food: the good, the fast and the ugly

It certainly starts out from good looking ingredients, no? In my constant trying and testing of kitchen gadgetry, I’ve recently become a fan of microwave steaming bags. They’re made from “food safe plastic”–kind of odd, they’d explicitly state that and make me worry about my regular zip top bags now. The two types I’ve tried have a little venting system, one with a perforation to make it easier to open. Turns out that steam is hot, and the dexterity needed to carefully open a steaming hot zip top bag without getting scalded is a pretty high level of difficulty.

Throw the above ingredients (1/2 cup each of eggs, cheese and ham) together in the bag, give it a little shake to mix, pop in the microwave for about 2 minutes and let it sit for 30 seconds. I was using Egg Beaters which usually come out as strange puffy/crusty messes in the microwave, but adding the filling made a huge difference. The edges were firm and the inside was creamy. It’s not going to be the prettiest thing to pop out onto your plate, but it’s very tasty.

Now, if your omelette-fu is tight, ignore this and continue to do your thing. I’ve found that if I really concentrate and re-watch the Good Eats episode about them, I can come up with a passable omelette that bears more of a resemblance to scrambled eggs because I got impatient or the heat levels were off or any number of reasons. But with the wonders of night-before-prep and tupperware, I can make this at the office and have a proper breakfast once in a while. I could also see cutting this in half and sticking it into an English Muffin or toast for a bite on the go.

So while many of my recipes are about the joy of cooking and the smell of the food and the romance of bubbling, sizzling, baking, steamy goodness? This one’s all about getting it done, and one’s kitchen skill level can be practically nil. Fast and Ugly might just become a new category for me… still talking about food here, not men. For now. 😈