Shakshuka - One- Pot Spicy Tomato and Eggs

Sometimes I don't get to have breakfast until the early afternoon. Of course, the issue with that is then I can't decided whether I want breakfast or lunch. Does that ever happen to you?  You just can't choose. Well, shakshuka solves all of these problems. The eggs give you that breakfast feel, but the spicy tomato sauce has that late night comfort feel to it.

I've had it in my mind to make shakshuka for a while now. Then after a night out in the city at Barber, this quaint little Moroccan restaurant, I knew I had to make it. I've only had this dish a couple of times. And funny enough, at different restaurants (one Moroccan & one Israeli). I was interested in this dish particularly because it reminded me of a dish I love, huevos rancheros. Come to find out you can find this dish (or a version of this dish) across the Mediterranean to the Middle East. From Morocco to Israel this dish is a star. Though I believe it's eaten at dinner time in Morocco and for breakfast in Israel.

Either way this is an extremely satisfying dish. You can amp up the spice by adding cayenne or hot sauce. I left the eggs pretty soft because I love the additional flavor and texture that a runny egg adds to the dish. There are so many ways to enjoy this dish. Dive in and add a little spice to your eggs.


Shakshuka - One Pot Spicy Tomato and Eggs



Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

4 to 6 large eggs
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 yellow onion chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 jalapeño seeded and chopped
4 cloves of garlic chopped/sliced
28 ounces of crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
garnish - chopped cilantro

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet (cast iron pan) over medium high heat.

Add the onions and sauté over medium heat until translucent about 6 to 8 minutes

Add bell peppers and jalapeño and cook until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes

Stir in garlic, salt, paprika, cumin and pepper.

Slowly add crushed tomatoes and stir until thoroughly combined.


Allow the mixture to simmer on medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes.

Crack eggs and place in a heat safe bowl or ramekin.

Use a spoon to make a well in the tomato mixture for each egg.

Gently slide each egg yolk and white into a well.

Add a pinch of salt and pepper to each egg.

Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the eggs are not longer translucent.

Additional salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with cilantro.

Halal Chicken and Rice

I have a love for the food carts in New York City. It's one of the things that makes me miss living in the city especially in the summer. What's interesting is that almost every major city around the world has some type of street food. In New York, there's a long history of immigrants from Greece to Sri Lanka running food carts. The regional distinctions of the owning are sometimes reflected in the food. One of the most well known is the Halal Guys food cart, which is why this post is titled Halal Chicken and Rice.

I was in the mood for a spicy summer dish that didnt feel heavy but was still filling. Since I was looking for spicy but light in flavor I knew it had to be something Mediterranean (the use of citrus helps to balance the spice). Then I thought, it's been a while since I've had some street food. It was something my friends and I would always do in the summer when we had a little more time. Head uptown, get some food and hang out in the park all day. Luckily, I was able to find a recipe for Halal Chicken and Rice from Serious Eats.  I just made a couple of minor adjustments to the recipe so that it worked for my family.

Note: This dish is quick to make once the chicken has marinated.

Halal Chicken and Rice

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

For the Chicken:
2 pounds of boneless chicken breasts cubed
½ teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ onion powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
3 cloves chopped garlic
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
kosher salt (at least 1/4 teaspoon)
ground black pepper

For the rice:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1½ Basmati rice
2½ chicken broth
salt & pepper

For the white sauce:
1 cup of Greek yogurt
½ cup of mayo
½ tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
¼ fresh parsley
salt
2 tablespoons black pepper

Red Sauce - Sriracha

Directions:

Combine lemon juice, oregano, coriander, cumin, garlic and olive oil in a blender and blend until smooth.

Season mixture with salt and pepper then coat chicken

Place half the mixture in a bowl or food storage bag with the chicken

Allow chicken to marinate for at least 1 hour

Place remaining olive oil mixture in the fridge to use for later.

