Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce

Hi! It's been ages, actually I don't really need to say that. I have made a bunch of things and keep telling myself "I must blog that" but never seem to get around to it but here I am. I've been on holidays for the past 10 days. Well, sort of, since I did go to work for 3 days but it was fine because I got a heap of stuff done and didn't have to put up with anyone else. Unfortunately I have to go back to work proper tomorrow. I don't really feel much like interacting with people so I might end up in my separate little office on the guise of finishing stuff I didn't get done in those three days. I suppose it will depend on how I am feeling tomorrow.

It is raining here today which makes it a lovely day to be sitting here writing. I will most likely end up on the lounge reading and/or napping at some point today. Although there is house work that needs doing. I keep telling myself that I can do it later however the problem with that is that it continues to build up. Yes, you can do it later but it becomes a bigger job. Will get out of the chair and off here soon.

I started this with this Eggs in Purgatory recipe from Nigella. As I started to cook it dawned on me that it was a pretty boring recipe so I just started adding things. It turned out really well so I thought that I should sit down & blog as quickly as possible so that I remember it. One thing I did put in it was  3 smoked mushrooms. I bought a jar of them when I was on my cruise to New Zealand. That was over a year ago now and I hadn't opened the jar. They added a lovely little smoky flavour, not too much, just a hint. I will make this again. The sauce will make enough for two eggs, possibly 3. I cooked 1 egg in it and scooped it out. I will use the sauce again, probably tomorrow. Next time I would either make half the amount or, more likely, take out half the mix before cooking the egg. I would also sprinkle with chopped parsley but I didn't have any inside and it is raining out there.

Eggs poached in tomato sauce

1/2 onion, diced

1 garlic clove, crushed

shake of chilli flakes

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 roasted capsicum, torn into pieces

1 zucchini, grated

125g can four bean mix

3 smoked mushrooms, chopped

400 g can crushed tomatoes

1 egg

Saute onion 1 - 2 minutes, add garlic and chilli flakes and saute another minute.

Add remaining ingredients. Cook 10 minutes.

Make an impression in the sauce and crack egg into it. Cover and cook 2 - 3 minutes. Until the white is firm and yolk still runny. I cooked a little bit too far today. Serve on toast.

Good Taste - Sweet & Sour Eggs

Hmm, I was going to post a recipe from every Good Taste magazine since I started my subscription, you may have noticed that I haven't done that. I actually hadn't realised that I wasn't cooking from them until I was going through the stack of magazines building up on my coffee table. They are filled with good food and I have good intentions of making things but just never seem to get them made, exactly what I was doing with delicious magazine before I started my blog. I admit to being rather lazy with cooking lately or should I say that I have been making rather boring things, nothing worth photographing and blogging about. 

I have marked several things that I would like to make from this issue. The first is Cauliflower steaks with olive and herb salsa. The cauliflower is cut into thick slices, browned in a pan and then finished off in the oven. The salsa is made from green olives, oil, lemon juice, capers, parsley and oregano. I would make with kalamata olives but that is only because I really don't like green olives. I think this would be perfect with roast chicken. 

A nice quick lunch or dinner could be made from the Baked spinach & cheese mushrooms. They look to be quick, easy and tasty. They are a bit light on the vegetables, just the mushroom and spinach, so serving with salad or some extra veg would be a good idea. Another quick meal would be the African vegetable stew with sweet potato & peanuts, using curry powder and coconut milk for the flavour and creaminess. Again it is a bit light on the vegetables although it does include carrot, celery & spinach as well as the pumpkin. I am sure that I could pack a few extras in there. 

What I ended up making was the Sweet & sour eggs. I wasn't exactly sure about the combination but wow, it was so good. There was a nice hit of heat, I was a bit on the conservative side but could have added more, The sour of the tamarind and the sweet of the sugar were just perfect. Pairing all of that with fried eggs was fabulous. I made it for breakfast yesterday but I easily could have made it for lunch or dinner. I just had it on its own but if I was to have it for lunch or dinner it would probably need to be served with something else, I am not sure what that would be though. It might go well with some sort of rice thing. I will definitely be making these again. 

