Saturday, July 27, 2013

Brunch: Eggs and beans

Lately I've been extremely lazy. No cooking for me, even thinking about being in a hot kitchen doesn't really make me excited (c'mon guys... it is about 93 degrees outside). The one and only thing which is stuck in my head is the frozen margarita, and maybe lying somewhere on the island feeling the fresh breeze from the turquoise ocean all over the body.
In my case, I've been lying on my bed like a lazy turtle, close to the AC (pretending it's a breeze) while ordering dinner from Seamless. You know, it's really bad you can not order drinks online along with your food, I really miss that frozen margarita with my quesadilla. Is there any law which doesn't let you order drinks delivery? Why then there is no problem ordering bottles of wine for example?

Anyway, I found few lonely items in my empty fridge which should be used asap otherwise it's going to be tossed the next day.So here what I had: defrosted ground beef, beans, eggs, few slices of cheese and eggs = perfect brunch for meat lovers!

I'm not sure if I have mentioned before that my husband almost hates eggs (isn't it RIDICULOUS?). No frittata, no omelett, no poached eggs...every time I have to add steak to his eggs, so he can feel that he eats a "real food" (an omelette with spinach seems like a grass to him).

This recipe is VERY spicy. If you are not into spicy food, use only half of the spices I used.
Spicy eggs and beans:
1/2 medium onion, chopped (ether red one or yellow onion)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbs coconut oil (you can use any oil, really)
1 lbs ground beef (I used extra lean)
1 little jalapeno pepper, chopped (no seeds)
1 can small black or red beans
1 can (28 oz), whole canned tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
1/3 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp zaatar
2 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp any dry herbs (like dill or cilantro, or parsley)
1/3 tbs spicy red pepper flakes
1 tbsp red paprika
4-5 slices of spicy jalapeno cheese (optional)

I must confess: I try to cook everything in one pot, one skillet, one plate, etc. It might be extremely terrible thing to do, but I hate having a mess from a dozen dirty pots in my kitchen.
If you strongly disagree with me regarding this pot issue, I recommend you to fry the meat first in a DIFFERENT skillet. You can add it later to the rest of ingredients.
In case, you are on the same page with me, here is how I cooked this dish:

Add onion to the hot skillet, with hot oil in it. Cook it slowly for about 5-6 minutes, until it is tender and translucent, stirring occasionally, so it doesn't burn. Add garlic, cook 2 more minutes. Keep you heat on rather a low-medium heat.

Add beef (in case you already cooked it in a different skillet, still, this is a perfect time to add beaf). NOW you can increase the heat level to medium/ medium-high. Do not forget to stir the beef with onions: do not burn it. Also, you need to break your meat.
If you adding the already cooked beef to the skillet, omit this stage, go straight to "add jalapeno pepper...."

Once the water (or is it juices?) is evaporated from the meat, add jalapeno pepper and beans. Stir occasionally for 4 minutes or so, until the pepper is tender.

Meanwhile in a medium bowl combine canned tomatoes (break them into chunks with the fork or knife), add tomato paste and all spices you have (a lot of people will disagree with me at this point too, as you are supposed to add spices to the skillet when you fry onions (the stage one), but I do it in a different way (add spices in late stage 2 or early 3"""), and like it better).

Pour the tomato mixture in the skillet over the meat and onions, turn the heat to very low.Cover the skillet with a lid. Let it simmer for 15 minutes. I've heard the longer you simmer your meat-tomato sauce the dipper flavour it has.

Break the eggs on the top of the rest of ingredients. You can cook it to your liking, from 4 to 10 minutes. Garnish with cheese slices which will melt in minutes. Enjoy with spicy Bloody Mary!

"""there is no such meaning as a "stage" in cooking. I guess...Usually I just divide the whole cooking process approximately on 3 stages:beginning, middle of cooking and ending. This way, the whole cooking process seems easier for me.

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