Shakshuka : IHCC

"April Potluck", it's Potluck time at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). Our Potluck theme has a new feature where we can cook any of our previous featured chefs recipes as well as our current chef, Yotam Ottolenghi. Now, this is exciting, problem is, I kept changing my mind a couple of times. Could not decide which recipe to choose. There's a recipe from Tessa Kiros that I wanted to try, another one from Nigella, a curry recipe from Madhur Jaffrey, tons of recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi, I'm so fickle-minded. 

My decision was made, when I went to Tesco for my groceries. The red and yellow bell peppers are so fresh and beautiful, and simply calling me to take them home! Haha! Shakshuka instantly came to mind. I even like its name. Shakshuka is the chosen recipe in our group's Optional Monthly Community Recipe. This is another new feature that the administrators (the lovely ladies : Kim, Deb and Sue) has came up with, which is a total cool idea. Each month a recipe will be selected and everyone has the option to cook this recipe within that month. A link to our first selected Optional Monthly Community Recipe, Shakshuka is provided and there's even a video showing the chef, Yotam Ottolenghi, preparing this mouth-watering looking dish.

Don't this look good? haha! My son thought so, he loved it! Between the both of us, we finished everything!

According to Yotam Ottolenghi, this is a North African dish. You may add preserved lemons, feta, herbs and other spices, pretty much anything that you like. I've decided to keep it simple and  follow his version.

I just love the vibrant colour of the dish!

There are red and yellow bell peppers, chopped parsley and fresh coriander, bay leaf, cumin seeds, onions, tomatoes, pinch of muscovado sugar, cayenne pepper which I have replaced with Mexican Chili Powder, salt and pepper and yes, some saffron strands. I cannot really notice the saffron is there, so I would definitely omit this expensive spice the next time when I make this again. The veggies are sauteed and cook until the chopped tomatoes turns a little pasty. There's quite a lot of oil used in the original recipe. I made half the recipe and used only about 3 tablespoons. Though the recipe calls for some water, I did not use any at all. The juices from the tomatoes are doing their work just fine! When the veggies are done, make two gaps among the veggies in the pan, and crack one egg in each gap, season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cover the pan, cook on low heat until the eggs are just set. Remove and sprinkle with more chopped coriander and serve immediately.

This lovely dish may be served with chunky white bread, but I have eaten it as it is for my lunch, and a very satisfying one! I have used a generous sprinkling of Mexican Chilli Powder as I thought that I would end up eating this dish alone, but my son finished half of it. Even though he says that it is a little spicy (the Mexican Chilli Powder), he finished the other half!

Our Potluck Week !

Please do stop by I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) to view what my friends have made for the theme of this week, "Potluck" , and if you are interested to join us, please find out more details from IHCC.

I'm sharing this too with :

See Ya In The Gumbo hosted by Ms. enPlace

Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz. Helen's Country Cottage

Shakshuka
(source from : guardian.com, recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
190ml light olive oil or vegetable oil
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
2 red and 2 yellow peppers, cored and cut into 2cm strips
4 tsp muscovado sugar
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs thyme, picked and chopped
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 bunch fresh corainder, chopped
6 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp saffron strands
pinch of cayenne pepper (I use Mexican chili powder)
salt and pepper
up to 250ml water (did not need it)
8 free-range eggs

In a large saucepan, dry-roast the cumin on high heat for two minutes. Add the oil and saute the onions for two minutes. Add the peppers, sugar, bay leaves, thyme, parsley and two tablespoons of coriander, and cook on high heat to get a nice colour. Add the tomatoes, saffron, cayenne, salt and pepper. Cook on low heat for 15 minutes, adding enough water to keep it the consistency of a pasta sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning. It should be potent and flavoursome. You can prepare this mix in advance.

Place four saucepans on medium heat and divide the mixture between them. Break two eggs into each pan, pouring into gaps in the mixture. Sprinkle with salt, cover and cook very gently for 10-12 minutes, until the egg just sets. Sprinkle with coriander and serve with chunky white bread.