Sweet & Sour Eggs

125 ml peanut oil (I used grapeseed) 

6 eggs 

1 brown onion

3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp sambal oelek

1/2 c water

1 tbsp brown sugar 

1 tsp tamarind puree

2 dried bay leaves 

White pepper 

Heat oil in wok. Crack in egg and fry until starting to brown and turn cooking for 30 sec, remove and cook remaining eggs. 

Add onion, cook stirring until colouring then add garlic and sambal and stir to combine. Add water, sugar, tamarind and bay leaves and boil. Return eggs to the wok and simmer until it starts to thicken. Season. 

Baked egg & chorizo tomato

Back to breakfasts, I think I may have mentioned, ad nauseum, that I love cooked breakfasts. I don't do it nearly enough. Weekends are usually when I take the time to make something delicious. During the week it is usually porridge or toast so it is always nice to have something a bit more substantial. Well, not so much substantial but more interesting. Lately I have been sticking to the toast or porridge on the weekends as well. I also had two weeks off work and did very little in the way of cooking, breakfasts or anything else. 

This was such and easy breakfast to make but every so tasty. I have used chorizo with eggs on a number of occasions. I find that it is a really good combination. Chorizo is not something that should be on the menu for breakfast every day but it is certainly nice occasionally and certainly adds some zing to the dish. 

Baked egg & chorizo tomato

Serves 1

1 large tomato

1/4 chorizo, finely sliced 

1 egg

pepper 

Slice top off tomato and scoop out the seeds and some of the flesh. 

Line with chorizo and then crack egg into the tomato and sprinkle with pepper (a sprinkle of paprika would be good too). 

Bake at 160 C for 15 - 20 minutes or until the egg is done to your liking. 

Serve with toast (sourdough would be great). 

Scrambled eggs with corn & chorizo

Back to breakfast. I love doing cooked breakfasts. I don't do them often though. It is usually because it takes me so long to decide what to make it is lunch time. LOL 

For this one though I just decided that I would through some things together. I actually really like creamed corn on toast for breakfast but I have at least 2 dozen eggs in the fridge so also wanted to use some of them. There was also a small piece of chorizo so I decided to us that up as well and so breakfast was created. It was so very good and would definitely add corn to scrambled eggs again. 

Scrambled eggs with corn & chorizo

(Serves 1)

2 eggs 

1/4 chorizo, finely chopped

1/2 a 125 g can creamed corn

1 tbsp ricotta 

salt & pepper to taste 

Sourdough toast and parmesan to serve

Over a medium heat cook the chorizo, add beaten eggs and let cook for a while then fold to scramble. Combine corn & ricotta and then fold through eggs. Serve immediately on toast. 

Creamed Eggs on Toast

I made this ages ago and plan on making it again for breakfast tomorrow. I love a cooked breakfast especially anything involving eggs. Before I made this I had made myself some boiled eggs for breakfast one morning. While I was boiling eggs I decided to do some extra so that I could made egg sandwiches for lunches. I didn't end up getting around to making the sandwiches so I decided that I would use up the hard boiled eggs some way for breakfast. This is a really simple but very tasty dish. I think when I make it again I might pep it up a bit with a little bit of cayenne pepper or perhaps some curry powder instead of the mustard. 

Creamed Eggs

3 hard boiled eggs, roughly chopped
1 green onion, very finely sliced (I cut into quarters and then sliced it)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 c milk ( or as much as necessary)
1 tbsp mustard (or to taste)
salt & pepper, to taste
1 tbsp chopped parsley

Melt butter in small sauce pan over a medium heat. Add green onion and cook for a minute. Add flour and cook stirring for a further minute. Add milk slowly while stirring. Cook until it boils and thickens. If it is too thick add a bit more milk. Stir through mustard and salt & pepper. Remove from the heat and gently fold in chopped eggs and allow to warm through. Serve with toast and chopped parsley.

Poached Eggs with Wilted Baby Spinach

A slow start to this month again. I was sick for a few days and have had a bit of writers block but for the most part I have just been a bit lazy....oops. 

