Friday, April 26, 2013

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 :


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.


26 comments:

  1. I usually make similar dish - baked eggs with all thse vegetables and eggs.. it tastes yumm, I have been meaning to try this Shakshuka for so long.. may b this weekend now that you have tempted me ;)

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  2. Droolworth dish, makes me hungry.

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  3. So colourful! Love it and will eat it :-D

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  4. Oh what lovely colors! I adore peppers this looks mouthwatering! Will make stat! ;)

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  5. I love bell peppers, what a gorgeous dish! Other than the saffron, all the other ingredients are easily available, so I'll definitely do this!

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  6. I love all the peppers in this dish!

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  7. Definitely agree with your son that this looks good!! Peppers are my favourite :)

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  8. This is a special and delicious dish!

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  9. Joyce , no wonder your boy loves it ! It looks flavorful and the peppers definitely adds some gorgeous color to the dish :)

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  10. MMMM! Love the egg toppers and all this soft vegetable base! I'd be toasting the bread to go with and having it for brunch! Looks so delish!

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  11. Every time I see this dish it just makes me happy! ;-) I like that you added the Mexican chili powder. Although I loved it as-is, I might try some feta on my next go-round.

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  12. Wow ... que aspecto más bueno y el huevo listo para untar,hugs.

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  13. I can understand why the dish was a sell-out. Its obvious from the pictures and for the ingredients added in. Would adore to dive into this, what the dash of Mexican chili powder for the punch in.

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  14. I am also very fickle-minded when it comes to recipes :) I think I picked out about 5-6 recipes before I settled on one. I'm so glad you found the bright colored peppers and made the shakshuka though. Your shakshuka looks incredible and very pretty. I think the Mexican Chile Powder would be a great addition and I'm so happy that you son enjoyed this as well. It's always a plus when you can get them to eat healthy food.

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  15. I think I am going to have to make this next week! I've been seeing it on so many of the IHCC blogs and it looks better and better each time. I can definitely see why you chose it in the end!

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  16. Next time can't decide on what to make, call me la and I will tell you. Then I'll drop by and tumpang makan. kekkekee

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  17. This looks easy and full of flavors ! I like it !

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  18. you know, infact i wanted to make this for the tomato theme last month, then ran out of time and didnt do that. I really think it's a very comforting and tasty dish and great to eat with breads too!

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  19. colourful dishes, go well with normal or pitta bread!

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  20. The colors are nice and bright and definitely eye-catching. I like it when I'm sruck by an idea to make something based on what looks good at the market. Thank you for ahring with See Ya in the Gumbo this week. I totally dropped te ball with IHCC this week. No potluck dish or Shakshuka for me!

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  21. Joyce, your Shakshuka looks stunning. It's a wonderful dish - I've made it so many times now, each time a little bit differently. I like your idea of using Mexican Chilli Powder, and so pleased your sone loved it too. Was definitely hard choosing which chef to run with this week wasn't it? I had a couple of Tessa Kiros recipes I was keen to try, but ended up sticking with Ottolenghi this time round.

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  22. What a beautiful dish. Your recipe is fabulous and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday. Have a great weekend and come back soon!
    Miz Helen

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  23. Love! Those colours are just so wonderful & vibrant. You are making me very hungry!

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  24. Oh yes, I love this Shashuka too, Joyce!

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  25. Amazing colors and I can imagine this taste. Sometimes things call me to by them as well, but I have a good solution for it - my hubby ;)

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