need a hot oven on the top shelf with the gammon at the lower temperature on the bottom. We were going to visit Stonehenge today but plans changed so I recreated it with chips. If you are going to do anything like this you need to make sure you have some square cut ends so at least some of your uprights will stand up. Food should not only be tasty but good fun too!

Ingredients:

1kg Gammon
Potatoes, peeled and chipped
Eggs


Method:

1. Put the oven on gas mark 6. Cover the gammon loosely with foil and put on the top shelf for half an hour.
2. Turn the oven up to gas mark 8 and move the gammon to the bottom shelf. Heat some oil in a roasting dish on the top shelf.
3. Pop your chips into the hot fat and turn regularly until done (about an hour or so).
4. Remove the gammon from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
5. Fry eggs.
6. Slice the gammon and plate up!

Special Fried Rice Burger with Cheesy Leeks, a Fried Egg and Gravy

Sometimes you just fancy some deliciously dirty food and this certainly fits the bill. It sounds wrong but tastes so right and I guarantee you will like it as much as Mrs Larry and I did. After the myriad of proper dinners over Christmas a simple plate of honest grub can't be beat, and this uses up leftover leeks in cheese sauce and gravy - although from now on I'll make sure there are plenty of leftovers so we can have this time and time again.

Ingredients:
(serves 2)

1/2lb Beef mince
2x Eggs
2x Cups of cooked rice (long grain or basmati)
4x Cabbage leaves, finely sliced
1x Onion diced (small onion)
1x Large carrot, peeled and diced
4x Rashers of streaky bacon, chopped up
6x Mushrooms, sliced
Any leftover gravy reheated

For the leeks in cheese sauce please see my Venison Shanks recipe from a couple of days ago.


Method:

1. Grab a handful (1/4lb) of mince, season well with salt and pepper then form into a burger with your hands. Don't forget to add a dimple in the middle to stop it swelling into a ball, see here for more info on making The Burger.
2. Cook the burgers in a large frying pan or wok with a splash of oil for about 4 minutes each side. When done place in a warm oven, gas mark 2 will do, and top with cold leftover leeks in cheese sauce.
3. In the same pan now sweat off the diced onion until translucent then add the carrot for a couple of minutes.
4. Now bung in the bacon, mushrooms and cabbage and cook for about 3 minutes.
5. In goes the cooked rice, keep stirring until well heated through.
6. Plate up the rice then in the same frying pan quickly fry your eggs so the bottoms are crispy but the yolks still runny.
7. Get the cheesy leek topped burgers out of the oven and place them on top of the plated rice. On goes the fried egg then drizzle all over your leftover gravy. Pure filth, but so good.

Choy Sum Brunch

One of the ways I've found to cut down on calories is to skip lunch but have a big meal for brunch. I'm sure there are all sorts of reasons not to do this but weight loss is my only goal at the moment and it works for me. We've got some left over choy sum from last nights Three Bird Delight so today's brunch has got a few of your five a day and is of course low carb. I have used turkey rashers, which I know are completely processed but as we are on holiday I thought I'd give them a try. Give me bacon any day though!

Ingredients:

Choy sum, or you could use any cabbage or lettuce
Mushrooms
Red pepper, I used pickled but you can use fresh
Garlic
Eggs
Turkey rashers or bacon


Method:

1. Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan or wok and add the clove of garlic chopped in half. Cook the garlic for a few minutes so it releases its flavour then remove.
2. Stir fry the chopped mushrooms for a few minutes before adding the chopped choy sum.
3. Lightly oil a frying pan and get the rashers on the go. They only take a couple of minutes.
4. Remove the rashers, add a bit more oil to the pan and crack in the eggs. Cover with a lid.
5. Plate up. I topped with the garlic clove but I'll leave that up to you.

Scotch Woodcock Low Carb

Scotch Woodcock is a simple dish dating back to the Victorian era and can be simply summed up as anchovy toast with scrambled eggs. As we are on low carb diets here in Larry-land we need to ditch the toast in favour of a spicy Pierre Dukan Oat Bran Galette, and to add my twist I'm going to top with a crispy fried egg. "Fried!" I hear you say, "that's not low fat!". Well I have been using a refined coconut oil and you only need a little bit.

Ingredients:
(per person)

2x Eggs
Oat bran - 1.5 tbsp
Fat free Greek yoghurt - 1.5 tbsp
Patum peperium gentlemens relish
Chilli powder or a drop of chilli sauce
Paprika for dusting

Method:

1. Combine in a bowl 1 egg with the oat bran, yoghurt, and chilli. It takes a bit of mixing but you will end up with a batter like paste.
2. Grease a non-stick frying pan on medium heat and pour the batter in, spreading it around to form the pancake shape.
3. Cook for a few minutes until the batter looks set then flip.
4. When the pancake is done slide it on a plate then lightly grease the pan again.
5. Crack the other egg into the pan and cover with a lid. No need to baste with fat because the lid will ensure the top cooks whilst the bottom goes nice and crispy.
6. Ever so lightly spread the gentlemens relish over your pancake then top with the egg and a dusting of paprika.