I love all the different breakfast recipes that are in Bills Sydney Food and I really cannot wait to make those that I haven't already done. There are only two recipes in the breakfast section that I worry about making. The first is the Jam Doughnuts. I am not particularly worried about the yeasted dough more the deep frying part of it. I don't have a deep fryer and I don't really deep fry anything. The second recipe that I have been worried about is this one. 

I think that I have expressed my concern about making poached eggs having never been successful at it before. I am not sure if it was just a fluke or just that Bill's instructions really resonated or that the eggs were fresher than ones I had used before but this time it just worked perfectly. I was so pleased with the results, although I haven't tried them again yet so I am not sure if it was just a fluke. I will definitely try though. I really enjoyed the combination with the spinach as well too. This was definitely my idea of a perfect breakfast. 

Poached Eggs with Wilted Baby Spinach

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 10 g butter 
• 200 g baby spinach 
• 1 tsp lemon juice 
• 1 clove garlic, crushed 
• salt & pepper 
• 2 thick slices of toast, to serve 

Method: 

• Fill a pan, I used my saute pan, with 5 cm of water and bring to the boil. 
• Immediately remove from the heat and add the eggs, cracking just above the surface of the water and letting the egg slide into the water. 
• Cover with a lid and leave for 3 - 5 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs. 
• Meanwhile, melt butter in a pan and saute spinach. Add lemon juice, garlic and season with salt & pepper to taste. 
• Place spinach on toast and remove eggs from the water with a slotted spoon and place on top of spinach. 
• Top with a grind of black pepper just before serving. 

Open-faced Omelette with Fresh Tomato, Emmenthal & Rocket

Hope that you all had a good breakfast this morning. I made this weeks ago now...wish I had made it again this morning. 

Open-faced Omelette with Fresh Tomato, Emmenthal & Rocket

Per person (I think it is enough for two)

Ingredients: 

• 3 eggs 
• a pinch of salt 
• 10 g butter
• 2 spring onions, chopped 
• 1 ripe tomato, sliced 
• 2 slices of Emmenthal (I did have this so used whatever cheese I had) 
• 1 handful rocket, tossed in a little olive oil and sea salt
• black pepper

Method: 

• Beat eggs, salt and 2 tbsp water until just combined. 
• Melt butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. 
• Pour in egg mixture. 
• As it starts to cook add spring onions then tomato slices and cheese and cook for 2 - 3 minutes. 
• Place under preheated grill to finish off. 
• Top with rocket & black pepper and serve immediately. 

Bill's Scrambled Eggs

So, I am going to try out the post scheduling thing. Set for a week and see what happens. I should probably set it for a shorter length of time but I really want to test it out. Perhaps I should do a couple of posts and schedule them...hmmm, will see how I am going at the end of this one.  Things keep on keeping on here at the moment. Hope that in a week I will be feeling better but in case I am not then at least there will be a post popping up.

I decided to make another of Bill Granger's breakfast recipes, in fact I made this quite a while ago. I had a glut of eggs so decided to make Bill's famous scrambled eggs. I had heard quite a lot about them and just had to find out what the fuss was. I am quite partial to scrambled eggs. I do make them for breakfast on weekends quite often. So nice on a lovely piece of wholemeal or grainy toast. Having said that, Bill's version packed full of cream and butter is not for every day, nor even every week for me. No more than once a month for me. It was a fabulous version and an excellent way to cook the eggs. I did cook mine for a bit longer than Bill suggested. I am not keen on scrambled eggs that are too soft and oozy so tend to cook them until they are a bit firmer. I served it on some lovely toast topped with chilli relish. A wonderful breakfast on a weekend. 

Scrambled Eggs 

Serves 1

Ingredients 

• 2 Eggs
• 1/3 cup Cream
• 1 Pinch of Salt
• 10 g Butter

 Method: 

1. Place eggs, cream and salt in a bowl and whisk together.
2. Melt butter in a frying pan.
3. Pour in egg mixture and cook for 20 seconds, or until gently set around the edge.
4. Stir the eggs with a wooden spoon, gently bringing the egg mixture on the outside of the pan to the centre.
5. Leave to cook for 20 seconds longer and repeat the folding process.
6. When the eggs are just set turn out onto a plate and serve with hot toast.

