Berber breakfast eggs

It’s easy to get into a rut with egg recipes so why not try this delicious Moroccan egg dish from Nargisse Benkabbou’s Casablanca: my Moroccan Food which gives a modern twist to traditional Moroccan cuisine.

Nargisse writes: “In my parents’ home, eggs are something we used to enjoy almost religiously. They were allowed only for breakfast and never on weekdays. Nevertheless, my brothers and I used to quietly sneak into the kitchen in the afternoon to experiment with highly questionable egg recipes. And by recipes, I mean something that contained way too much butter and ketchup.

In my opinion, eggs are much more than a cheap way to have our daily serving of protein; they are delicious, especially when cooked the right way.

This Berber recipe is one of the many ways my mum used to prepare eggs for us at the weekend.”

Berber breakfast eggs

Serves 4 [although I think two could demolish it without too many problems FB]

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tomatoes, grated

1 green pepper (150g), cored, deseeded and chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

½ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

pinch of cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons water

4 eggs

To garnish

½ red onion, finely chopped

handful of chopped spinach

Warm up a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the tomatoes, pepper, garlic, parsley, spices and salt, give it a good stir, then add the water. Cover the pan and leave to cook for 20 minutes, stirringoccasionally. If it looks like there is not enough liquid in the pan at any point during the cooking process, add a couple more tablespoons of water.

Break the eggs straight into the sauce, re-cover the pan and cook for about 5 minutes until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny. Garnish with the chopped red onion and spinach and serve immediately with khobz [a simple Moroccan bread for which she also gives a recipe in the book]

What to drink: I personally wouldn’t drink wine with this though if you fancy it, a glass of dry southern French rosé would work. A glass of freshly squeezed orange juice would be nicer though

See also Which wines pair best with eggs

From Casablanca: My Moroccan Food by Nargisse Benkabbou, published by Mitchell Beazley at £20. Photograph © Matt Russell

Nargisse was nominated an Observer Rising Star in Food 2018 and blogs at mymoroccanfood.com

Cauliflower, potato and caraway homity pie

A wonderfully comforting recipe from Mark Diacono’s lovely book Vegetables. 

Mark writes: “Even in the small towns of south-west England in the late 1980s, the occasional health-food shop and wholefood cafe could be found, an island of nutrition in a sea of Spacedust and limeade. Their menus invariably featured at least one thing from the genuinely game-changing Cranks Recipe Book. Very often that was homity pie, a carb-heavy coming-together of potatoes, cream, cheese and pastry.

Even writing those words makes me simultaneously ravenous and keen to listen to ‘Sign of the Times’. Here is a gorgeous variation on its theme.”

Unlike. Mark Diacono I’m old enough to remember Cranks and the original homity pie and have always fancied making it. Here’s my - and your - chance!

Serves 4

For the pastry

250g (9oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting

pinch of salt

1 tsp caraway seeds, lightly cracked in a mortar and pestle

150g (5oz) butter

1 egg, beaten, plus extra for brushing

For the filling

500g (1lb 2oz) new potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1cm/1⁄2in thick)

30g (1oz) butter or extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1⁄2 smallish cauliflower, thinly sliced

150g (5oz) Cheddar, coarsely grated or crumbled small

1⁄4 freshly grated whole nutmeg

small bunch of chives, thinly sliced

250ml (9fl oz) double (heavy) cream

flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the flour, salt, caraway seeds and butter into a food processor and blend until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg and pulse until the mixture just comes together. (Alternatively, using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the egg and mix to form a dough.) Bring the dough together with your hands and shape into a round. Wrap in clingfilm (plastic wrap) and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes while you make the filling.

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well and allow to dry.

Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat and fry the onion for about 8–10 minutes until soft. Stir in the cauliflower, cover and cook for 5–10 minutes, stirring often until the cauliflower begins to soften. Add the potatoes and half the cheese.

Season the mix with the nutmeg, chives and some salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F.

Lightly flour the work surface, then roll out the pastry to fit a tart tin about 20cm (8in) in diameter. The pastry should be around 4mm (1⁄4in) thick. Leave the edges of the pastry bigger than the tin, as it will shrink a little during cooking. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork and line with baking parchment. Fill with baking beans (pie weights) and blind bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the parchment and beans from the case, brush the pastry with a little beaten egg and return to the oven for 10 minutes until the pastry is golden. Trim the edges of the pastry with a sharp knife, then turn the oven down to 170°C/150°C fan/340°F.

Spoon the filling mixture evenly into the tart case and pour over the cream. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake in the hot oven for 35–40 minutes until the pastry is crisp and the filling is set and lightly golden. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes or so before cutting into wedges. Serve warm or at room temperature.

