Baked eggs in hot tomato sauce

Also called Eggs in Purgatory, this is an easy breakfast dish that tastes great, and looks good too. Thought to be have originated in Turkey and in Tunisia, this dish is called Shakshouka in the Middle East, and it appears in other parts of the world with slight or no variations. Thus it is similar to the Mexican huevos rancheros, the Portuguese and Spanish baked eggs, the Turkish menemen and so forth. Can be made on stove top and can also be baked in the oven. In Kerala, we have a similar dish where the eggs are in a lentil sauce, and another one in a spicy coconut milk bases sauce.

This recipe is a combination of all of those.

1 medium onion, chopped
6-8 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 large bell pepper, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped (use canned petite diced tomatoes - 2 cans - if in a hurry)
1 cup black beans (use canned to make it easy (1 can)  but that is not as healthy as when made the hard way, they say)
1 small bunch cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped ( I don't mind the seeds - but it adds heat, remember!)
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp dried oregano - if fresh, use more
1- 2  tsp  dried basil- if fresh use more
1/2 tsp red pepper
a sprinkle of paprika
black pepper, salt
4-5 eggs
Olive oil
grated cheddar - 1/4 cup or as much as you like

Soak the beans overnight (8 hours, more or less). Drain. Pour enough water to cover the beans, maybe a little over, bring to a boil, Simmer, covered. Cook till tender but firm (not mushy). Or, if you are using canned, you can skip all that. ;)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Heat oil in a skillet. Saute the onions and garlic till almost brown. Add the spices.
Stir. Add the bell peppers, cilantro, jalapenos, tomatoes. Stir around. Cover. Simmer. 20 minutes.

Remove the lid, add the beans now. cook some more till the sauce is thick.
Now, you may make indents in the thick sauce, Put a little dot of butter in each space,
and crack  an egg into each. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the eggs. Now there are two ways to do this. You may either cover the skillet and cook it for 5 minutes or so, or, bake it like I did here.
Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes, or until the eggs are set to your liking.

Garnish with cilantro or jalapeno peppers, or basil or all of those.

Serve with toast or tortillas, or pita, or Indian roti, It is even good with rice, for dinner.

Use less or more red pepper, according to your preference,  when you make the dish.

huevos rancheros

The stew in the movie "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"



This scene from one of my favorite Clint Eastwood movies is a very sad one. It upsets me to see this dangerous intrusion. But for a while now, I've been focused on the food on that table. Now, whenever I see this scene I get real hungry. At such times, anything won't do. I want that same stew in those same bowls, on that rugged table, with the same chunks of rustic bread. I had to make that stew.

Off I went to googleland and of course there is a page where people discuss this. The movie was made in Spain, the director was Italian. A writer on that page points out that the director kept yelling to Lee Van Cleef to "eat the minestrone", so it could be minestrone. I learn from a Spanish person on that site that the stew would definitely be Andalucian -- specifically of the Almeria and Granada provinces, where the movie was made.  The food must have been catered from local sources.

According to the Andalucian recipe  the main ingredient would usually be rabbit or chicken, with some veggies including potatoes, broad beans, leeks, and cabbage, and also dried beans. He also suggests  that the stew would have turmeric, cumin, and crushed black  pepper. There is a recipe there too, which is very similar to some of the stews and soups (so-called curries) that we make back home, the only difference being in the use of stock. We mostly use coconut milk, water or lentils cooked to a paste and diluted. Then I read more about the cuisine of the Andalucian regions. Apparently it had a rich Arabian flavor -- so saffron was used too.

After incorporating all these details, I had to make something that I know the folks around here will eat. So I chose beef as the meat. I couldn't get any broad bean/ fava bean -- so I used lima beans. And of course I made it hot. With the rustic bread I made, the stew was a success. I am glad to say that it was devoured as hungrily and enjoyed as deliciously, as by some of the characters in the movie.

rustic Spanish stew from the movie "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

beef for stew -- 2 lb
black pepper, ground -- 1 tsp
paprika - 1/2 tsp
onions, chopped -- 1/2 cup
garlic, 6 cloves, crushed
leeks, 2 stems chopped
green onion, cut at an angle, in 1'' pieces
green chili pepper -- 4 (optional)
crushed red pepper flakes - 1-2 tsp ( as per your preference)
turmeric - 1 tsp
saffron - a pinch or two
cumin - 1 tsp
Yukon gold potatoes, peeled whole - 4
half a napa cabbage, shredded roughly
1- 2 cups lima beans, cooked ( I used a packet of frozen lima)
beef stock -- 3 cups ( I use knorr's)
Olive oil
salt, as needed

Method:

Clean meat. Add the black pepper and paprika to the meat and mix well.
Heat some olive oil -- 1 or 2 tbsps -- in a cast iron pot or any other stew pot, and brown the meat. This step is optional.
Remove the meat from the pot. Add a tablespoon ( or as needed) of olive oil.
Saute the onions, garlic, green chili, and leeks in the oil, till they wilt. Medium heat. Add the turmeric, cumin and crushed red pepper flakes to this. Stir well. Now add the meat. Pour in the stock. Bring it to a boil.
Add the potatoes. Reduce heat. . Let it simmer. Add the saffron. Cover and cook for 20 to 30 minutes. Check the potatoes with a fork. Now add the green onions, and the cooked lima beans. Add the roughly shredded napa cabbage. Give the stew a good stir. With a fork, split the potatoes, for that rustic look. Add more water, and bring to boil, in order to get the consistency you prefer.

Serve with rustic bread.