Remove chicken from olive oil mixture and season with salt and pepper

heat oil in a heavy (cast iron) pan on medium high heat

Add chicken to pan and cook until brown, about 3 to 4 minutes

Reduce heat to medium and flip chicken allowing it to cook through

Remove chicken from heat and allow to cool

Once cooled place chicken in a bowl with the remaining marinade and place in the fridge

Melt butter over medium heat in a dutch oven or a metal pot.

Add turmeric and cumin to pot and cook for approximately 1 minute

Add rice and stir to coat the rice

Continue to stir until coated rice is lightly toasted

Add chicken broth and season with salt and pepper

Turn heat up to high and bring to a boil

Cover pot and reduce heat to simmer

Cook rice for an additional 15 minutes

Remove from heat and allow rice to rest until it is tender


For sauce combine mayo, yogurt, sugar, vinegar, lemon juice, parsley and 2 tablespoons of black pepper.

Whisk together and salt to taste

Return chicken marinating in bowl to pan and cook over medium high heat until hot

Pile chicken on a half cup of rice with lettuce and tomato and some pita bread.

Drizzle white sauce and Sriracha if you like spice over chicken and rice. Done!!

I think we need more dishes like this. Quick comforting and reminiscent of summer.

What type of street food do you enjoy?

Mediterranean Meatballs

All this week I've been moody. Luckily, one thing that always makes me feel better is some good comfort food. What better than food that reminds me of a time when I had few responsibilities, more money and more time. So this week I've been plying myself with Mediterranean food.

For me it reminds me of fun times with my friends, hanging out in the city to all times in the morning. Stopping at the falafel place on the way home back in Jersey. Boy did those  sandwiches hit the spot. We didn't have anything to do. So we ate our sandwiches and talked about the shenanigans we got into. There's nothing better than good food and great stories. It's what most good weekends are made of. That and not rolling out of bed until noon the next day. Nothing like my life now.

So tonight's meatball is inspired by the mediterranean and my hopes of one day sleeping in until noon again. It's your typical meatball with a little Mediterranean spin. I added green onion because I was wanted something colorful. The flavor of the nutmeg, mint and lemon is great, especially, with the cranberry balsamic drizzle.

Mediterranean Meatball

Makes 4 servings

Meatball Ingredients
1/2 pound of ground beef (you can substitute, ground turkey or lamb)
1/4 cup mint, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup chopped green onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
1 egg
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Salt and pepper

Cranberry Balsamic Drizzle Ingredients
1 tablespoon of Cranberry Balsamic
1 tablespoon of olive oil
3 drop of regular balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper

Tools: large frying pan/ cast iron pan

Meatball Directions:

In a bowl mix ground beef, mint, parsley, green onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, nutmeg  and salt and pepper.

Make sure all ingredients are mixed into the meat well.

Add egg and lemon juice to the meat mixture. Mix thoroughly.

Mix in bread crumbs.

Roll meat mixture into balls a little smaller than the size golf balls (if you like a crunchy meatball you can roll it in flour or oat bran).

Place pan over medium heat and add olive oil to pan.

Once oil is hot (It will sizzle when a little water hits it) place meatballs in pan.

Turn meatball on all sides until completely brown.

Remove from oil and allow oil to drain off onto a paper towel.

Drizzle Directions:

Add cranberry balsamic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper.

Whisk together thoroughly.

Drizzle on top of meatballs, quinoa & cucumber salad.

You can serve this dish over couscous with a cucumber, tomato and feta salad. I served it over quinoa for added protein. The salty feta also goes well with the cranberry drizzle.

Baked Falafel with Tahini Sauce

One of the many things my husband and I have in common is our love for all types of food. One of our favorites places to go is a little Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Jersey City. It's not fancy but it has the most delicious Middle Eastern food and we love it. Everything about it suits us perfectly. We've tried many other places, from Boston to Florida and we still prefer Ibby's. Unfortunately, we don't live near Ibby's, and in turn have been forced to try to make our own falafel.

Let me tell you, we've failed miserably countless times. Until the other day. I don't know what I did differently this time but whatever it was, it finally worked. Luckily, I've gotten better at writing down what I'm doing and writing down the changes I've made. It also helps when you start to measure ingredients and not just chop herbs and put it in a bowl.