Eggy Bread - Savoury and Sweet

For the 2015 Caravan, Camping and Motorhome show I was flattered to be asked to do a simple cooking demonstration of breakfast on a barbecue that could be done in any campsite kitchen. The great British fry up is a staple breakfast on campsites all year long and is really hard to beat but I wanted to try something different. Eggy bread is so versatile that it can be done savoury or sweet and it also overcomes the issue of cooking eggs on a barbecue without a pan! The only issue is that it can stick to the grill so you must follow these three rules of grilling:

1. Clean
2. Heat
3. Lubricate

The grill must be clean and very hot then just before placing food on it give it a liberal lubricating with a piece of kitchen roll soaked in vegetable oil. Use tongues to grip the paper if it’s too hot to handle.

For the savoury I’m doing bacon and tomato but vegetarians could try a field mushroom and tomato, for carnivores there is sausage and black pudding and if you're hungry do the lot!

Bacon and Tomato Eggy Bread Ingredients:
(per person)

1 Egg
1 tbsp Milk
1 Thick slice of bread
2 Rashers of streaky bacon
1 Slice of tomato
Greek basil leaves
Brown sauce
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Beat the egg and milk together in a bowl and soak the bread in the mixture so that both sides are covered. Set the bread aside to allow the mixture to really get absorbed.
2. Brush a little vegetable oil onto both sides of the bacon and place onto the grill of a medium heat barbecue.
3. Slice a nice big tomato about 1cm thick, brush with oil, season with a bit of salt and pepper and place on the grill.
4. Keep checking the bacon and tomato and turn when they look done. It’s about 5 minutes a side but this timing depends on the heat of your barbecue so isn’t exact.
5. Rub vegetable oil on the grill as mentioned above and place on it the eggy bread. After 2-3 minutes flip the bread to do the other side.
6. Season the eggy bread then plate up with a few basil leaves and a big dollop of brown sauce!

For breakfast pudding or for those with a sweet tooth try grilling your favourite fruit with eggy bread. I’m doing banana and maple syrup but you can try slices of apple, pear, orange or mango and use plain syrup or honey. We served it up with a dollop of cream but you could use ice cream, canned squirty cream or even a blob of custard!

Banana Eggy Bread Ingredients:
(per person)

1 Egg
1 tbsp Milk
1 Thick slice of bread
1 Banana
3 tsp Sugar
Maple syrup
Thick double cream
Vegetable oil

Method:

1. Prepare the bread as above but prior to putting on the grill sprinkle each side of the eggy bread with a teaspoon of sugar.
2. Slice the banana in half, brush the fleshy sides with oil and place on the grill flesh side down. Cook for about 2 minutes.
3. Turn the banana halves over onto the skin side and sprinkle the flesh with sugar. Continue to grill until the skin is black and is beginning to peel away from the flesh.
4. Using a spoon gently scoop the banana out, serve on the eggy bread with a dollop of your favourite cream and a drizzle of syrup. Yum!

Cooking live on stage

The fantastic audience

Wiltshire Bacon Fraise

You know I like to attempt a local dish while away in the van but all I could find for Wiltshire was Lardy Cake or these Bacon Fraises. As it was Christmas and we were feeling a bit 'larded out' the lardy cake was off the menu. These Bacon Fraises make a nice alternative for breakfast and my tribe soon scoffed them all up.

Ingredients:

Bacon
Eggs
Cream
Flour (I used self raising because it is all I had in the van. It worked well but the traditional recipe is plain flour)


Method:

1. Make a batter mix predominantly of eggs. You only need a teaspoon or so of flour and a little cream.
2. Fry the rashers of bacon in a frying pan until just about done.
3. Pour over the bacon a little of the batter, flip them over to do the other side.
4. Serve!

Alternative Bacon Fraise:

I used 4 eggs and it was way to much but it did mean i had loads of batter left over to try a modified version of the Bacon Fraise in the oven. Its a bit like a breakfast Yorkshire pudding!

Ingredients:

The same as above
Diced onion
Grated cheese


Method:

1. Dice the bacon and fry with the diced onion.
2. Add the grated cheese to the batter then pour over the bacon and onion.
3. Fry for a minute then put the frying pan in a hot oven on the top shelf. I did mine on full whack for about 10 minutes.