Shakshuka (Eggs in purgatory)

Posted on by aurorameyer

Shakshuka

During the last few months of my pregnancy, I had to increase my protein intake. Lucky for me, J found several recipes that tasted good, included several servings of vegetables and had lots of protein. This one from Tori Avey with a few modifications quickly became one of our favorites.

You can modify the spice level based on your tastes. If you want to add more eggs, feel free! It’s just as good the next morning on toast like huevos rancheros.

Shakshuka (Eggs in purgatory)

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Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 medium brown or white onion peeled and diced
  • 1 clove garlic minced (we use more!)
  • 1 medium green or red bell pepper chopped
  • 4 cups ripe diced tomatoes or 2 cans (14 oz. each) diced tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp chili powder mild
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper or more to taste
  • Pinch of sugar (optional to taste)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 5-6 eggs
  • 1 container plain feta
  • 1/2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley (optional for garnish)

Instructions
 

  • Heat a deep, large skillet or sauté pan on medium (we use our cast iron skillet for this).
  • Heat olive oil in the pan.
  • Add chopped onion, sauté for a few minutes until the onion begins to soften.
  • Add garlic and continue to sauté until mixture is fragrant.
  • Add the bell pepper, sauté for 5 to 7 minutes over medium heat until softened.
  • Add tomatoes and tomato paste to pan, stir to blend.
  • Add spices and sugar, stir well, and allow mixture to simmer over medium heat for another 5 to 7 minutes until it starts to reduce.
  • Taste the mixture and spice it according to your preferences.
  • At a minimum, add salt and pepper to taste.
  • You can also add more sugar for a sweeter sauce, or more cayenne pepper for a spicier shakshuka.
  • Sprinkle the feta over the dish, or mix it in if you like.
  • Then crack the eggs, one at a time, directly over the tomato mixture, making sure to space them evenly over the sauce. In our cast iron skillet, we can get about five eggs around the outer edge and one in the center.
  • The eggs will cook over easy on top of the tomato sauce. If you prefer more done eggs, you can heat the oven to 350 degrees and cook in the oven until set (when the skillet is jiggled, the eggs don't jiggle back).
  • We leave the mixture uncovered and let simmer for between 5 and 15 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked and the sauce has slightly reduced.
  • Be careful at this point, because the mixture can go from reducing to burning quickly. 
  • Serve in a bowl alone, over rice or with some french bread.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

My opinion:
This dish is delicious hot or cold. With sides or alone. It’s easy, filling and perfect for a late fall evening.

p.s. Summer 2016 update: without the cayenne pepper and the chili powder, our toddler loves this dish. We just add the extra spices onto our own plates. 

Langlois Andouille Cornbread Stuffed Green Pepper

Posted on by aurorameyer

 

On a recent visit to New Orleans, J and I got to take a cooking class at the amazing Langlois Culinary Crossroads. The very appropriate slogan is “decadent with no apologies” and that proved more than true during our class. We made several wonderful dishes, including an Andouille Cornbread Stuffed Artichoke. Unfortunately, the artichokes at home, didn’t quite look as good. Luckily, Chef Amy told us about 15 ways to use the same stuffing/dressing and we improvised stuffing a green pepper instead.

Langlois Andouille Cornbread Stuffed Green Pepper

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Ingredients
  

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 pound Andouille sausage
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 1 cup diced bell pepper
  • 1/3 cup diced celery
  • 1 tablespoons and 1/4minced garlic
  • 4 cups crumbled cornbread
  • 1/3 cup parsley
  • 1/3 cup sliced green onions
  • 1 pound shredded smoked gouda
  • pinches couple ofof Emeril's essence cajun seasoning (we made our own recipe to come)
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock only use if the mixture is too dry and crumbly!
  • olive oil for the pan

Instructions
 

  • If not using pre-made cornbread, bake the cornbread according to package instructions.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large saute pan over medium heat, melt the butter and cook the andouille until browned.
  • Then add the onions, bell pepper and celery (the holy trinity) and the garlic until the vegetables are wilted. Add the pinches of Emeril's essence cajun seasoning to taste. You want it to be a little red. That's from the paprika, not the cayenne, so don't panic. Remove from heat and add cornbread, parsley and green onions.
  • Mix well and allow to cool. Add the cheese and mix again. If the mixture is too dry and crumbly, add chicken stock a little at a time to make it more like a dough (it should stick together). Stuff the peppers and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

My opinion:
I love this super filling dish. It is light enough for a summer meal, but surprisingly filling. Plus, if you have left over mix, Chef Amy suggests freezing it in patties for a nice side dish.

