Baked eggs on top of roasted cherry tomatoes + Yummy Supper cookbook giveaway

For as long as I can remember, I disliked eggs, but then something inexplicable happened and my taste changed. I found myself craving eggs, enjoying their flavor and the infinite combinations with other ingredients that can yield delicious dishes. I’d finally discovered their versatility.

For the past couple of years, I have become an egg enthusiast and S, an eternal egg fiend, is finally getting his fill of fried, poached and soft-boiled eggs.

I hadn’t ventured the world of baked eggs though. Not until Erin Scott introduced me to her recipe of baked eggs with cherry tomatoes found in her amazing upcoming book “Yummy Supper: 100 Fresh, Luscious & Honest Recipes from a {Gluten-Free} Omnivore”. Was I in for a treat!

Erin is an American from Berkeley in California and she’s one of the food bloggers I admire the most. Her beautiful recipes, her keen eye for food styling and her incredible ability to take the most amazing photographs of her dishes is enviable. She is honest and straightforward in her cooking and writing and her book reflects just that. Elegant dishes prepared in an unfussy manner; inviting recipes meant to be cooked in a relaxed way and shared with family and friends; food that is impressive and luscious yet not intimidating for the home cook. Her recipes are also gluten-free, but you will not find in the book any weird ingredients that are hard to source. Congratulations, dear Erin. Your book is awesome!

Eggs and tomatoes is a marriage made in heaven, especially during tomato season when they are sweeter and juicier than ever. Here, first the cherry tomatoes are roasted briefly in the oven until they start releasing their sweet juices and then they get a good sprinkling of grated parmesan, pepper and parsley. The eggs are cracked carefully on top and then in the oven they go for a few minutes until they set. A final sprinkling of parsley and a drizzle of olive oil and they are served, preferably with some good crusty bread to dunk into the glorious juices, or as Erin suggests, with some big buttery croutons or polenta fries (both recipes found in her book).

I served this for brunch but it would also make a lovely, light supper, or if you are a big breakfast person (sadly I’m not), it would be a delicious way to start your day.

Giveaway: I was honored to receive a copy of Erin’s book and I am happy to give away a copy for one of you!
What you need to do to enter, is leave a comment on this post, telling me what type of recipes you would like to see featured more on my blog. Would you like to see for example more Greek recipes? More desserts? How about meat-based or vegetarian recipes? Easy or more intricate recipes? Feel free to share.

The giveaway ends on August 26th, 11:59 pm CET (Central European Time). I will select a winner at random and will announce the name on this post the next day (August 27th).
One comment per person on either of my blogs (English or Greek), no anonymous comments please, and do write your email address in the comment so I can contact you if you win.
Also, the giveaway is open to Europe and US residents only.

Good luck!!


The giveaway has ended. I will announce the winner on August 27th!


The winner is 'Αντρη from my Greek blog. Congratulations!!

Update 03.11.2014: Unfortunately, due to the fact that the winner's address could not be reached by the courier company, I had to pick another winner through random.org. The new winner of the book is Pepi from Athens, Greece. Congratulations Pepi!

Baked eggs on top of roasted cherry tomatoes
Slightly adapted from Erin Scott’s Yummy Supper: 100 Fresh, Luscious & Honest Recipes from a {Gluten-Free} Omnivore

I normally would cook the eggs runny but my guests preferred them on the hard side. Cook them to your liking but runny are best.

Erin uses basil instead of parsley but you should know my feelings towards basil by now; it's my least favorite herb. Also, I added more cherry tomatoes (Erin adds 3 cups), and more olive oil (Erin adds 2 Tbsp) because I’m Greek and I need to add more olive oil.

Yield: 2-4 servings

Ingredients
4 full cups (about 650 g) fresh, sweet cherry tomatoes, cut in half
¼-½ cup grated parmesan
Fleur de Sel (or other flaky sea salt)
Freshly ground white pepper
A handful of fresh parsley leaves, chopped
3-4 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra for serving
4 large eggs, at room temperature

Special equipment: rasp grater, small baking dish (mine was about 25x20 cm)


Preparation
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Add the halved cherry tomatoes to the baking dish and place on the middle rack of your preheated oven. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until the tomatoes start releasing their juices and have wrinkled. Take the baking dish out of the oven. (At this point, Erin suggests pouring out some of the excess tomato juices if you wish but I didn’t and it was a good thing as we were left with lots of sweet juices to dunk our bread in).

