Baked Eggs with Potato, Bacon & Tomato

I have a large collection of dinner recipes featuring eggs in tomato sauce. Hey, sometimes you have a dozen eggs in your fridge and you don't want frittata! I had tried Shakshuka already, so next up was a simple Baked Eggs with Potato, Bacon and Tomato recipe from the Sobeys flyer. Don't discount grocery store recipes, people, sometimes they are worth saving!

I had bought some soy pepperoni for a homemade pizza and had quite a few left, so first I sliced them and fried them up with olive oil. Good idea - they turned nice and crispy. Meanwhile, I microwaved four small white potatoes for about 2 minutes, then cut them into quarters. Another good idea - I didn't have to wait around for them to cook fully in the pan, which would have taken much longer. Throw the potatoes in the pan with some smoked paprika and let them get a little fried and crunchy, about 5 minutes.

Remove potatoes and pepperoni onto a plate, and put some more oil in the pan. Cook 1 diced onion for about 5 minutes, then stir in 1 can diced tomatoes, a couple of sliced peppers and a pinch of chili flakes. Simmer 15 minutes, or until most of the tomato liquid has evaporated. I also added some fresh rosemary since I had some in the fridge. I threw the potatoes and pepperoni back in, and then poured it all into a greased 9x13" pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Now the fun part - make some wells and break 8 eggs on top. Bake @375 22-25 minutes.

The smell of rosemary wafted out of the oven - yum! I filled a bowl with the potato, tomato and egg mixture and topped with diced avocado. Unlike the shakshuka, it wasn't liquidy, so I didn't need to eat it with bread - it was a full meal in a bowl. Everything came together in a bowl of warm, homey goodness. Perfect for catching up with TV shows while lounging on the couch.

Potato Salad

Potato salad is one of those side dishes that I liked as a kid - though my parents rarely bought the grocery store deli counter or pre-packaged stuff. I just knew it was my pick over coleslaw (bleh). I don't know why I didn't think earlier to make it myself - perhaps the idea of potatoes and mayonnaise was too rich for every day cooking? Well, when I saw this recipe for Eggy Potato Salad with Pickles from Bon Appetit last summer I figured, what was I waiting for? It's summer and I want the pickles, the egg, everything!

First - potatoes. We don't really eat potatoes on a regular basis in this household - I think we both grew up with bland boiled potatoes as a side to chicken or steak or whatever. But now we do - the magic of summer picnic fare. I buy white mini potatoes and quarter them (they cook faster), then boil them until they're done. This time I used about 16.



Bon Appetit suggests you mix them with red onion and parsley, which sounds pretty good. This time I cut diced some red pepper - it's healthy and adds colour. I also diced two pickles and added them right in as well, because pickles are delicious. And don't forget two diced hard-boiled eggs. The magazine suggest only using the yolks - I don't want to be wasteful so I use the whites too.


The dressing, however, is the best part: 1/4 cup mayo, 1/8 cup pickle juice (right from the jar! So salty and sour!), 1 Tbsp Dijon for flavour, 1/2 tsp sugar, pepper and lots of paprika - any mix of sweet, hot and smoked, I have all three. But beware - I was a little too liberal this time and the salad took on a pinkish hue. Don't bother adding more salt - the pickles are salty enough.

And there you have it, the perfect side dish for (veggie) burgers! Be warned - this stuff is addictive. You won't be able to stop making it.

Shakshuka

I've found a few recipes for shakshuka over the last year, and was very intrigued about trying this Israeli breakfast dish - though of course I made it for dinner. It's sugary cereal for me in the mornings. I was recently given the new Toronto Star Cookbook as a birthday gift and to my surprise, there was shakshuka right on the cover! So for a quick weeknight dinner on my own last week I made Pita Break's Poached Eggs in Spicy Tomato Stew (p. 20).

First I fried up one diced onion, 3 green onions and 6 garlic cloves - this sounds like a lot but they turned out to be a little elderly, and so not very strong tasting. After 5-7 minutes, I stirred in everything else: 2 chopped red peppers, 2 chopped plum tomatoes, 1 can tomato paste (that's a lot!), 2 Tbsp ketchup, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 tsp oregano, 1 tsp red pepper flakes and 1.5 cup water.



This recipe also called for mushrooms - which I omitted because they are gross. Simmer for 30 minutes to thicken. Then comes the fun part - breaking 4 eggs into the tomato stewy mix. Cover, and cook 5-7 minutes - though I found I need more like 8-9 minutes for the whites to cook. Of course the authors suggested eating this with fresh pita, and such other goodies as bagels, olives, pickles, hummus, lox etc. I just had toast.

All in all it was pretty good, but a little bland - next time I would add more spice and fresher garlic. It was also really thick and tomatoey - I may try a recipe that uses a can of diced tomatoes instead of tomato paste and water as a base. Fairly comforting, however, as I sat down to watch my library find: a recent Russian movie called Hipsters that featured 1950s teenagers singing and dancing. What more could a girl ask for.

Egg Salad: Two Ways

Who doesn't love egg salad? Well, if you don't eat eggs, you may think you're doomed to live without it. Not so - a delicious tofu version is available and may be better than the real stuff! Make both and decide.

