Egg stuffed tomatoes

Egg stuffed tomato – sounds so obvious as soon as you say it out loud. This is a really delicious breakfast or brunch dish, and would be perfect if you were cooking for a lot of people as it isn’t much prep and is no-where near as ‘hands-on’ as most other kinds of breakfasty eggs.

This recipe is from The Vintage Tea Party Book by Angel Adoree, which I described in Interlude number 2 – the cookbooks. This isn’t the one I describe as thigh-quiveringly sensual, but it was very good – in more of a well-behaved Sunday brunch-y kind of way. 

Ingredients

1 large beef tomato per person

1 medium egg per person

1 tsp of your choice of filling – whatever you want really, or happen to find in the fridge. It could be: cheese, crème fraîche, pesto, chill sauce, leftover ratatouille, or even a couple of anchovy fillets.

Salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 200 c.

Using a sharp knife (serrated is easier for tomatoes), cut a little bit of skin of the base of each tomato so that it sits flat. Then cut the top off, creating a lid that will be used for cooking. Scoop out the seeds and middle part of the tomato flesh, creating a large well. Be careful not to go through the base.

Spoon in your choice of filling (I went for pesto, plus a little cheese on top of the egg), and then crack an egg in. Season the egg with salt and pepper, and balance the tomato lid back on top. Place the stuffed tomatoes in a lightly oiled roasting dish and cook for about 20 -25 minutes, until the white is set and the yolk is warm and runny – or however you like it.

Syrian Artichoke and Cheese Casserole

This is a recipe that I tested for the Gefiltefest cookbook. The book is a compilation of recipes from different Jewish chefs from around the world, and I was delighted to be asked to be involved with putting it together. I have written about Gefiltefest and my involvement with it before, in the Aubergines pouched in Miso post.

I think I drove the cookbook organisers a little bit crazy with my pickiness when it came to what recipes I would test – which is all a bit ridiculous seeing as my intention when I started this blog was to stretch myself with my cooking. Sorry about that guys - will be more ambitious in future, and will get over my fear of yeast!

Its funny because I never would have made this of my own volition, but I just love artichokes so much I knew that I needed to give it a go. I was a little hesitant as I usually avoid cooking with so much cheese because, well, so much cheese, and also on a practical level, it tends to split and get all oily and gross. Heston Blumenthal tackled this issue during his TV series ‘How to Cook Like Heston’. Of course I did buy 'Heston at Home' (couldn’t help myself), but haven’t attempted anything from it yet, for obvious reasons. Anyway, you know what? Despite all the so much cheese, and the simplicity of the dish – essentially it’s a big baked frittata/tortilla/Eggah – it was FANTASTIC, and everyone I made it for loved it too. So there.

This recipe is from Gil Marks. He is an award-winning writer, historian, rabbi, and chef, is a leading authority on culinary subjects and Jewish cuisine. His books include Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, Olive Trees and Honey, and The World of Jewish Cooking. I co-own Olive Trees and Honey 
(thanks to Alli), which is a lovely, vegetarian, kosher cookbook. His recipes give an interesting perspective on Sephardic cuisine especially, as I had previously only associated it with non-dairy dishes.

Gil writes:

“Artichokes are popular in various Mediterranean countries, where they are prepared in a wide variety of ways. Among my favorites, is this simple Syrian-Jewish dish. It is both a comfort food, yet capable of serving as an appetizer at parties.”

A note of artichokes: Frozen artichoke bottoms are not the easiest things to get hold of – but certainly so much easier than preparing the artichokes from fresh. I also feel that if you had whole globe artichokes, it would be a bit of a travesty to do anything with them other than eating them whole, leaf by leaf (heaven). After a little bit of research I found that I could buy the frozen bottoms in Yarden – a kosher supermarket in Golders Green. A bag cost about £6.50 and this recipe used about a third of a bag. Very useful if you want to make the stuffed artichokes in Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s new book Jerusalem, or just add them to a simple pasta dish, or whatever else you fancy.

