Saturday 3 August 2013

Flamenco Eggs


I am very happy because this month's theme on Little Thumbs Up is Eggs! I have been very fond of eggs ever since I was a little girl. My auntie loves to tell people that I could eat 6 eggs a day when I was small. How true is that I really don't know because I can't remember :) (PH in denial)


Eggs, glorious eggs! Oh how I love thee!

I love eggs in any form - hard boiled, soft boiled, omelette, steamed, baked, salted duck eggs, century eggs, you name it! And mooncake season is upon us again and I love those mooncakes that have salted egg yolks in them especially double yolks hee..hee...



And now for my first LTU egg post, I am doing a very colourful dish called Flamenco Eggs. But before I begin, I want to fulfil some friends' request regarding garlic press. I mentioned this instrument in a previous post and there was a request or two for me to post a photo of this garlic press.

This is how it looks like :


For anyone who is interested, I bought the garlic press from IKEA. I think it should also be available at most departmental stores at the kitchenware section.

Now on to my Flamenco Eggs. It is a Spanish style egg and vegetable dish. Does it look familiar? Oh yes, it looks very much like Shashuka. This I am guessing is Moorish influence in Spanish cuisine. I read somewhere that The Moors occupied Spain for some 800 years and during that period would have left an indelible mark on Spanish culture.

Flamenco Eggs "kah liew" (with extra ingredients)

This recipe come from the book Healthy One Dish Cooking. The ingredients are very basic - potatoes, onion, garlic, capsicum, zuchinni, tomatoes and eggs. For seasoning it's just salt and oregano.



I obviously left out the potatoes as I am avoiding carbohydrates. I also left out zuchinni as I don't like this vegetable. I find it rather bland. Since the recipe suggests that you can add bacon or chorizo for a non-vegetarian version, I went for regular sausages in place of potatoes and also for extra flavor :)


These days my ingredients get to strike a pose before I cook them.

I used only 1 green capsicum and a few small red sweet peppers. Reason being I don't want to end up with leftover capsicum. And for the tomatoes I chose to use yellow and red cherry tomatoes.


When you have tomato pulp like this, don't wash it away. Take and rub on your face for natural exfoliant. No need to spend tons of money on those expensive branded Alpha Hydroxy Acid concoctions. Leave on your face for 15 minutes and wash it off.

I find this dish easy to put together as all you need to do is slice the vegetable and then saute until tender. Then push aside the vegetables to create space for the eggs. Once the eggs are in, cover to cook until the egg whites are set and the yolks are still runny.



This is a very delicious dish which makes for a very filling breakfast or lunch. And it's nice to look at too, don't you agree?



I am reproducing the recipe below in it's original form. Feel free to use any suitable vegetables that you have on hand.










Flamenco Eggs
Recipe source : Healthy One-Dish Cooking (page 124)
My notes and adaptations in red

Ingredients :
- 350g potatoes, peeled and cut into small dice (I replaced with 3 regular sausages, diced)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (I definitely used more)
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced (I used 1 big onion)
- 1 garlic clove, crushed (1 clove mana cukup? I used 4 big cloves. Love my garlic)
- 1 red capsicum, de-seeded and thinly sliced (I used 2 red sweet peppers)
- 1 green capsicum, de-seeded and thinly sliced (I used half, the other half is still sitting in my fridge))
- 1 yellow capsicum, de-seeded and thinly sliced (I used 2 orange peppers and 1 yellow one)
- 2 zuchinni, sliced (I omitted)
- 6 tomatoes (about 400g in total) cut into chunks (I used 2 handfuls of red and yellow cherry tomatoes)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano or 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 4 large eggs

Method :
1. Parboil potatoes in a saucepan of lightly salted boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large, deep frying pan and fry the onion and garlic over medium heat for 2-3 minutes to soften.
3. Add capsicums and zuchinni and fry, stirring occasionally, for a further 10 minutes.
4. Add potatoes and tomatoes and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for 6-8 minutes or until all vegetables are tender.
5. Stir in oregano and season to taste.
6. Make four hollows in the vegetable mixture and break and egg into each hollow.
7. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 8-10 minutes until the egg whites are set.
8. Serve immediately while piping hot.

Note : 
1. I fried the sausages together with the onions in step 2.
2. I broke the egg into a bowl first and then poured into the pan because I am clumsy.




Photobucket

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY and hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out



This post is also linked to Cook-Your-Books #3 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

36 comments:

  1. eat 6 eggs in a day, amazing! sound healthy and colourful egg dish.

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    Replies
    1. Sonia, now I think I can also eat 6 eggs a day :)

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  2. Love eggs, they are my rescue when i am out of ideas on what to make for dinner. This is one colorful dish, simple and comforting :)

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    1. Yes, I love this dish! It is very filling too :)

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  3. 6 eggs in a day??? Oh my goodness.... (shaking my head disbelief). About this dish, looks special and healthy dish too. I do eat capsicum for a small bite as I am not a big fan of this vege.

