Breakfast, lunch, or supper? Try Shakshuka

 

Don’t you love saying that word? I like the way it rolls off the tongue. Shakshuka. In case you didn’t know, it’s an African dish that has become popular in this country, as have many dishes from Africa and the Middle East. And you really can have it for breakfast, lunch, or a light supper. I see it as part of a growing popularity of eggs as the main protein of a meal. You may see similar recipes called Eggs in Purgatory, though that dish sometimes incorporates more ingredients.

Shakshuka is basically tomatoes poached in a spicy tomato mixture. The name derives from an Arabic word meaning mixture. Once you get basic idea of shakshuka, you can tailor it to your own taste. For example, many recipes—there are lots on the internet—call for bell peppers, which I routinely leave out because neither my taste buds nor my stomach welcome them. On the other hand, I might slip an anchovy in there for earthiness.

Most recipes start with onion and garlic sauteed in olive oil. Cumin is the traditional spice, often given a quick sauté when the garlic and onions are almost limp, so that the spice releases its flavors. You might also add some chili powder or coriander or paprika—you want the warm spices of North Africa. Want more spice? A bit of red pepper or Siracha sauce. Stir in canned diced tomatoes, one or two 14 oz. cans according to how many you’re serving, and let the mixture simmer a bit until it thickens some.

Take the back of a wooden spoon and make little holes or nests in the sauce, according to the number of people you’re feeding—most people will eat one or two. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until eggs reach the desired degree of doneness—I like them soft, still runny a bit, but many prefer them almost hard. Sprinkle dish with chopped parsley or green onion, maybe some sliced avocado. Serve immediately with pita or baguette slices—something to soak up that sauce. Breakfast potatoes make a nice accompaniment.

For a variation, look online for a recipe for green shakshuka, which abandons tomatoes in favor of a spinach or chard base and incorporates cilantro and serrano chiles. This version, less common, can be topped with chopped fresh dill and of course avocados are almost a must.

The one problem, for me, with shakshuka is that no one else in the household will eat it (they don’t like poached eggs), and a whole skillet of the sauce is too much for me. Recently I ran onto a recipe for shakshuka for one and decided to try it. It called for marinara sauce as the base and chickpeas, which I don’t particularly like, so I substituted. It did seem to me that marinara sauce moved the recipe across the Mediterranean to Italy, so I decided on Italian spices. But opening a jar of marinara for one serving sounded a bit wasteful. I used a small can of tomato sauce. Since I was mixing cultures, I dusted the top with pecorino. Here’s what I did:

Shakshuka for one

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 green onion, chopped

1 large garlic clove, pressed or minced

¼ c. tomato sauce (freeze the rest for a winter soup)

¼ c. black beans

¼ tsp. mixed Italian herbs—you could just use oregano

Tiny pinch of red pepper flakes, and I mean tiny

1 large egg

Pecorino, grated

Sauté the onion and garlic in oil; add seasoning and sauté one minute. Do not let the garlic burn. Add tomato sauce and simmer a bit to thicken. (I put it into an oven-proof ramekin because with so little sauce in the skillet, it wasn’t deep enough to make a nest.) Crack the egg into the sauce, which may still be thinner than you’d like, and kind of push it around so that the egg is surrounded rather than floating on top. Take care not to break the egg. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake at 350 until egg is set to the firmness you want.

I really liked this! For my next adventure with poached eggs, I’m going to try a base of polenta with lots of cheddar and a few chopped vegetables in it. Stay tuned.

 

 

Tater Tot Casserole revisited

 

Easter Tater Tot casserole

—or what happens when you let the kids cook Easter breakfast

Easter is always a scheduling problem for us. We want a “festive” breakfast, probably a hangover from the days of hunting eggs the minutes young eyes opened. Then we have to decide which church service to attend—in my youth, there was only one and no choice; this year our church offered six services, some indoors, some outdoors, some more casual, others formal. And then my family is off to visit Christian’s family.

This year, the schedule changed…and changed again. But one thing remained: Christian was interested in Tater Tot casseroles, and I had found a promising recipe from a BBQ joint. Of course, because it was a commercial recipe it would feed Coxie’s Army. We would halve it. Jordan and Christian decided they would make it, we would “break fast” at ten-thirty, in time to be ready for the eleven o’clock virtual service. Recipe in hand, they disappeared into the house.

It wasn’t five minutes before Christian called. “What holds this together? There’s nothing to bind it. It’s going to be a pile of mush.” I said, “Eggs,” and he retorted, “Well, it doesn’t say that. How many?” I pulled the number six out of the air. He eventually used eight, which made two for each of the four of us. They made other substitutions, like pork sausage for bacon, which I found odd because the two, while both breakfast meats, are nothing alike in texture or taste. And six cups of grated cheese? No way. So here’s what they did:

Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole

8 eggs, beaten.