December 2006 - Soft Breakfast Tacos

Happy Christmas eve to everyone out there reading. I hope that you are having a great one. I am so glad that I had the day off work today as I actually managed to get a whole bunch of stuff done. I got all my washing and cleaning done, something I haven't done in just one day for ages. Plus I made my Christmas meal for myself. Half of my family live overseas and when with them we always had  a big dinner on Christmas eve. I decided to go with that this year as I will be spending Christmas day out and I still wanted to get my usual Christmas treats, like my once a year Jellied Carrot Salad. Not your usual salad fare but it is something that both my gramma and mum used to make and pretty much takes me straight back to childhood. The reason it only gets make once a year is because it is made with jelly, crushed pineapple with juice, sugar, grated carrot and a whole bunch of whipped cream. Definitely not an every day thing but wonderful for a once-a-year Christmas treat and I enjoyed it a lot tonight.

I have actually made two dishes from this issue. The first was Valli Little's Tamarind-roasted Vegetables. I am sure that I must have done something wrong when I made this as it was just awful. In fact, I couldn't even eat it. The favour was hideous and it was so overcooked and some parts were burnt. Okay, so the overcooked and burnt were probably my fault, I should have taken it out earlier. I have a feeling that the taste problem was the tamarind. I have always bought tamarind concentrate from Herbie's Spices but I was out and I found some in the supermarket and decided to give it a try. It seemed different than the stuff from Herbie's. It was definitely a lighter colour. I will be getting more from Herbie's and will try it again because I have made a tamarind potato dish before and it was fantastic so I am determined that this one will be too.

The other recipe from this issue was one that I have always wanted to make, Kate Tait's Soft Breakfast Tacos. After the disaster with the vegetables I just wanted to make something else from the issue as there is a lot of nice things in there. This was just perfect. I made this for breakfast this morning. I didn't have any cream so just used milk which makes it a bit healthier, especially since I got a large dose of cream tonight. I also substituted the coriander for parsley, which I have an abundance of in the garden. In the salsa I just used the tabasco sauce rather than chilli and tabasco sauce and it was spicy enough for me. I really enjoyed it. It was very easy and quick to make and was sufficiently filling for breakfast. I will definitely be making these again. 

August 2008 - Gypsy Eggs

I meant to get this post done before I went to work this morning but some how it just didn't happen. I was up in plenty of time but I just didn't get around to doing it. 

There were some interesting recipes in issue #74. When first going through the issue again I had two recipes already marked to try. The first was Sumac lamb with carrot rosti. I purchased sumac a while ago to try out another recipe from delicious. At the time it was the first time that I had used it and I was impressed with the citrusy tang to it. I have used it in various other recipes since then, including sprinkling it on potatoes and then drizzling with olive oil before roasting. I was interested with the combination with lamb. The carrot rosti also sounded like a nice side dish, although the recipe looked like it would make a huge amount and might be a bit difficult to reduce, although I am sure that I could if I really tried. 

I decided to go with making Valli Little's Gypsy Eggs for lunch on Saturday as I had everything to make it with the exception of the prosciutto/jamon but I did have bacon so used that instead. It was easy quick and tasty. I served it on some toasted English muffins and it was perfect for lunch. I halved the recipe and made it in a slightly bigger dish with two eggs. I saved the leftovers for Sunday breakfast. The egg didn't reheat all that well, but the tomato/chorizo base was fine.

June 2010 - Creamy Onion Tart in Walnut Pastry

On to the final issue for June. I cannot believe how quickly this month has passed. In fact it is hard to believe that I am half way through my back issues. I have discovered some wonderful recipes, and not just the ones that I have actually made and posted but all the others that I have marked to make as well. I really hope that I will go back more often and look through the back issues for some thing to make.