What to drink: I’m immediately thinking of a dry or medium dry craft cider rather than wine with this - but you could equally well drink a full flavoured smooth white like a chenin blanc, white Côte du Rhône or a good Soave.

VEGAN: Use shop-bought pastry (most brands are vegan) and sprinkle the caraway over it before blind baking; use plant-based cheese, butter and cream.

GF: Use GF flour or shop-bought gluten-free pastry sprinkled with caraway seeds.

SEASONAL SWAPS: Try Broccoli and Romanesco in place of the cauliflower.

Extracted from Vegetables by Mark Diacono published by Quadrille at £27. Photo © Mark Diacono. 

For other cauliflower pairings see this post.

 

Khao Soi Noodles

After the carbfest that is Christmas I fancy clean spicy flavours in January so leapt on this easy, delicious dish from Claire Thomson’s The Art of the Larder.

As the title suggests the book is designed to help you make the best of ingredients you may already have to hand and is an incredibly useful and inspirational resource for everyday cooking.

Claire writes: Thai curry pastes add a pungent boost to many dishes. You can make your own, but there are some brilliant versions available to buy fresh or with a longer shelf life. The trick to getting the most out of them is to almost fry the paste along with the garlic, unlocking the flavour, before you begin adding any other ingredients. Use wide at rice noodles here in this fragrant spicy broth.

Khao Soi Noodles

Serves 4

50ml vegetable oil

4 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste – use more if you like it spicy (or less!)

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

4 boneless skinless chicken pieces (thigh is best), thinly sliced (equally, cold leftover roast chicken or pork here will work well enough)

200ml chicken stock

1 x 400g tin of coconut milk

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

200g rice noodles

Put the oil into a medium saucepan over a moderate heat and cook the garlic for about 30 seconds.

Add the curry paste and the spices and cook for another 30 seconds, giving everything a good stir.

Add the chicken and stir to coat in the sauce. Add the chicken stock, coconut milk, fish sauce and finally the sugar. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning, remembering that the fish sauce should make the sauce salty enough.

Cook the noodles according to the packet directions, then drain and divide them between the bowls. Top with the sauce and serve immediately with the garnishes.

GARNISHES

Choose any or all of the below; you want to add texture to the finished noodles:

• thinly sliced raw shallot or red onion • sliced spring onion
• beansprouts
• Thai basil leaves
• coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• mint leaves, roughly chopped
• peanuts or cashew nuts, roughly chopped • limes, cut into wedges
• chilli flakes

What to drink: Even if you’re not doing Dry January I’m not sure I’d drink alcohol with this with the possible exception of sake. Kombucha (fermented tea) would be a good alternative.

From The Art of the Larder by Claire Thomson (Quadrille, £20) Photography: Mike Lusmore

Fromage fort

If you’ve been doing your duty by British cheesemakers you may well have a few odd pieces lurking in your fridge you couldn’t bring yourself to throw away and which are now past their best.

But don’t chuck them. The French have this thing called fromage fort which is a pungent garlicky, spicy cheese spread which accommodates all your odds and ends. (Fromage fort means strong cheese and it certainly is!)

This is not so much a recipe as a method as you just freewheel with what you’ve got available.

You will need

Some odd scraps of cheese that have seen better days (I used the tail end of some Lincolnshire Poacher, Killeen and a washed rind cheese called Witheridge - probably about 175g in total You can use a blue but it tends to turn it a rather unlovely grey colour)

Garlic (I used 2 smallish cloves)

Dry white wine

Cayenne pepper or chilli powder

You will also need a food processor

Trim the rind and any scruffy bits off your cheese and cut into fine slices. Peel and finely chop the garlic

Put the garlic and cheese in the small bowl of your food processor and blitz until crumbly or smooth. How smooth it gets at this stage depends how soft your cheese is - leftover brie will obviously make it softer than cheddar.

Gradually add enough wine to make a spreadable or even dippable consistency. I used about 75ml

Add cayenne or chilli powder to taste. (If you mix it in the spread will turn pink which isn’t a big deal but I think it looks nicer sprinkled on top as in the picture above.)

Serve with crackers, breadsticks or sourdough toast.

If you’re going to eat it immediately you could also add some fresh herbs like chopped parsley or chives but don’t if you’re going to keep it for any length of time. It’ll last in the fridge for a couple of days.

You can use brandy or eau-de-vie instead of wine in which case get the consistency almost right with a little milk or water and add it cautiously, bit by bit otherwise it will taste even stronger!

What to drink: Crisp white wine, rosé, a glass of Beaujolais, maybe even a strong French beer like Jenlain.