1 stick butter

1 can cream of mushroom soup.

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

2-1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning (we had some new they had just brought from New Orleans)

2 cups sour cream

1 can Rotel tomatoes, drained

1 cup white onion, diced.

1 lb. pork sausage, cooked, drained, and crumbled

1 bag frozen Tater Tots

Cook the pork sausage. Defrost Tater Tots and mix with 2 cups cheddar cheese and all other ingredients. (The taters ended mixed with everything else and were more like small hash browns rather than holding their original shape, but that was okay.) Pour into casserole dish and bake 30 minutes at 350. Sprinkle remaining cup of cheese over top and bake another 15 minutes, until cheese melts and begins to brown.

Let it sit and firm up for five or ten minutes before cutting. You really don’t need anything else with this—it’s got meat, potatoes, dairy, it’s hearty and filling, and it’s delicious. And it’s generous enough you could still invite half of Coxie’s Army.

There was some insider joking as we ate. When I praised the dish, Christian said, “If you want me to make it for you again, I’ll be glad to” and laughed out loud, while Jordan threw him baleful looks. It seems they were quarreling over who did what and who could really take the credit. Me? I kind of enjoyed having them cook and serve it.

Next on the breakfast menu? Matzoh brie—like migas but made with matzoh instead of tortillas. Christian is interested.

Huevos Rancho with tomatillo sauce

My day started out hectic but ended being lazy, quiet--and cold. I intended to have breakfast ready by nine, so my Houston family could be on the road by 10:30. But as the weather grew increasingly threatening, Colin said he wanted to leave by nine. I had hesitated to bang around in the kitchen for fear of waking his family, but he told me to go ahead. I was making a new recipe I somehow couldn't wrap my head around so Colin read while I cooked--and we both modified the process as we went along.

Huevos Ranchero

Tomatillo sauce - the recipe called for prepared sauce but I found a simple recipe on the web and made my own, substituting a 4 oz. can chopped chillies for one jalapeno

Corn tortillas - recipe called for the old technique of dipping into oil in skillet briefly. Instead I sprayed a cookie sheet, then sprayed each tortilla separately. Recipe called for overlapping in the cookie sheet. In retrospect, we decided we would have put the tortillas in the oven alone briefly to make them crisper.

2 cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Grated cheese (I used 8 oz. sharp cheddar)

Eggs--the recipe called for fried but I didn't think my family liked fried, and we served scrambled. Then they all sat at the table and talked about how much they liked fried eggs! Scrambling was easier.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400

Lay tortillas on cookie sheet and bake to crisp.

Mix beans and tomatillo sauce; spread over tortillas

Cover tomatillo/bean mixture with grated cheese

Bake until cheese is melted and dish is heated through.

Meantime cook eggs--we used ten eggs for six adults.

Remove tortilla/sauce/cheese base from oven and top with eggs. Pass extra tomatillo sauce if wished.

My travelers were all out the door by a little after ten. I washed dishes (lots of pans seemed involved between bacon, eggs, and baking tortilla mixture). Then spent the day at my desk, reading the newspaper and email, etc. And a long nap. Sophie, worn out by the excitement, slept all day. She enjoyed all our guests--especially the children.

 

This, that, and restaurants

I’ve been eating out a lot this week, and I’m sure my weight will reflect that. I know food critics have learned to sample rather than devour, but it seems to be an art I haven’t mastered. Still, here are some of my culinary adventures, both in restaurants and at home.

We have a new seafood restaurant where I’ve enjoyed fried oysters several times—no red sauce, though I suppose you could have it if you insisted (if you ask for ketchup, it comes in a discreet small dish—no bottles on the table at this sleek modern place). Instead they broil a lemon half which really loosens the juice and flavors the seasoned oyster just enough. At lunch the other day, I told myself I had to move beyond the oysters, so I ordered tuna Carpaccio.  I love beef Carpaccio, but was leery of tuna—turned out to be my new favorite food. Super-thin slices of tuna dressed with a light sauce and decorated with thin slices of apple, scatterings of raisins, and crumbles of blue cheese. Heavenly, and one serving was just right. The friend I was with had an ahi tuna burger—huge—and good herbed frites. Afterward, he said, “If you hadn’t eaten half my fries, you would have had a healthy lunch.” I ate modestly of the fries—nowhere near half.