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    1. Mel, I am also not crazy about capsicum but I do like eating it once in a while. I eat 3 eggs a day now from Monday to Friday for breakfast :)

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  4. Hi Phong Hong,
    Yes, this is similar to Shakshuka! I love eating Shakshuka and I can see I will enjoy this as well! It looks delicious, egg-cellent!
    6 eggs? No wonder "PH denial!! hahaha!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Joyce! I love eggs too much hah! hah! If I see any dish with hard boiled eggs in it, I will zoom in straight away :D

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    2. Hi Phong Hong,
      Thanks for linking! One of your submissions last month, was featured in this month's CYB!

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    3. Thanks, Joyce! Yes, I saw and I was so happy!!

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  5. This one sounds promising. My home have two ular who loves eggs

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  6. Hi Phong Hong, my family loves eggs. This is very nice. Once, my hubby and I stayed at a KB hotel which provides breakfast. My hubby requested for 3 half boiled eggs for breakfast. The waiter looked at him and shook his head, told him 'at your age, 3 is too much, 2 is more than enough for a day'. I can't imagine what will be his reaction if we ask for 6, hehehe!

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    Replies
    1. Kimmy, I eat 3 soft boiled eggs for breakfast everyday! Most people are so freaked out by eggs and I think it is very wrong perception. Eggs are very good for our health.

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  7. Colourful and healthy dish, thanks for showing the garlic press, will try to hunt it when i go to Ikea later!

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    Replies
    1. Jozelyn, the garlic press is very useful. I use it very often.

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  8. 6 eggs a day??? I should crowned you "EGG QUEEN",hehe...
    Lovely eggs dish!!!! :)

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    Replies
    1. Hah! Hah! Esther, yes I don't mind being an Egg Queen :)

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  9. ivy sew http://simplybeautifulhealthyliving.blogspot.com3 August 2013 at 23:03

    Hi Phong Hong,
    my family loves eggs too. I hv read an article about eggs and in fact it's not that sinful to take 6 eggs in a day. It has all the nutrition and you know, sometimes I have about 6 eggs in a day too. 2 or 3 half- boiled eggs for breakfast, lunch eggs, dinner eggs and sometimes tea time also eggs. Frankly speaking, so far we do not hv any cholesterol problem, touch wood!!! Your flamenco eggs is so colourful and tempting! I'm already drooling...

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    Replies
    1. Ivy, at long last someone who is not afraid of eggs! You are right, eggs are very nutritious and we should not get freaked out by the cholesterol. I eat 3 soft boiled eggs daily and so far, my cholesterol level is within normal range.

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  10. Phong Hong, the egg is so beautiful with your colourful ring around. i like egg also but cant take that much. i thinks this is for your whole family and not you have it yourself, right? haha...

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    1. xing hui, hah! hah! My face very red now hee...hee...

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  11. Phong Hong,
    Tomato plup for facial?? good idea!!
    Your flamenco eggs looks colourful and healthy..
    Thanks for sharing this colourful and yummy dish to LTU :)
    mui

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    Replies
    1. mui mui, when you put tomato pulp on your face, you can feel it working on your skin. But be careful if your skin is sensitive. Try a little bit first. It is my pleasure to take part in LTU!

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  12. Hi PH, glad tht u r happy with the theme this month! I love eggs very much too. Your flamenco eggs look fantastic! I am the same as you, when I buy mooncakes I always go for double yolks! Thanks for linking to LTU.

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    Replies
    1. My pleasure, Yen! I always dig for the yolks before eating the mooncake hah! hah!

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  13. Hmmmm...looks nice but the image of you applying the tomato pulp on your face while cooking that! Eyewwwww!!!! Muahahahahaha!!!!

    Jokes aside, how much is that garlic press? My missus would love one, I'm sure. She was making her own homemade pounded chili yesterday and ended up with something like a burn on her finger from peeling and chopping all that garlic...

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    Replies
    1. Hah! Hah! Hah! You made me laugh!! I can't remember exactly but I think that garlic press cost me something like RM20+ ? It is very useful but the garlic does get stuck to the groves and makes cleaning a bit tricky.

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  14. Hahah, I was really into eggs when I was little too. My mom would read me this children's book with pictures, and when it got to the page with the bear eating a boiled egg, I would point and yell "BOILED EGG, BOILED EGG" because that used to be my favorite breakfast.
    This looks great! Also, thanks for the reminder about the garlic press. I lost mine, and was meaning to get another one.

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    1. Cathleen, that is so cute! I used to love hard boiled eggs as a kid (still do) and my whole family loves them too. I find eggs to be the most convenient and nutritious breakfast.

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  15. I love this egg dish with all that vegetables.

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    1. Mich, it is really great for a light but satisfying breakfast or lunch.

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  16. so the myth that says eat more eggs , you get more eggs for your exam isnt true!! LOL!!

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    Replies
    1. Lena, get 2 eggs behind the number 1 could be true hah! hah! But never happen to me lah...

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