Monday, December 18, 2017

Eggs with potato, tomato and onion

This breakfast eggs are my latest favorite breakfast. Satisfying, simple, casually delicious. Stick to these simple steps below to prepare this breakfast. You'll thank me later ;)

Blog's Category: Perfect Breakfast, Vegetarian


- Sure this recipe can be customized to suit your preferences. You can add ham, bacon, mushrooms, cheese, and other yummy goodies. But. Try first to cook this simple, basic recipe, sticking to a word accurately. Chances are you won't need all those extras next time any way. 

- I like to cook it in a smaller personal skillet to enjoy it then, sizzling, right from a skillet. For three of us, I can easily cook three skillets simultaneously. If you prefer large family style skillet, go for it.

- One more advise. Do all your preparation work first - washing, chopping, dicing. Then enjoy your 10-minute "home run" throwing ingredients on a skillet in the precise order while sipping your first-thing-in-a-morning cup of coffee.

Eggs with Potato, Tomato and Onion


For 1 serving
  • 1 peeled and diced potato (smaller pieces - faster they cook)
  • 1/2 medium size onion, chopped
  • 1 medium tomato, diced
  • 2 eggs
  • salt, black pepper to taste
  • light-tasting olive oil (for frying)
  • some green onion or fresh herbs for garnishing (optional)
- On a skillet, heat olive oil, then fry potato on a medium heat, stirring occasionally until potato cooked through and tender. 

- Lower heat to medium-low, add onion, cook for a couple minutes, stirring, just until onion is translucent. 

- Add tomato, salt, stir. Cover with a lid and let it cook for a minute or two.

- Make two indentations in a skillet and break eggs into it. Salt eggs a little bit, cover with a lid and let it cook on a lowest setting for about 2-7 minutes depending on you like your egg yolks.

- Before serving, sprinkle some black pepper on top and garnish with green onion or herbs.

- Enjoy!



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In Pictures


I love to cook my breakfast in my heavy French copper skillet. Some may complaint that food sticks to the surface of it, but I figured that varying stove top heat at different stages of cooking allows really use this tool to the best of its ability. You know, every kitchen tool has the character of its own :)

Adding onion, only when potato is browned and tender, fully cooked.

.. a bit of salt now...

and a bit of salt now, when onion softened and tomato added.

We need to cook tomatoes covered to savor some liquid, we will need it to cook eggs.

Eggs are in. Salt them a bit too.

Finally, let it cook, covered, until eggs are cooked to your desired doneness.

Done!


Here you see my precious original middle eastern pepper mill. Great tool, BTW.
I have ultra-modern electric pepper mill, with a light, but, often, I find myself using this simple centuries-old mechanical mill.

Should I tell now that last [several] weekends in a row I cook this breakfast :) Taking in account my experiment-driven nature, it's unheard of, yeah.

Monday, December 11, 2017

Sugar Coated Cranberries

Looking for a light dessert, fun snack, humble holiday gift idea? How about these Sugar Coated Cranberries? Easy to make, no special storage requirements, plus they looks bright and festive on your holiday table! Yes, it's delicious too!

Blog's Category: Dessert, Holidays, Kid's Favorite, Snacks


- These Sugar Coated Cranberries bring back my childhood memories. At times of total food supply deficit, during Soviet Union 'occupation', there were lines at grocery stores when some popular food item was delivered and sold in a store. There were always a line when there was Brusnika (somewhat like cranberry), thickly coated in a hardened sugar powder, in a small white paper boxes. They were really good. Well.. these cranberries are better :)

Sugar Coated Cranberries


  • 1 bag (16oz) of fresh cranberries
  • 1/2 + 1/2 c white sugar
  • 1/2 water
- In a small sauce pan, bring 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar to a boil. Simmer for a 5-7 minutes. Set aside to cool down.

- Meanwhile, go through your cranberries and discard all soft and damaged. I figured it's easy to do just relying on your finger tips. I managed doing this while watching my favorite TV show :)

- When you syrup cooled down completely, mix cranberries with a syrup. Make sure your cranberries were dry before doing this to avoid diluting the syrup. Stir well to make sure cranberries covered well in a syrup. then pour into large shallow wire sieve to drain off the syrup. Or transfer cranberries from a syrup, with a slotted spoon, onto fine-wire rack to drain.

- Let cranberries stay for about 1 hour to become sticky.

- Add 1/2 cup of sugar to a large shallow bowl. Prepare large baking pan by covering it with a parchment paper.

- Working in a batches, transfer some cranberries to a bowl with sugar, shake well. Then using a slotted spatula, transfer cranberries onto baking sheet with a parchment paper.

- Let them dry out completely for a couple of hours. After that, they can be kept at room temperature, in a bowl, lightly covered with a plastic wrap.

- Enjoy!



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In Pictures