One night, Betty, my adventures in dining pal, and I tried the new Bravo! where—pleasant surprise—we ran into my daughter and her husband and some of their friends. We split an order of lasagna and a Caesar side salad. Both halves were more than enough, and I wonder how anyone can eat a whole order. Made with traditional red sauce and Alfredo, the lasagna had just a faint hint of fennel—not one of my favorites but it worked well in this dish. The Caesar was creamy, powerful with garlic, and plenty of cheese. No anchovy but there was a hint of the taste in the dressing.

Of course, I can’t do better than the Old Neighborhood Grill, where I have a new favorite—fried pork cutlets. One serving is two large cutlets with brown gravy. I always dribble the second one with extra gravy and bring it home. Knowing that was waiting for me at dinner, with a small serving of German potato salad, I vowed to eat lightly at the Grill that day for lunch—but it was meatloaf day and who can resist. I asked for a box, intending to take half home but ate the whole thing. Nope, no mashed potatoes with it.

On the home front, the owner of a successful bistro published a recipe in the paper in a section suggesting innovative lunchbox food for back to school kids. His daughter sometimes gets cold glazed salmon (he uses bbq sauce but I used a soy/maple syrup/Dijon glaze) along with a salad of cucumber and tomato, seasoned only with salt and pepper and topped with crumbled feta (I didn’t have feta so used bleu). Sounds like a fancy lunch for a fifth-grader, and his Lili is one lucky girl. Elizabeth and I enjoyed my version and had it left over the next day for lunch.

Last night I fixed my first-ever ceviche. I’ve been leery of ceviche because I don’t like jalapenos and the dish so often has shrimp, which I’m allergic to. But this recipe has avocado, cilantro, lots of lime, and my new friend—raw tuna. When I found out the price of sushi grade tuna ($16/lb.) my neighbor said tilapia does great and doesn’t overpower, so tilapia it was. It was really good and tart, but five adults didn’t make a real dent in it. I brought it home but not sure how long it keeps—I’d be surprised if it lasts 24 hours.

It’s sure been a week of variety eating, topped off with bacon and eggs this morning. Jordan and Jacob were here, and she scrambled eggs. My usual breakfast of cottage cheese went by the way.

Breakfast casserole

 

The Alter clan—or most of them—had a grand morning today. We slept later than usual, and then Colin made his usual run to Starbucks—now that’s an addiction I don’t understand, but they don’t want to make coffee at home, and I’ve stopped buying it for them. I had decided to make a breakfast casserole. With twelve of us for breakfast which would be our only “big” meal at home, days ago I started hunting through my cookbook that holds breakfast dishes—several egg and sausage casseroles, an enchilada casserole, a Velveeta cheesy bacon casserole discarded because I didn’t like the picture,  casseroles that only feed six or eight. I needed something that would feed all of us without doubling the recipe, and I remembered having this casserole at Janet and Dave Douglass’ house several years ago.

It’s one of those that requires overnight refrigeration, so I had most of the parts ready last night and popped it in the fridge when we came home from Joe T. Garcia’s. I put it in a cold oven, even though it had been warming to room temperature for about forty-five minutes. I’m always afraid glass baking dishes, even Pyrex, will crack with a sudden change of heat.

At first I thought I’d fix waffles for the grandkids—ages 5-8—but I realized that would mean only seven eating a casserole meant for 12. Some of them ate heartily; some didn’t. Christian brought the remnants of a potato casserole he’d made for a business breakfast, and I made biscuits. A hearty, last-all-day breakfast.

And then they were all in a whirlwind of packing the cars and leaving. Tonight, Sophie and I are in a quiet, empty house. We’re both a little tired, and I think she’s sort of shell-shocked.

But here’s the recipe:

 

 

Sausage and Egg Casserole

 

Spread 8 slices fresh bread, cube, or croutons (about 3 cups) on bottom of greased 9x13 pan (I used garlic cheese croutons)

1-2 lbs. pork sausage (I used the full 2 lbs.), browned and drained

2 c. grated cheddar cheese (I do not like the pre-grated kind you can get in the grocery)

1 4-oz. can mushrooms stems and pieces, drained (optional and I omitted it because some of us are not mushroom eaters)

4 eggs beaten

¾ tsp. dry mustard

3 cups milk, divided

1 can cream of mushroom soup (you can get by with that even with non-mushroom eaters)

 Spread bottom of pan with bread cubes or croutons. Layer sausage, cheese and mushrooms. Beat eggs and add to 2-1/2 cups milk. Add dry mustard. Pour over the ingredients in the pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight. When you’re ready to bake it, combine the mushroom soup with the remaining half cup of milk and spread over the top.

Bake in a preheated overn at 300 degress for 1-1/2 hours. Serves 12.