Shakshuka
Every Wednesday in my CT sleepy town, there is an open acoustic mic night at the All American General Store. It is a beautiful little restaurant and general store of all farm fresh ingredients and a farm theme.
The reason I’m telling you this is because I used go there often and listen to all the wonderful acoustic players and singers. Sometimes I even participated as a singer and guitarist. We all became great friends we exchanged creative ideas, sang, and played music all the time.
The owner of the store Kim is a very amazing singer herself and an awesome cook! We were talking about my blog and how I wanted fresh recipes and she suggested this recipe of shakshuka. I didn’t know what it was! It’s really a great brunch dish, but I love the versatility of it and how it can be dinner, one one-pot meal for us people with little time!
Shakshouka or shakshuka is a dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chili peppers, and onions, often spiced with cumin. It is believed to have a Tunisian origin.
Well, I decided to make it my own! I added skirt steak. The base recipe is the same.
For best results use a cast iron skillet if you can, but any heavy fry pan can work.
This recipe serves two out of the pan generously
½ lb skirt steak cut into small slices
½ tsp cumin
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion chopped
1 large yellow pepper cut into 3/4″ strips
1 tbsp mascavado sugar
2 bay leaves
½ tsp saffron threads
6 thyme sprigs leaves picked
2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
½ cup grape tomatoes cut in half
1/2 15 oz can of diced tomato with juices
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3 eggs
Heat the pan with the cumin to medium-high for a minute and add the olive oil with the chopped onions, add the steak and keep an eye while cooking the onions until golden and also turn the steak until almost cooked through.
Add the peppers and herbs and cook until the peppers are a nice color about 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, saffron, and pepper flakes- cook for about 15 minutes and let the juices thicken.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Remove the bay leaves and make a small well for the eggs. Drop the eggs in three wells then cover the pan with a lid. Reduce the heat to low and let the egg poach.
Then relax and enjoy this delicious meal with a piece of gluten-free bread toasted!