Egg Muffins

I often have bouts of high energy when I accomplish a lot of things during the day. On the other hand, there are days when I feel like doing nothing except reading and watching TV. On weekends my dream is to wake up to a cup of coffee with breakfast in bed. For some reason my husband did that for a year in our more-than-a-decade-long-relationship, not a day more, not a day less. In fact, in those days, I was stricter about our dietary choices because of his blood cholesterol level. I remember how he would reminisce about adding bacon in his omelette without giving it any thought in his pre-wife days. Strange thing is despite having bacon in the refrigerator these days, he seemed to have lost any interest in making a weekend breakfast. Guess I pushed him too hard 😄

However, I refuse to eat the same breakfast on weekends. So I want my weekends to feel different from weekdays. The only problem being the fact that I lose all energy by Friday night and wake up with no plans on Saturday. I then end up just rummaging through the pantry/refrigerator and make something with whatever I can find. One of these ad-hoc ideas were these egg muffins. They are quick, tasty and hassle-free.

Ingredients:
Eggs
Chopped onions
Chopped veggies of your choice, I used spring onions, bell pepper, green chillies, cilantro
Shredded Mozzarella
Salt, pepper

Recipe:
Lightly fry chopped onions, spring onions, bell peppers, green chilli, cilantro, shredded mozzarella with a pinch of salt or per taste
Bake for 20-25 mins, at 350. I used a 12 cup muffin pan. Fill 2/3rd of the cups leaving the muffins some room to rise

Perfect with Coffee!

Swiss Roll

I grew up in a large extended family in Kolkata. Despite being the only child I had the chance to experience growing up with siblings, so to speak. Because of that I was always taught to share my toys or candies with them. There were a few things that I hated sharing but being the eldest one I was left with no choice. One of these was the swiss roll. I remember the days my Aunt would drop me and my brother (her son) off at the school bus. There was a bakery on the way to the bus stop from where she used to buy swiss rolls for our lunch. My brother would immediately start eating and then ask for half of mine. I wasn't thrilled by his lack of self control but shared regardless. 

Ever since those childhood days the Swiss roll has been one of my favorites. Although, it is called the Swiss roll it is believed to be originated in Central Europe, not exactly in Switzerland. There was something similar in Britain called the Jelly Roll. 

Ingredients:

1/3 cup cake flour

3 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 cup and 1 tbsp granulated white sugar, keep the sugar divided

4 large eggs

1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Ingredients for filling:

1 cup heavy whipping cream (40% butterfat)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp apricot jelly

Method:

I used a baking pan about 11"/15". It's a good idea to use a greased parchment paper for these types of soft cakes

Keep the eggs cold as well as the whisk and the bowls

separate 2 egg whites from the yolks (make sure you don't have any yolk in the whites)

With the 2 yolks add the remaining 2 eggs and the additional yolk

Start whisking while the eggs and the attachment are still cold 

After the eggs turn pale yellow start adding in the sugar bit by bit, whisk until fluffy

Then mix the vanilla extract

Mix flour mixture in and fold gently so the eggs don't get deflated

Gradually mix the entire flour mixture until mixed well

In a separate bowl add the egg whites and beat well until foamy and soft peaks form, add the cream of tartar as you start beating and add the sugar slowly as you beat

Now add this foamy white to the egg-flour mix

Fold gently until incorporated well

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 6-10 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean

Cool it down a little bit, and put another parchment paper on top and start rolling the cake while still warm, that way it will prevent the cake from breaking when rolling it later when cold

Now keep it on a cooling rack until it comes back to room temperature

Filling:

In the meantime you can make the filling

Beat the whipping cream until medium peaks form

Gradually add the sugar in, while beating

Add the vanilla extract

Don't make the filling sit for too long

Making the Roll:

Now make the cake flat and pour the filling. Flatten with a spatula
Lightly spread the apricot jelly on over the vanilla filling

Then roll back

Refrigerate the roll before serving