Sprinkle the tomatoes with the grated parmesan, a couple pinches of Fleur de Sel, some ground white pepper and ¾ of the parsley leaves. Drizzle with the olive oil and crack the eggs carefully on top, spacing them apart. If you are unsure of your egg-cracking skills and worried that you might break them, crack them open first into a ramekin and then carefully slide them on top of the tomatoes.

Return the dish to the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes depending on how you like to eat your eggs.

Take the dish out of the oven, sprinkle with some salt, pepper and the rest of the parsley, drizzle with a dash of olive oil, just enough to make the eggs glisten, and serve immediately with lots of good bread.

Enjoy!

Green & White

As I’m sitting in front of my computer writing these words, I can hear S upstairs playing his guitar. He's improvising, working on a track. In a little while, he will come downstairs and ask me to come up. He'll want my opinion on the music, ask me if it inspires me to write lyrics and sing to it. And then, perhaps, I will ask him to read what I've been writing here and tell me what he thinks.

I love these habits we have developed, the moments of communication on a creative level and beyond. These small realities of our everyday life are precious and revitalizing.

Another sort of habit we have involves Saturday and Sunday morning treats. Sometimes it’s croissants from the bakery with homemade jam and French press coffee, others it’s something from The Hague open market, in the form mainly of bread rings covered in sesame seeds that they sell at the Turkish stalls and that resemble the Greek ones.

Most of the times, it includes eggs. A brunch of sorts, just for the two of us. During the winter it’s fried eggs with feta. Now, at springtime, it’s poached or boiled eggs with asparagus or avocado, sometimes simply with a sprinkling of sumac and other times a little more complex and adorned, with a lemony, homemade mayonnaise sauce.

This creamy sauce is essentially a thin mayonnaise made with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and egg yolks. It is delicious. It’s sharp, rich and full-bodied and complements perfectly the nutty green and white asparagus, the soft-boiled egg and the slices of ham served over a nicely toasted slice of rye bread.

It’s a good brunch dish to have with friends on a Sunday or even for lunch on a less busy day spent at home.

Green and white asparagus on toasted rye bread with ham, soft-boiled eggs and a creamy, lemony, homemade mayonnaise sauce

This time I blanched/boiled my asparagus, but they’re also quite tasty grilled.

Cook your eggs to your liking. I usually prefer mine runny in the middle (6-minute egg, which I need to share how it’s done with you at some point), but this time I opted for a little firmer (8-minutes).

This homemade mayonnaise contains raw egg yolks so be careful not to serve it to people with compromised immune systems, infants, the elderly, or pregnant ladies. Make sure to use eggs of trustworthy origin and as fresh as possible.

Yield: 6 servings / 1½ cup creamy mayonnaise sauce

Ingredients

for the creamy mayonnaise sauce
4 medium egg yolks
Juice of 1 lemon (70-80 ml)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
150 ml extra virgin olive oil

350 g fresh green asparagus
500 g fresh white asparagus
Extra virgin olive oil
6 thin slices ham
6 large eggs, boiled to your liking
6 rye bread slices, toasted
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Special equipment: small food processor (or blender), vegetable peeler


Preparation

for the creamy mayonnaise sauce
In the bowl of a food processor (or in a blender), add the egg yolks, lemon and a little salt and pepper, and pulse 2-3 times to blend. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil at a very slow pace through the top of the lid, until incorporated. In the end you will have a thin mayonnaise sauce that resembles a thick dressing rather than the classic stiff mayonnaise, the recipe of which you can find here. Taste and add more salt or pepper if you think it needs it.
Keep the mayonnaise sauce refrigerated and covered until ready to use. Use it the same day you prepare it.