I decided to make a more jazzy version of egg salad than usual - a curry-spiced one with apples featured in Bon Appetit (May 2012). A bit more fun than mayo and paprika! It involved a dressing made of a bit less than 1/4 cup mayo, 1 green onion, 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp Dijon, 1/2 tsp curry powder, and 1/4 tsp cumin. I only had 3 eggs so the amounts are a little different from the recipe. The dressing is mixed with hard-boiled eggs and most of a peeled and diced green apple.


The result is super good - there's a sweet crunch from the apple to cut through the mayo, curry to add flavour and a really nice tang from the vinegar - something I may add to normal egg salad in the future.







Next up is a really good recipe I got from a vegan cookbook - Vegan A Go-Go by Sarah Kramer. The book is full of tips if you're a vegan traveler, but for me, I just enjoy the recipes. The Faux Egg Salad (p. 50) is made by mashing a block of firm tofu with a variety of delicious things. This time I used 2/3 block of tofu, 1/2 chopped red pepper, 2 green onions, 1.5 Tbsp Dijon, a big spoonful of relish (I only eat Bick's Tangy Dill), and about 1/4 cup mayo.

Now this stuff is addictive. The mustard and relish are delicious - I never thought of adding them to egg salad until I made this recipe. Now they're my go-to condiments when I want to cut down on the mayo. One thing to know, though - this makes one messy sandwich. Tofu is not like boiled eggs - it stays chunky and will fall out all over the place. But you'll want to scoop it back up to stuff it in your face, I promise.

Frittata: Two Ways

I had a frittata craving awhile ago, and made two at once. Because, really, what can compete with eggs and cheese?

First up was the Norwegian Baked Cheese Omelette from the book Scandinavian Feasts by Beatrice Ojakangas. Despite the fancy title it's basically a frittata - but I was intrigued by the addition of Jarlsberg cheese, which I had never bought before, and the fact we actually had ham in the freezer - leftovers from a family dinner.




First I whisked 4 eggs with 1/2 cup water (oops, it was supposed to be 1/4 cup) and some salt. Then in a pan, I fried up 4 green onions, 1 cup diced cooked ham and 1 red pepper for about 5 minutes. Then I poured the eggs into the pan, sprinkled with diced Jarlsberg and baked it in the oven at 400 for 15-20 minutes.




Next up was the Salsa Frittata from the Sobeys website. I don't usually put potatoes in my frittatas, though I assume this is more authentically Spanish? I used both white and sweet potatoes, and since I was out of green onion, just fried up a yellow onion instead with the potatoes. I was a little impatient, I think, because the potatoes were not quite as soft as they should have been when I poured in the eggs.


  I had whisked 4 eggs with 1/2 cup salsa, which turned the frittata lovely pink shade. On top I sprinkled cubed cheddar cheese - the recipe calls for that pre-seasoned pre-shredded stuff but who wants to pay for that? Unfortunately after broiling for a couple minutes the inside was still raw (and liquidy because of the salsa) so I ended up baking it for 6-7 minutes at 350.

The Norwegian frittata won this round. The Jarlsberg was pleasantly nutty and the ham was delicious. The Salsa frittata was a little bland - next time I would put in a jalapeno or some chili flakes. But both were cheesy and eggy and, as I wrote at the top, you can't really go wrong with that combination.

Sweet Potato and Spinach Frittata

This month's Vegetarian Times (Nov. 2012) had some good looking frittatas - who can resist eggs for dinner? I make frittatas quite often because a) they are easier than quiches (and healthier) because there's no crust, b) I still can't figure out how to make an omelette, and c) you can just throw in whatever you have the fridge. Also, the leftovers are good - and you don't even need to heat them up. I chose the Sweet Potato and Kale Frittata with Goat Cheese (with some variations) because autumn = orange food = sweet potatoes. (Recipe not online so I'll post it below)

First things first: eggs. With a touch of mustard and salt and pepper for some extra flavour. Next, I peeled and diced a large sweet potato, and gave it a quick turn in the microwave to soften it up.

Onto the frying pan, aka where everything delicious happens. Since I replaced the kale in the recipe with baby spinach, I didn't bother wilting it. I just cooked the onion, threw in the potatoes, topped it with large amounts of the baby spinach and then poured the eggs on top. In retrospect this wasn't the smartest move - there was so much veg in the pan that it took some jiggling to get the most egg to the bottom of the pan, where it would get it nice and brown.

Next, the whole pan is put into the oven to brown the top and finish cooking. Normally I put it under the broiler for a few minutes, but this frittata was so packed it didn't quite cook all the way through on the first go. I suppose I should have followed the recipe, where it gets baked. The other problem with the broiler - it browned the spinach a little too bit. But luckily, once you flip it over, and sprinkle some feta on top ...

Sweet Potato and Kale Frittata, Vegetarian Times, Nov. 2012:

Oven: Preheat to 400.
In medium bowl, beat:
8 eggs
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Peel and dice one large sweet potato. Place in large dish with some water, cover, microwave for 5 minutes.

In large pan:
Saute one diced onion. Wilt in 4 leaves of kale, 2 min.
Add potato, then eggs.
Cook 3 minutes.

Cook in oven for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle crumbled goat cheese over the frittata a minute or two before serving.