*Update 23.01.13* I just discovered frozen artichoke bottoms in the Arabic supermarket on Willesden Green High Street (next to the bus stop by Dominos) for £1.89!!!

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

2 tablespoons (approx) olive oil


1 large yellow onion, diced

8 - 9 quartered artichoke bottoms, thawed if frozen

6 large eggs, lightly beaten


3 cups (350 grams) grated Cheddar cheese, or similar.

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 
(Gil specifies a teaspoon of salt, but this seemed like a little much for me with so much salty cheese).

Method

Preheat the oven to 175 C. Grease a 2-litre casserole.

In a large frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and fry until soft and translucent (5-10 mins). Add the artichokes and sauté until nearly tender (5-10 mins). Remove from the heat.

Combine the eggs, cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir in the artichokes.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared casserole. Bake until golden brown (35 to 40 minutes).


5.  Best served warm, also very good at room temperature. If you run a knife around the sides of the casserole, it will turn out onto a plate very nicely.

Variations


1. Reduce the eggs to 3. Combine 1 cup (145g) all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking powder, then stir in 1 cup/240 ml milk. Stir into the egg-cheese mixture.


2. Add 1 teaspoon (5 ml) dried oregano and pinch of red pepper.


3. Substitute 570g blanched chopped broccoli or spinach, excess water drained out.

4. Hannah, who is actually a little bit Syrian, said that you can also make it using some kind of cottage cheese/ ricotta instead of all the cheddar, making the whole thing a lot lighter. Presumably much more subtle a flavour though.

With foodie love and thanks to Gefiltefest for encouraging me in all things foodie and social action-y, for giving me this recipe, and letting me post it.

Green Herb Eggah

Hands down, I think that Claudia Roden is the best food writer out there. What I love is the importance she places on history, nostalgia and cultural memory. My mother just bought her new book The Food of Spain and so far I have only had a little flick through it, but it looks pretty amazing. This recipe is from the New Book of Middle Eastern Food (1985). I made this to form part of the appetizer mezze for an Arabic-themed dinner that I co-hosted recently with some pretty special people. They are also some of the best cooks I have ever had the pleasure to work with, and am trying to convince them to contribute something to this blog.

This is what Claudia has to say about Middle-Eastern eggs:

“Egg dishes are very popular throughout the Middle East. Beid, as they are called, received the full Oriental treatment. Hard-boiled and coloured yellow or brown, flavoured with cumin, coriander or cinnamon, they are sold in the streets with little cornets of rolled-up newspaper filled with seasoning to dip them in. Fried or scrambled, they are enhanced with flavourings of garlic, onions and tomatoes, lemon, vinegar or yogurt. The Arab omelette, eggah, is more like a cake. Thick and rich, it is not unlike the Spanish tortilla to which it is undoubtedly related through the Moorish conquerors of Spain. Did the Moriscos introduce the omelette to Spain, or did they bring it back to North Africa after the Reconquista? It does not appear in early Arab culinary literature, so its origin is still a matter for speculation.”

In Persia, this dish is called Kuku, and the first time I tried it was at a Persian feast a few months ago, made by Becky. It can be eaten hot or cold, and can be made in advance and warmed up again, which makes it very advantageous when cooking for a lot of people in advance, or going on a picnic. It is though, of course, much nicer on the day it is made, still a little crispy from the grill.

Here are the quantities that I used for mine, and it made enough for about 25 little squares.  Of course it does all come down to how big your frying pan is, you want the Eggah to be at least an inch thick, and bursting with filling, so that it is almost emerald green when you slice it.

12 eggs

1 bunch parsley

1 bunch coriander

½ bunch mint

5 spring onions

salt and pepper

1 tbsp olive oil, or clarified butter

½ cup milk (optional)

1 tbsp flour (optional)

Preheat the grill.

Wash and finely chop up all of the herbs, and finely slice the spring onions, using the green tops as well as the white parts. Break the eggs in a large bowl and whisk up until frothy. At this point you could whisk in the milk and flour if using. Mix in the herbs, and season.