Peel and trim the woody stems of the green asparagus (read in this post how to trim them).
Peel the white asparagus and trim 1 cm off the bottom part of each spear.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil over high heat, add the white asparagus and boil them for 6-8 minutes (depending on their thickness) or until tender, without putting the lid on the pan. Test them by inserting the tip of a knife into one of the spears.
Remove them with a slotted spoon, draining them well, and place them in large plate.

In the same water, add the green asparagus and blanch them for 2-4 minutes (depending on their thickness) or until they are tender, without putting the lid on the pan. You can test them by inserting the tip of a knife into one of the spears. Be careful not to boil them for too long, they need to be a little crunchy.
Remove them with a slotted spoon and place them in the large plate with the white asparagus.
Toss them with a little olive oil.

Note: Blanching means to plunge raw vegetables or fruit into boiling water, and boil them for a few seconds to a few minutes (depending on the fruit/vegetable), until they slightly soften but still retain their crisp texture and vivid color.

To serve, place the toasted bread slices on plates. Fold on top a slice of ham. Lay 3-4 whole asparagus on top and drizzle some of the mayonnaise sauce over the top. Cut in half the eggs, place them on top and season with salt and pepper. If the eggs are runny, it’s best if you let each person cut open their own egg to watch the yolk ooze out.
Put the mayonnaise sauce in a bowl at the table and let everyone help themselves to more.

Enjoy!

Lunch for one

The clocks went back an hour. The days are short now and I can feel the winter approaching. The temperature keeps dropping and the rain is persistent and hard as if it has suddenly awakened from its unusually long summer dormant state.

The trees are thirsty for it, all yellow and rusty golden. They fill the streets, not in a good way, not in the romantic way, but in the annoying way. They keep getting stuck to the bottom of my shoes and I end up bringing them into the apartment, leaving a trail behind me, like that of breadcrumbs, for me to find my way back.

There are days when I can’t get away from the kitchen, it seems like my place of solace, where I can find some peace of mind in cooking or baking, and then there are those days that I can’t stand being in that room for more than a second, when I know that I need a break from the act of cooking, a rest. I’m like that with all my great loves.

Lunch for one is served.
Homemade Greek barley bread, toasted for added texture, soft-ish boiled egg and a ripe avocado, almost creamy, never mashed. I have my preferences. Maldon sea salt, because it’s so good, and a glass of water.

One last thought. I am so glad I got to see this man play live. Rest in peace, Lou.
I’ll leave you with this.

Greek Barley Bread with Avocado and Boiled Egg

2 slices of Greek barley bread
1 ripe avocado
1 large egg
Sea salt flakes, such as Maldon


Toast the bread.
Cut avocado in half and scoop out the halves. Cut into slices.
Boil the egg to your liking. Peel and cut in half.
Season egg and avocado with salt.
Lunch for one, ready.

Where the wild things are

It’s such a revelatory experience for me to savor something new; not so much a product of some novel culinary technique but rather new foods, new raw flavors like a vegetable or a fruit.

I’m constantly amazed when I realize how many vegetables and fruits are out there for me to savor. I feel my taste buds come alive with the prospect and I become intensely aware of all that nature so generously offers to us.

I wasn’t looking to find these when they appeared in front of me at the market, pale green and slender. The wild green asparagus. Looking much thinner and longer than their regular green counterparts.

I couldn’t help but picking up a bunch. Where would I find them again? Their season is nearing its end.

Their taste is close to the green asparagus but fresher and grassier, reminiscent of mellow spring onions or chives with a mild heat and slight bitterness.

I decided the best way to use them would be in an omelette. I’d bought some fresh pea shoots and I had some ricotta in the fridge so I went for it.

Butter, together with a little olive oil to keep it from burning, eggs with a splash of cream to make them even more luscious and the thinner-than-thin spears of the fresh green wild asparagus cut into thirds.

After only a few minutes, lunch was served. S and I dug in and ate it straight from the pan. It was marvelous. With some fresh bread and a glass of white wine, we almost forgot that it was raining outside and that I had a cold…

Wild Green Asparagus Omelette with Ricotta and Pea Shoots

I understand that not all of you will be able to find wild asparagus (different kinds can be found in different countries) but regular green asparagus will work as well. Blanched green beans or sautéed spring onions or even young leeks make good alternatives.

