Shakshuka - tomatoes and eggs

 

• From BBC Good Food - serves 4

  The sauce - as in before you add the eggs - can be frozen for 1 month.
  
  
  Heat 1tbsp olive oil in a frying pan that has a lid, then soften the 2 chopped red onions, 1 finely chopped red chilli, 1 sliced garlic clove and chopped stalks from a small bunch of coriander for 5 mins until soft. Stir in two cans of chopped tomatoes (cherry if possible) and 1tsp caster sugar, then bubble for 8-10 mins until thick.
  

  
  

  Using the back of a large spoon, make 4 dips in the sauce, then crack an egg into each one. Put a lid on the pan, then cook over a low heat for 6-8 mins, until the eggs are done to your liking. Scatter with the coriander leaves and serve with crusty bread.

Avocado and Egg Mayo

Big hit. Benefits from less mayo than in plain egg mayo mix plus having avocado and other 'super' food elements.

Mix together 1 tsp cider vinegar with good pinch of turmeric and good pinch of cayenne pepper, 1tbsp mayonnaise, 2 tsp Dijon mustard (or 2 tbsp of Dijon mayonnaise), and 1 tbsp of chopped parsley. Carefully stir in one roughly chopped avocado ensuring all bits of avocado are covered. Then stir in 4 roughly chopped hard boiled eggs and finely chopped half red onion. Salt and pepper to taste.

Whether within sandwich/pitta bread or as part of salad, little gem lettuce leaves are a good addition. 

No Pastry quiche aka Frittata with a twist

As we're getting at least 3 eggs a day from the new hens I have spent some time working out how to try and keep at least only slightly behind the supply without resorting to cakes.

This recipe is perfect for lunch either at home or in the office as it is lovely eaten at room temperature with a green salad.

Having been making this every other week for the last couple of months, refining as I go along, am now ready to record/share!

Heat oven to 180C

8 eggs whisked until lightly frothy
100ml milk
- Add milk to eggs with seasoning depending on filling (eg less salt when using home cooked gammon)
- put other filling ingredients (see below) into dish aiming to fill two thirds of the dish loosely.
- Pour over milk and egg mixture
- cook in preheated oven for about 25 minutes or when egg mixture is set

Size of dish: the above is for 12" quiche dish. For 9" quiche dish use 6 eggs with 75ml milk. 10 eggs etc if large lasagne dish. The egg mixture should not quite cover the other ingredients. If unsure on how many eggs needed it is easy to quickly whisk up more eggs to get to the right level in the dish. Adjust time of cooking accordingly.

So far I have included new potatoes in all fillings, well they are in season, about 250g scrubbed, sliced into about 1cm pieces then cooked.

Unless otherwise indicated, another common ingredient is at least one onion chopped and fried in oil until soft.

Successful fillings to date

New potatoes, sliced chorizo, halved cherry tomatoes, fresh marjoram, cubed feta (no onion)
New potatoes, asparagus spears (cooked), grated cheddar
New potatoes, cubed home cooked gammon/bacon joint, extra fried onion, parsley, grated cheddar [Frittata Lorraine?!]
New potatoes, broccoli and blue cheese (stilton or danish blue and quite a bit of it to get the bite of the 'blue' coming through)

As the vegetable patch starts to produce then bulk of potatoes is likely to be replaced by courgette etc

Recipe: Monmouth Pudding

My variant of an easy, and cheap, pudding

450ml milk
35g sugar
35g butter
Zest of lemon
175g fresh breadcrumbs
2 eggs lightly beaten
5 tbsp strawberry jam

Put milk, sugar, butter and zest into a saucepan, bring to boiling point. Take off the heat and stir in breadcrumbs. Leave to cool slightly before stirring in eggs. Whilst this is happening melt the jam either in microwave or in small saucepan.

Place half the mixture in the bottom of a greased 2pint oven proof dish. Spread over half the jam then repeat with remaining mixture and remaining jam.

Cook in oven preheated to 170C for 40 minutes or until a knide inserted into the centre comes away clean.

Serve with ice cream

Recipe: Cheese Pudding

I am ending the week on a cheap classic (as in I remember it being made by my mother on a regular basis). Definatley one for the kids when they get to college.

Preheat oven to 200C
Half pint of milk - heat to boiling point.
Add 4oz fresh breadcrumbs (small cubes of white bread do just as well) and 1oz of butter.
Stand for 5 mins
Add 4 oz grated cheddar cheese and season
Mix in 1-2 eggs (I normally use 2 medium)
Pour into greased 1 pint dish and cook until risen and brown on top (25-35mins depending on depth of dish - insert a skewer and it will come out clean if it is cooked)

In summer server with new potatoes and a green veg
In winter serve with baked potatoes and a green veg


Probably worth noting at this point that I have 3 chickens who between them produce an egg a day in the depths of winter (2 or 3 per day during the summer). Free range eggs are therefore readily available in this household. With teenage son still in rapid growth mode, we also have numerous ends of bread loaves. These ends only get fed to chickens as a very last resort. You'll spot the theme!