Onion-omelette-sandwich with mushrooms (havita i m batzal b' pita)

I took a Middle eastern cookbook from the library for AWED, but I was attracted to a lot of recipes from the book. So I decided to pick another recipe from the same book for WBB - Express breakfast theme. This is an omelette which is very easy to prepare with the beautiful flavours of cumin and thyme blended together to form something exceptional! Indians routinely use cumin in their cooking but thyme is not something that is common in Indian cuisine. But the Middle eastern cuisine combine this spice and herb artistically to produce a dramatic flavour combo. This is a must try for everyone because 1) its very easy, not at all time-consuming, 2) because I highly recommend it (because you do not need any hi-fi ingredients except for probably the thyme, which most of you culinary masters would already have!) :-)! The recipe I am giving here is the halved recipe. The cookbook actually mentions serving the omelette in a pita bread and adding the mushrooms into the pita pocket. I served the mushroom mixture in between the halves of the omelette and enjoyed with some toasted wheat bread. JM and I shared this, even then it was pretty filling. Go on make it now, (I am pretty sure) you would like it! I am sending this to Raaga of the Singing Chef who is hosting WBB - Express Breakfast.

Recipe (Makes 1-2 servings) :

Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Small mushrooms - 3-4 oz, thickly sliced
Ground cumin - 1/4 tsp
Dried thyme - 1/4 tsp
Onion - 1/2 medium, minced
Eggs - 2
Italian parsley - 1 1/2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Ground pepper - as needed
Pita bread - 1 or 2, halved

Method:

Heat a bit of the oil in a heavy medium skillet.

Add mushrooms, salt, pepper, cumin and thyme.

Saute over medium-high heat for 3 minutes or until just tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

Remove to a plate and keep aside.

Heat a tbsp of oil in the skillet.

Add onion and cook over medium heat until tender and beginning to turn golden, stirring occasionally.

Leave the onions in the skillet.

Thoroughly beat eggs with salt, pepper and parsley.

Add the remaining oil to the skillet and heat over medium heat and swirl the pan slightly to coat the sides of the pan as well.

Pour the egg mixture on top of the onions.

Cook without stirring, occasionally lifting the edges of the omelette and tipping the skillet so that the uncooked part of the egg runs to the edge of the pan.

When the top of the omelette is nearly set, turn it over to cook the second side over medium-low heat for 30-60 seconds or until just set.

Cut the omelette into wedges and slip into a pita bread.

Add the mushroom mixture and enjoy!

Source: Feast from the Mideast by Faye Levy.


Tips:

1. I made the eggs without parsley, but added some green onions (green part only) to the beaten egg mixture.
2. The omlette is very light, so if be gentle while turning the omelette over (mine tore, but I have no problem with that!). The book suggest slipping the set omelette on to a plate, then inverting it over another plate and then slipping it back into the pan, to cook the second side.
3. The picture shows a half of the omelette topped with sauteed mushrooms with the other half folded over.
4. We had it with regular toasted honey wheat bread.
   

Yesterday I received the "Rocking Girl Blogger" award from Sukanya of Hot n' Sweet bowl. I appreciate it, Sukanya, thanks a lot! I would like to pass it on to

Meeso of My Humble Kitchen
Madhuram of Eggless cooking
Purnima of Fantasy Cooking
Swati of Chatkhor
Bhags of Crazy curry

I have also been tagged by Sukanya of Hot n' Sweet Bowl. I love doing these memes (atleast for now!), they are fun, arent they!? I would like to tag,

Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner
Happy cook of My Kitchen Treasures
Shubha of Chutki Bhar Pyar
Skribles of Food with a pinch of love
Rachel of Tangerine's kitchen

I hope you girls will take upon my tag. It would be great if you could. Now here goes mine!

WARNING: It might be a boring read for some! In that case, please do NOT read any further!! ;-)

What was I doing ten years ago?

I was doing my schooling (+1/ 11th) in Trivandrum, Kerala.