I have to admit that besides Valli Little's Spanish Pear Tarts with Pedro Ximenez syrup on the cover I didn't really consider any other recipe than the one I made from issue #94. I am sure there are plenty of good recipes in there and flicking through some things do look quite good. However Debbie Major's Creamy Onion Tart in Walnut Pastry caught my eyes and after that I wasn't interested in anything else. This was a great recipe and super easy to make. The pastry was a bit salty, I wouldn't add the salt when making it next time. The filling was fairly rich given all the cream and eggs in it but it was definitely worth it. I had it for dinner but I think that it would make a wonderful lunch.

Creamy Onion Tart in Walnut Pastry

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 30 g unsalted butter
  
• 4 large onions (about 450 g total), thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 3 large eggs
• 300 ml thickened cream (I used pure cream)
  
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Walnut pastry

• 175 g plain flour
• 1/2 cup (50 g) toasted walnuts
  
• 100 g chilled unsalted butter, chopped

Method:

• For the pastry: place flour, walnuts and 1/2 tsp salt in a food processor and blend until nuts are finely chopped.
  
• Add butter and process until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
  
• Add 1 1/2 tbsp cold water and process until mixture comes together in a ball.
  
• Wrap dough in plastic and chill for 15 minutes.
  
• Roll between two pieces of baking paper until 5 mm thick. Line 23 cm loose-bottomed tart pan. Chill for 30 minutes (I put it in the freezer for 10 instead).
  
• Meanwhile, melt butter in a large pan over a low heat.
  
• Add onion and a pinch of salt, cook for 30 minutes stirring occasionally, until onion is very soft but not browned.
  
• Preheat oven to 200 C.
  
• Line pastry shell with baking paper and pie weights or rice and bake for 20 minutes. Remove paper and bake for a further 5 minutes .
• Reduce oven to 190 C.
  
• Mix onions with parley, salt and pepper and then spread over the base of the tart shell.
  
• Beat eggs, cream and nutmeg together with a fork and pour over the onions.
  
• Bake for 25 minutes or until set and lightly browned.
  

June 2006 - Greek Egg & Feta Pies

Okay, so I really want to get another post done but I am not feeling too well tonight so I will keep it reasonably short. Although I must say that it really will not be hard to keep it short on this one. I certainly wasn't overwhelmed for choice of vegetarian meals from issue #50. There are only 7 vegetarian recipes from the 48 recipes listed in the index, excluding desserts and side dishes. That really is a disappointing number.

I was going to make Valli Little's Spiced Haloumi Pasta. An intriguing mixture of pasta, haloumi and Indian spices served with naan and mango chutney. I was unable to find any fresh curry leaves (or dried for that matter) so I decided to leave this one for a time when I am able to get some. I have bought fresh curry leaves locally in the past so I am assuming that it is a seasonal product and this just isn't the right season.

I ended up making Jill Dupleix's Greek Egg & Feta Pies. These were incredibly simple and very tasty. I only did two things differently. I used puff pastry instead of phaffing around with filo and I chopped up the black olives and sprinkled them on top before baking. I would definitely make these again. Jill suggested serving with salad but it was cold so I cooked some beans and reheated the last of the Airport Potatoes to go with them.

Greek Egg & Feta Pies (my way, LOL)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet puff pastry (thawed)
  
• 4 large eggs
  
• 30 g feta, crumbled (I am not sure how much I used, I think I could have used more)
  
• 1 green onion, green part only finely sliced
• 4 black olives finely chopped

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 C.
  
• Divide puff pastry into four. Roll each piece slightly and then use to line a well greased texas muffin pan.
  
• Crack egg into each of the pastry cases being careful not to break the yolk.
  
• Sprinkle with feta, green onions and olives. Season with pepper.
  
• Bake in oven for 15 minute or until pastry is golden and eggs are set.
  

April 2007 - Coddled Eggs

While looking through issue #59 for what to make it wasn't really a difficult decision. As I thought that it was about time that I picked something that could be made for breakfast/brunch again.