I use a wide skillet to make my omelettes because I enjoy them thin—I hate thick omelettes—but, you know, it’s up to you.

Yield: lunch for 2 hungry people

Ingredients
3-4 Tbsp (50 g) unsalted butter
1½ Tbsp olive oil
100 g wild green asparagus spears (40-50 spears), rinsed, dried and cut into thirds
6 large eggs
1-2 Tbsp cream, full-fat
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
100 g fresh ricotta cheese
A handful of pea shoots

Special equipment: a wide, round-sided skillet or frying pan


Preparation
Add butter and olive oil in a wide, round-sided skillet or frying pan and set over a medium-high heat. Once the butter melts and starts to foam and sizzle, add the asparagus. Sauté them for about 3 minutes, until they soften a bit and add a little salt and pepper.

In the meantime, in a medium-sized bowl add the eggs, cream, a little salt and pepper and whisk until slightly frothy.

Pour the eggs over the asparagus and using a wooden spoon, stir the eggs around a bit and then leave to cook over medium-low heat. It will take 6-7 minutes for the eggs to cook, for a slightly runny top. Cook more or less time depending on how you like your eggs. Be careful not to burn the bottom of the omelette.

One minute before the eggs are cooked, dot the omelette with ricotta. Once ready, either slide and fold the omelette onto a platter or, like us, eat it straight from the pan. Sprinkle with some ground black pepper and add the fresh pea shoots on top.

Enjoy!

The meatloaf

For those of us who are home cooks and crazy about food, it's hard to find like-minded people who share our culinary obsessions.

Whenever I have conversations with friends and acquaintances regarding food, after a while they get bored. They look at me as if I'm talking about stamps whereas I can go on and on about the importance of spices in a good Greek stew for hours.

But when I come here to write or when I visit friends' blogs, I feel at home because I know that we share the same passion; we showcase our dishes, record our thoughts and ideas about food, in the hope that there will be others out there who'll be interested in what we have to say.

Based on that passion, I always get overly excited about the prospect of sharing with you a dish that surprised me with its unique taste, a dish that I immensely enjoyed and that I know you'll love as well.

This is such a dish. It has a Middle Eastern flair and its impressive and beautiful presentation is perfect for these festive days. I never expected to love it since I've never been a fan of meatloaves but let me tell you, I enjoy being proved wrong on such matters.

It is a meatloaf stuffed with quail eggs, dried apricots and walnuts but it doesn't stop there. There's spices and sun-dried tomatoes and fresh mint and all those flavors that titillate the taste buds and make you want to eat more and more and more.

It is served with a sweet tomato sauce with saffron, ginger and long sweet red pepper that is absolutely delicious. This sauce was a revelation. When I tasted it, I imagined all sorts of dishes it could work with—spaghetti, Greek meat patties, a big juicy steak,—my imagination ran wild. It's a slightly spicy sauce with heat coming from the ginger, sweet notes from the sweet pepper and a little sourness from the tomato that complements perfectly the earthy, complex, umami flavor of the meatloaf.

It's the ideal dish to serve for a celebratory dinner, a New Year's feast, or even your Sunday dinner. Make it, share it with the ones you love and enjoy it!

Stuffed Meatloaf with Quail Eggs, Dried Apricots and Walnuts
Slightly adapted from Dutch Delicious

This meatloaf is cooked inside a loaf pan which not only helps hold its shape but also cook uniformly.

If you can't find quail eggs, simply omit them from the recipe. Don't substitute with chicken eggs because they're too large.

You can prepare the meatloaf one or two days in advance, keep it in the refrigerator and bake it on the day you want to serve it.

If you want to make sure your meatloaf is seasoned well before you get it into the loaf pan, you can make a tiny patty with the mixture and cook it in a frying pan. This way you'll know the result will be perfect and you won't run the risk of serving under-seasoned food to your guests.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
200 g dried apricots
12 quail eggs
2 Tbsp olive oil plus extra for greasing the pan
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5 sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
500 g minced beef or veal
2 tsp dried mint
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 medium-sized eggs
45 g dried breadcrumbs
100 g walnuts (50 g finely chopped, 50 g whole)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Fresh mint leaves, to garnish

Special equipment: loaf pan (23 x 9 x 8 cm) (1½-2 liters capacity), aluminum foil


Preparation
Place the dried apricots in a medium-sized bowl and add enough warm water to cover them completely. Leave to soak for 15 minutes and then drain them. Take half of the apricots and chop them finely, they will be added later to the meatloaf. The other half of the apricots will be added whole, on top of the meatloaf.