Mango Salsa

Posted on by aurorameyer


Watching the Super Bowl also means eating chips and dip. But it’s winter and fresh salsa in the winter is usually pretty disappointing. But when the new grocery store in town had mangos on sale for 19 cents each, I jumped at the chance to have just a little taste of summer. C made up this amazingly refreshing mango salsa. As we were eating it, we decided it would also be delicious on fish tacos, salmon, pork and of course tortilla chips. It was super easy to make.

Mango Salsa

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Ingredients
  

  • 2 ripe mangos diced (smaller is better. And keep the pit!)
  • 1 orange bell pepper diced
  • 1 red bell pepper diced
  • 1 roma tomato diced
  • 1 serrano chili pepper diced fine
  • 2 tablespoons garlic more or less to your taste
  • 1 red onion diced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 lime for juice
  • torn cilantro for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Dice all ingredients into roughly the same size. This part is important because if the mango chunks are too big, they'll fall off the chip. Or worse, break the chip.
  • Add ingredients to a bowl.
  • Mix with a spoon.
  • Squeeze the juice from the mango pit into the bowl.
  • Feel free to use the side of a metal spoon to scrape off the fruit attached to the pit.
  • Squeeze the lime juice.
  • Mix again.
  • Add salt and pepper, tasting in between.
  • Garnish with cilantro.
  • Serve immediately, or chill and serve later.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

My opinion:
As noted above, usually fresh salsas made in the winter lack flavor, maybe it’s because we let the mangos get really ripe, but this was full of flavor and very tasty. Don’t be afraid to try it on something other than tortilla chips!

Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore with Spaghetti Squash

Posted on by aurorameyer

Like everyone else the two days before the holidays are hectic. Putting finishing touches on things, wrapping up at the office, there are a million things vying for our attention the last two weeks of the year. Which is why I’ve turned to the trusty crockpot to make our dinners this past week. After a quick search on my new favorite recipe finding site, Pinterest. I found this simple, basic Chicken Cacciatore (originally from this blog, I think) and it was wonderful.

Since we were out of a few ingredients (like mushrooms, feel free to include them if you want!) I made a few tweaks.

Ingredients:
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 t salt
1/2 t freshly ground pepper
1/2 large onion, sliced into half moons
1/2 large carrot, shredded
1 bell pepper, seeded and sliced 1/4 inch thick (I used green, it was what we had on hand)
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes (I used the ones with onion and garlic added)
3 tbs tomato paste
2 tbs minced garlic
Italian seasoning to taste
1 large spaghetti squash

Directions:
Chop up the vegetables and place them in the bottom of the crockpot. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt, pepper and Italian seasonings. (Frozen is ok!) Place the chicken on top of the veggies. Mix the tomatoes, tomato paste and garlic. Pour the mixture over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. (I cooked on high for 4 hours. ) When there’s an hour left for the dish to cook, poke at least 12 holes in the spaghetti squash. Roast in a 375 degree oven for at least an hour, remove and let cool. If you want to reduce the liquid once the chicken is done cooking, remove the chicken from the crockpot and pour the vegetables and sauce into a large saucepan. Bring the sauce to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes uncovered, or until it is thickened. While the sauce is simmering, cut the spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds and fiberous middle. Use a fork to pull the remaining flesh into strands. Plate the spaghetti squash and pour the sauce and chicken over the squash.
My opinion:
This was so easy, I made a freezer bag of the ingredients so I could just toss it in the crock pot on another super busy evening. I’ll add a bit more garlic and Italian seasoning next time. This would be equally good over rice or pasta. Enjoy!