What are five things on my to-do list for today (non-work related)?

I wrote this on Wednesday, so I am talking about the to-do list for Wednesday!

1. Take lil LM to the park for a play-date.
2. Blogging and blog-hopping
3. Clean the house before JM comes! ;-)
4. Do a little bit of reading
5. Keep in touch with my friends (old and new) through mails and messages!

What are five snacks that I enjoy?

1. Nuts
2. Spicy mixture with peanuts and those sev kind of things
3. Banana chips
4. Murukku
5. Anything sweet that I can get my hands on ;-)
I guess I like everything! ;-)

What things would I do if I were a billionaire?

I would definitely travel more, do a lot of shopping and bring you all to my big mansion so that we can have a world bloggers meet! ;-)

Places I have lived at?

Trivandrum - India
Cochin - India
Kottayam - India
Gurgaon - India (3 months)
Bangalore - India
Minnesota - USA
Spent 3 yrs shuttling between Cochin, Kottayam and Bangalore!

Jobs I have had:

A full-time wife and mom (if you would call that a job! Being a daughter and a sis was not that hard ;-)), but seriously, I didnt get a chance because I moved to US immediately after my post graduation. If it were not for these visa restrictions......!! I wish I would get one soon!

Turkish tomato pilaf (domatesli pilav)

This is another one of those recipes that I got to try just because of an event in the blogsphere - AWED, the brainchild of DK of Culinary Bazaar. I chose to make this pilaf because it seemed very simple with uncomplicated steps, and simple ingredients.I dont know if the method of preparation is different from Indian tomato rice because I am not an expert in that area - other than an expert in enjoying tomato rice, I dont know how it is made. This is an excellent recipe to make when you are time-pressed but would like some change from routine menu. I was very happy with the results because it was really tasty, the highlight of the flavor being that the rice is cooked in a broth rather than water. It really was super tasty!! It had the tangy flavor of the tomato, but also the wonderful flavor of the broth and they both blended really well. I enjoyed it a lot and so did my little girl. Throw in a few fried cashewnuts and the pilaf is elevated to another level! It goes really well with yoghurt based sauces like cucumber-mint raita or plain yoghurt as such. Off it goes to AWED - Middle Eastern Cuisine over to Siri's corner. Tomato lovers need not fret, this is the recipe for you (and others too ;-)) ! Enjoy!!

Recipe (Makes 6 servings) :

Tomatoes - diced, 1 can (15 oz), drained and liquid reserved

Onion - 1 small, chopped (3/4 cup)

Vegetable oil/ Butter - 2 tbsp/ 2-4 tbsp

Garlic - 2 cloves, chopped

Long grain rice - 1 1/2 cups

Vegetable broth - 3 cups

Salt - to taste

Ground pepper - as needed

Method:

Heat 2 tbsp oil or butter in a heavy saucepan.

Add onion to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until soft but not brown.

Now add the garlic, tomatoes, salt and pepper.

Heat until sizzling.

Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until thick, crushing large tomato chunks with the spoon.

Mix in the rice over medium-low heat until coated with the tomato mixture.

Fry for 2 minutes, stirring.

Add the broth, liquid from the diced tomatoes, salt and pepper.

Stir once or twice and bring to a boil.

Cover and simmer over very low heat for 18-20 minutes or until the rice is just tender.

Adjust seasonings.

Let pilaf stand, covered for 10 minutes.

Fluff the rice lightly with fork.

Serve warm with kababs, stews and or with mint-cucumber raita.

Source: Feast from the Mideast by Faye Levy.

Tips:

1. Chicken broth can be used instead of vegetable broth or a combination of broth and water can be used.
2. The cookbook hints that this pilaf goes very well with kababs and stews.
3. I used basmati rice for the recipe.

I am also sending this to the "Mixed rice varieties" event at EC's Simple Indian Food blog.

UPDATE: I am sending this to "Rice Mela" hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 all seasons.