I did, however, briefly consider the slow-cooked lamb shoulder with pumpkin agrodolce and wilted spinach from the feature article on the launch of the Dutch edition of delicious and Jamie Oliver's Fifteen in Amsterdam. The lamb is rubbed with a combination of fennel seeds, garlic, oil and salt and slow cooked. The pumpkin is slices of pumpkin in coated in a mixture of herbs spices, onion, garlic, vinegars and sugar and then roasted. It all sounds so full of flavour and a wonderful meal to make on a weekend when you have plenty of time. I had already decided to make a lamb dish from the previous issue though so wanted something different from this one.

There were two options that I though would work for breakfast/brunch. The first was Valli Little's Egg & Bacon Pizzas. Lovely little individual pizzas topped with sundried tomato pesto, mozzarella, eggs, bacon and cherry tomatoes. They looked really nice and I am sure they would make a nice lunch or a light dinner but I wanted a more traditional breakfast food. So I decided to go with Jamie Oliver's Coddled Eggs. I had never made coddled eggs before. I have had them but had just never made them. I really like coddled eggs but after making Jamie's recipe and then looking around at a few other recipes his seems to lack one ingredient, a drizzle of cream and to be honest, I think it really missed it. While I enjoyed it, it was not as good as ones that I have had in the past. I will admit to having over cooked slightly, however I think that the little bit of cream I found in a lot of other recipes would have helped the texture and the richness of the dish. Jamie also suggested serving with sautéed asparagus. I had ended up using the asparagus that I bought for something else so I served it with toast fingers instead.

Coddled Eggs

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 tbps finely grated parmesan
• 4 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
• grated fresh nutmeg

Method

• Preheat oven to 190 C.
  
• Grease two ramekin or oven-proof cups (I used my mini enamelled cast iron pan), then sprinkle the parmesan around the inside of the dish.
  
• Put 2 eggs & 1 yolk in each dish, being careful not to crack the yolks.
  
• Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
  
• Cover dish with foil and place in a tray and pour in hot water until it reaches the same level as the eggs.
  
• Bake for 12 - 15 minuted or until the white is set but yolks are still runny.
  

February 2007 - Moroccan Eggs

At the start of this month I had made a list of the recipes that I was going to make from each magazine. From issue #57 I had fully intended on making the cover recipe, Fontina Cheese & Basil Toasted Sandwiches. They looked easy, tasty and something that I could make for a simple lunch. However when I came to actually make it I had changed my mind.

I decided instead to try a new breakfast dish, Moroccan Eggs by Valli Little. During the working week I am lucky if I manage to get myself a bowl of cereal or toast with coffee but on the weekends I like to cook something nice. I am partial to cornbread muffins (just cornbread mixture cooked in muffin tins) split in half and then spread with butter and golden syrup. Another favourite is this Blueberry Corn Bread recipe on Taste. I normally make it with frozen raspberries. As much as I like the sweet breakfast foods, I am partial to savouries for breakfast. I love an omelette stuffed with sliced tomatoes and sharp cheddar cheese, this Baked Eggs with Tomato and Chorizo recipe is wonderful and I have been drawn to this Ham and Cheese French Toast but I have never been quite game to try it. So I was pleased to find a savoury recipe that would be perfect for breakfast.

The recipe is actually part of the regular "Tuesday Night Cooking" section of the magazine. These recipes are all relatively quick meals to make after a long day at work. However this one seemed perfect for a nice breakfast on a Saturday morning. It was a different way with eggs, very tasty and was incredibly easy to convert to making for one.

Moroccan Eggs

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp dukkah
• 4 slices Turkish bread, split
  
• 1/2 c hummus
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 1/3 c mint leaves (I didn't have any so used parsley)
• Tomato chutney, to serve
  

Method

• Heat oil in fry pan over a medium heat.
  
• Break eggs into pan being careful not to break the yolks.
  
• Let cook until whites start to become white rather than translucent and then sprinkle each egg with 2 tsp of dukkah and continue to cook until done to your liking. I cooked mine until the yolk was hard as I am not a fan of runny yolks.
  
• Meanwhile toast the bread, then spread with hummus, top with an egg and onion.
  
• Sprinkle with mint leaves and a dollop of tomato chutney (I used some home made tomato relish).