So, though we have a deep fryer it's not yet something I've perfected and so these delicious balls of chick peas were baked. Of coarse, baking also keeps this dish nice and healthy. And it's vegetarian. I know my friends are finally happy to see something not dripped in bacon.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. With the tahini sauce, it really hits the spot. This one is for the books. Comfort food you don't have to feel bad about. What could be better?

Baked Falafel
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
2 cans chick peas
3 teaspoons of coriander
2 teaspoons of cumin
2 teaspoons of salt
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 tablespoons of flour
1/2 cup of chopped parsley
1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
1 large onion diced

Tahini Sauce:
1/2 cup of tahini paste
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon garlic
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of water

Optional: Pita pockets

Tools: food processor and baking sheet

Note: This falafel recipe can be made stove top. Allow the falafel to firm up in the refrigerator ( 1 to 2 hours) and roll in bread crumbs before frying stove top.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Rinse and drain the chick peas. Pat dry.

In food processor, combine all ingredients except flour and pulse to combine.

Allow ingredients to mix, scrape down sides until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Add flour 1 tablespoon at a time and pulse until mixture is no longer wet.

Add a bit more salt if necessary.

Use a tablespoon to scoop out about 16 balls of falafel.

Spray baking sheet with oil and place falafel on baking sheet.

Bake falafel for 15 minutes, then flip.

Bake another 5 to 7 minutes.

While falafel bakes, add tahini paste, garlic and lemon juice in food processor and blend gently.

Then add salt.

Begin to blend mixture adding a little water at a time.

Blend until smooth.

Drizzle tahini sauce over the falafel and enjoy. Without any guilt. That's the best type of comfort food.

Potato Latkas

I love remaking leftovers. This dish in particular reminds me of mornings when I lived in New York City. I was privileged enough to live right next to a wonderful sidewalk cafe on the lower east side. This of course was before sidewalk cafes were a dime a dozen. The owner was a older Jewish man that introduced me to my love of Jewish cuisine. From bagels with lox to baklava it was like he had the best food I couldn't get anywhere else.

Though he would never make this dish from leftover mashed potatoes, a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. It's a great addition to breakfast and could even be eaten as a snack. So here we go.

Potato Latkas
Makes 12

Ingredients
2 cups of mashed potatoes
1 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon of garlic
1/4 of red pepper
1 egg
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine potatoes, egg, parsley, red pepper and garlic in a mixing bowl.

Add flour. Mix well.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Measure potato mixture using a 1/4 measuring cup.

Fry potatoes for approximately 4 to 5 minutes on each side using a spatula to press mixture flat.

That's it. You can serve it with sour cream or chives. Of course, you know I serve it with bacon.

Baba Ghanoush

Must be in the mood for Middle Eastern food this week. We've made all types of dishes this week and I'm kind of in the mood to just snack. Luckily, I can turn to the garden for a little healthy snack. I've been waiting for my eggplant to get a little bigger and considering my current taste buds I know exactly what I should do with it. It's baba ganoush time.

I used to eat this like a meal. One of my favorite restaurants makes a whole baba ghanoush platter with salad, pitas and lots of accouterments. Yum baba ganoush with all the fixin's. Ah good times.

Baba Ghanoush

Ingredients

3 white eggplants
3 cloves of garlic
¼ cup tahini
1-2 tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cumin
¼ cup lemon (2 lemons)
parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place eggplant and garlic on baking sheet. Poke the eggplant with a fork, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Roast eggplant and garlic for 30 mins or until eggplant is soft.

Let the eggplant cool.

Meanwhile chop parsley and juice lemons.

Combine lemon juice, cumin, salt and tahini.

Scoop out the flesh of the roasted eggplant and place it into a food processor with the garlic and the tahini mixture.

Pulse into a coarse mixture; then begin to add the olive oil. The mixture should begin to become smooth. Continue to pulse and add olive oil until desired smoothness.

Sprinkle parsley on top.

Traditionally this would be served with pita bread but for my gluten free friends it's also great with cucumbers and tomatoes.

Enjoy!