In the meantime, add the quail eggs to a small pan and add enough cold water to cover them completely. Boil the eggs for 7 minutes, then rinse under cold running water and peel them. You need to be careful when peeling them because you don't want to break the eggs up. The shell of quail eggs is thin and a little difficult to peel. The secret is in making sure to peel away the inner membrane of the egg together with the shell, otherwise the egg will break up.

While the apricots are soaking and the eggs are boiling, add the olive oil to a medium-sized frying pan and heat over medium-high heat. Once it starts to shimmer, lower heat to medium-low, add the onion, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes and sauté for 3-5 minutes until they soften but don't brown.
Empty everything into a large bowl, scraping well the frying pan, and allow to cool. Then add to the bowl the minced beef or veal, the dried mint, the ground coriander and cinnamon, the 2 eggs, the dried breadcrumbs, 50 g finely chopped walnuts, the finely chopped apricots, salt and pepper and mix well with your hands until all the ingredients are well blended.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 350 Fahrenheit.

Take the loaf pan and grease the inside all over with olive oil. Then line the bottom and the sides with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. I use two pieces of foil; one to cover the pan lengthwise and another one to cover it widthwise. Make sure your foil doesn't have any holes otherwise juices will run through and the meatloaf will stick to the pan making it difficult to remove.

Take one-third of the meatloaf mixture and spread it evenly at the bottom of the pan. Take 6 quail eggs and divide them on top of the meatloaf mixture and then add the next one-third of the mixture on top, being careful to press it firmly so it's nice and tight (be careful not to squash the eggs though). Then divide the rest of the quail eggs over the top and add the rest of the meatloaf mixture. Press it well, making sure you have an even top. Cover the top of the meatloaf with the whole apricots and walnuts and then cover with the overhanging foil.
At this point, you can place the meatloaf in the fridge and keep it for one-two days. Take it out of the fridge at least 1 hour before baking it, so it can come to room temperature.

Place the loaf pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake the meatloaf, covered with the foil, for 50 minutes. Then uncover the top of the meatloaf and bake for 10 more minutes.
Take the pan out of the oven and allow the meatloaf to cool for 5 minutes. Then, remove the meatloaf from the pan carefully by pulling it out by the overhanging foil. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then remove the foil from the meatloaf carefully so it doesn't break. Transfer the meatloaf to a platter and garnish with some fresh mint leaves.

Serve, cut into slices, with the sweet tomato sauce.

Sweet Tomato Sauce with Ginger and Saffron
Slightly adapted from Dutch Delicious

As with the meatloaf, this sauce can be made one to two days in advance and be kept in the fridge. Just reheat it before serving.

Yield: about 400 ml / 6-8 servings

Ingredients
Pinch of saffron threads
100 ml dry white wine
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, mashed
3 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 long sweet red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp runny honey
400 g canned whole peeled tomatoes
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Fresh mint leaves, to garnish

Special equipment: immersion blender or regular blender or food processor


Preparation
Add the saffron threads to a small bowl and pour over the wine. Allow the saffron to soak for 5 minutes.

In a medium-sized saucepan, add the olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, turn heat down to medium-low, add the onion, garlic and ginger and sauté for 3-5 minutes until they soften. Then add the red pepper, the cinnamon and the honey and cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously. Add the wine with the saffron and the canned whole tomatoes and crush them with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper, bring the sauce to the boil and turn heat down to low. Simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on.

When the sauce is ready, use an immersion blender to blend the sauce directly in the pan until you have a smooth sauce. If you don't have an immersion blender, transfer the sauce to a regular blender or food processor and process there.

At this point, you can refrigerate the sauce for up to two days and reheat it when you want to serve it.

Garnish the sauce with fresh mint leaves and serve with the meatloaf.