Shakshouka (Poached eggs in tomato sauce with chickpeas and feta)

I can't remember how we found this recipe, but I've been wanting to do some sort of baked egg dish for a long time. This is a variation of a very popular dish in Israel that has its origin in Tunisia and/or Libya. Both Brit and I are a fan of anything involving runny eggs and this looked especially tasty with the chickpeas and feta cheese.

Shakshouka

(Originally posted on epicurious.com)

Serves 4

Medium onion, finely chopped

5 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 jalapeños, seeded, finely chopped

15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

28 oz can whole, peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand and juices reserved

Salt and pepper

1 cup crumbled feta

8 large eggs

1 tbsp parsley, chopped

1 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Pita bread, warmed

Preheat the oven to 425 F

Heat olive olive in a large, oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onion, garlic, and jalapeños until the onion is soft (approximately 8-10 minutes). Add in the chickpeas, paprika, and cumin and cook an additional 2 minutes.

Stir in the crushed tomatoes and juices and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium-low and simmer until the sauce has thickened, approximately 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and then sprinkle the feta evenly over the sauce. Crack the eggs, one at a time, and place evenly across the dish. Bake the whole skillet in the oven until the whites are set, but the yolks are still runny. This should normally take 5-8 minutes, but took us up to 15 because we had other dishes in the oven at the same time.

Garnish with the parsley and cilantro and use the pita to mop up the sauce. NOMS! We also served this over some red potatoes that had been cubed, seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, and olive oil and then baked in the oven until tender. We also served some green beans on the side.

Brunch Tostadas!

Yes, the exclamation point is a necessity here. We accidentally didn't have time to try out the Shredded Chicken Hard Tacos recipe we had planned this week, so in a pinch we decided to use all the ingredients and substituted eggs for the chicken. It was a very exciting way to start the day.

Brunch Tostadas!

5 eggs
1 -2 tbsp skim milk
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red onion, diced & divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup salsa, divided
6 oz shredded light Mexican cheese blend
2 corn tortillas
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Sour Cream
Avocado
Lettuce, chopped
Tomato, diced


In a small saucepan, heat about 1/2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add 1/2 of the onion and saute for 2-3 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and stir until the scent of garlic is released, about 1 minute. Add black beans and stir until combined. When the black beans are heated through, stir in 1/4 cup of salsa. Reduce heat to low and cover to retain liquid.
Roughly chop the avocado. Place in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mash with a fork. It's okay if the avocado is still a little chunky - that's the best part.
Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a medium bowl. Add milk and whisk until combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Heat a pan over medium-low heat. Spray with olive oil spray to lubricate. Add eggs. Wait about 1 minute and then stir the eggs with a wooden spoon, gently scraping the bottom of the pan. Repeat this process until the eggs are scrambled and all the liquid has been cooked/evaporated, about 10-12 minutes.
While the eggs are cooking, heat a small pan over medium high heat. Spray quickly with olive oil spray. Add one corn tortilla and toast until both sides are brown and the tortilla is almost crispy.
Place the toasted tortilla on a plate. Spread 1/2 of the mashed avocado mixture on the tortilla. Add the black beans, sprinkle the cheese, then cover with eggs. The lettuce, tomato and sour cream will top off a deliciously complete brunch meal. Too bad we didn't have any guests to share this with! We'll be sure to make it again sometime.

Mexican Baked Eggs

Tonight's recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs: Closet Cooking. This is a fairly standard tex-mex dish in that it resembles nothing authentically Mexican, yet incorporates all the ingredients that are commonly stereotyped as being south of the border. No matter the authenticity, this turned out pretty well and had some fantastic flavors to it. We served it over some roast potatoes I had baked in olive oil, salt, pepper, tons of minced garlic, and smoked paprika. For future meals we would add some more protein with some chicken sausage pieces to help make the dish even more filling.

Mexican Baked Eggs
(originally found on the Closet Cooking blog)

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp chipotle chili powder
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed and diced
1 (28 oz) can of diced tomatoes
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1-2 tsp oregano
1 handful of cilantro, chopped
4 eggs
Grated cheese (we used a reduced fat Mexican blend)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Saute the onions in the oil over medium heat until soft. Add in the garlic, cumin, chipotle powder and jalapeno. Saute for a minute and stir in the tomatoes with their liquid and the black beans. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro and oregano.

Closet Cooking's blog entry actually forgot to include the oregano in the instructions, so I figured this would be the appropriate time/place to add them in. None of the blog comments mention the missing oregano, so I'm not sure what other people did. Oops!

Transfer half of the sauce to a baking dish (I used an 8x8 inch dish) and crack 4 eggs directly on top. Spoon the rest of the sauce around the eggs and bake 8-10 minutes, or until the eggs begin to set. Generously sprinkle cheese on top and broil until the cheese is super melty. The egg whites should be fully cooked at this point.

Poached egg on Toast with Chipotle Mayo, Bacon, and Avacado

I've become a huge fan of the Closet Cooking blog and I'm always impressed with how the recipes turn out. After seeing this blog entry I had to try it myself and thought it would be great as a brunch entree. Instead, we cooked this as a dinner entree (who doesn't like breakfast for dinner?) and I'm so glad we didn't wait for the weekend.

Poached egg on Toast with Chipotle Mayo, Bacon, and Avacado
(Originally posted as a Closet Cooking blog recipe)

Serves 2

4 eggs
4 slices of bread, toasted
Chipotle lime mayo (see below)
2 avocados, sliced
8 slices of turkey bacon, cooked

Poach your eggs in a large pot of boiling water. We poached ours by adding some vinegar to the water, cracking the egg in, and using a spoon to try to contain the yolk and white together while the white cooks. After 2-3 minutes the white should be cooked and carefully remove the egg without cracking it.
Assemble your sandwich and be satisfied!


Chipotle lime mayo

1/2 cup mayo (we use the low-fat TJs variety)
1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, chopped
2 tsp adobo sauce
Juice from half a lime

Mix everything together.


The chipotle mayo is really awesome and a great idea. It would go well on a variety of sandwiches and burgers as well. The taste from the runny poached egg, avacado, bacon, and mayo is so good. I can't wait to make this dish again and especially during one of our regular brunches.