The Middle Egg

I am currently consuming eggs at a rapid pace. This is so strange for me because as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not really a breakfast eater. I have been doing it because it is fueling me for my days. Period. However, I’ve found myself really embracing the incredible edible egg! So much in fact, that I made a dinner with them GASP!

It is no secret that I love Middle Eastern food. So I made this great dish called Shakshuka Sunday night. I was a little concerned that it would be too far out of the realm of “dinner” so I also made Kefta Kebab. Anyway, those two middle eastern flavors should work nicely together and if not, shut up and eat it anyway, right? *wink wink

So I ventured into a dish I was incredibly unsure about. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Usually the greatest food risks breed the greatest successes. I mean, whoever said, “WOW! That’s a great plain old plate of food!” That’s right, no one!

So here’s the skivvy on this incredible edible Middle Eastern dinner albeit a little Americanized as my buddy Ray felt due to the addition of chili powder. What can I say…oh wait, what I said to him post dinner was, “Not too bad for a white girl!”

Shakshura

½ medium onion, diced

2 jalepenos, minced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

6-7 tomatoes, chopped

2 tsp tomato paste

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp paprika

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

s&p

6 large eggs

fresh parsley, chopped

oil

In a cast iron skillet put a splash of oil, I used coconut, over medium-high heat. Add onion, jalapeño, and bell pepper. Sauté for 5 minutes. Then add garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, chili powder, paprika, cayenne, s&p. Sauté for about 10 minutes until the tomatoes really start to break down. You can go longer, just eye ball it. You want it to look more like a sauce than a salsa. Then crack 6 eggs into the sauce, arranging them evenly. Put the whole skillet, covered, into a 400 degree oven for approximately 10 minutes or until the whites are firm and well, white. Take out and sprinkle with fresh parsley. COULDN’T BE EASIER!

Kefta Kebab

*Ok disclaimer, there are a million different recipes for this and they all pretty much taste the same! Ha! But here’s mine

1-1  ½ lb beef

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, minced

*I actually did this in the food processor and recommend it that way but if you don’t have one, don’t sweat it

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp cinnamon

1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint

Put all the kids in the pool together. Mix thoroughly and let sit in the refrigerator for 2 or more hours. Soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes or more. Then form the beef into 8 equal logs. Skewer the beef. Preheat the grill to 400 or 450. Or screaming hot if you don’t have a thermometer on your grill. Grill on each side for about 4-5 minutes.

Now, these two dishes can be eaten independently of each other, but I’m the kid who swirls everything around on my plate. So make your choice. But I ate this concoction piled up on romaine lettuce leaves. Basically, Shakshuka then beef. It was AWESOME! I added a few banana pepper rings as well. Here’s my only thing….make sure that when you stack this masterpiece, you get some egg. Your mind will tell you not to mix it, but just do it! Trust me!

All were full and we moved on to watching some extreme waterslides with smiles!

Salud!