Heat the oil in the frying pan, and add the fantastically green egg mixture when hot. Cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the eggs have set up the sides. Put the frying pan under the grill (leaving the door open is fine) and cook for another 4-6 minutes, checking every 2 minutes. When it is done it should be burnished and crisp, and slightly springy.

Serve cut into wedges or squares.

Shakshouka

There is something about a cooked breakfast or brunch that is just the best thing, eaten at any time of day. In actual fact I think that its these things that work best at precisely the wrong time of day, like how amazing cereal is in the evening. 

Claudia Roden, in The Book of Jewish Food, writes that ‘[Shakshouka] is used to all kinds of dishes involving fried vegetables with eggs broken on the top.  A variety of vegetables, from potatoes and broad beans to artichoke hearts and courgettes, are used in Tunisia, where the dish originated, but it is the version with onions, peppers and tomatoes that has been adopted in Israel as a popular evening meal.’  Claudia Roden is perhaps one of the best food writers there is, but I didn’t use her recipe, rather I took inspiration from it. Also, I have always associated Shakshoua with breakfast, not as an evening meal.  There has been a lot of stuff on the tv about Israel lately, and it inspired me to make this dish.  I’m sure that its not what the producers of The Promise or Louis Theroux had in mind, but all I can think about is holidays in Israel, and Israeli breakfasts.

This makes enough for about 3-4 eggs.  You will need a large frying pan with a lid.  As I’m sure you are aware my cooking style is not exact at all – you may want a lot more or less spices in this, its up to you.  You can make the sauce in advance, and just reheat it  when ready to cook the eggs.

    1 Red pepper – chopped into medium-sized chunks

    1 medium onion – diced

    Can chopped tomatoes

    Eggs – 1 or 2 each, depending on how hungry you are

    Tomato puree – about a dessert-spoonful

    Handful of parsley, chopped

    ½ tsp Paprika

    ¼ tsp Chilli powder

    ½ tsp Cumin

    Salt and pepper

    Olive oil

Heat olive oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and pepper on a medium heat.  After about 5 minutes, add the spices and fry for about another 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, parsley and tomato puree, season with salt and leave to simmer for at least 15 minutes.  The longer the sauce cooks, the richer it will be. 

When ready for the eggs, make some spaces in the sauce for each eggs and add one to each hollow, being careful not to split the yolk. Turn the heat up slightly and put the lid on the pan.  The eggs will take about 5 minutes to cook, but do keep an eye on them.

When the eggs are as set as you want them to be, grind some black pepper over the top and serve with some crusty bread.

There is also a nice recipe for this in Tessa Kiros’ Apples for Jam which is much simpler and uses garlic, which would be a great addition.  She also notes how great this eaten straight from the pan.  I wholeheartedly agree.

Comfort food part 2 - Fried eggs and mashed potatoes

Don’t worry I’m not going to tell you how to make either of those things.  Sometimes I worry that this blog is turning into a big vanity project, and I really don’t want that to happen.  I really don’t think I’m a particularly good cook, and I certainly don’t think that I can fry eggs better than you (dear readers).  What I’m trying to say is, if you haven’t tried this, and like the sound of it, give it a go.  As far as comfort food goes, its great.  

This is a dish that is made with left-over mashed potato.  When I made it, it was especially comforting as it was left-over mashed potato, made by someone else, you can’t really get better.  Just as long as the someone who had made it did a lovely job, with milk and butter and plenty of salt, pepper and 2 grinds of nutmeg (thanks Mum).  Throw half a chopped onion in a very large frying pan, and fry on a medium heat until half done.  Add in the mashed potato and reheat, frying the onion and getting little brown patches in the potato at the same time.  When the onion is cooked at the potato is hot – it won’t take very long, move it all to the sides on the pan and out the way.  Add a splash of oil to the centre of the pan and when its hot, fry the egg.  Serve the egg on top of the potato with black pepper and chilli sauce.