Brunch: Shakshouka, waffles and salads

It's the weekend again. Instead of brunching out, how about having brunch at home instead? I've been doing once a month (or so) meals at home on the weekends, where I wake up early to prep a meal for the fams.

This was a few months ago, where I just started doing the whole dine-at-home thing. It helps that I get to make use of my food props for real. Like thinking about what plate/bowl to use for a certain dish, and how the overall placement of the dishes should look like. Ha! The inane things I do.

Main dish: Shakshouka

Corn edamame salad; Toasted focaccia

Shakshouka sauce, sans eggs

Shakshouka (also shakshuka) is quite a versatile dish as it is essentially eggs cooked in a tomato based stew. It's very easy to personalize the dish with your own additions of various meats or veggies. I've previously made shakshouka before, recipe > here. But I thought to jazz it up slightly with more additions. Thus, this is shakshouka version 2.

Broccoli mandarin oranges salad

Because I thought we should have something light(er) and health(ier), I whipped up two really easy peasy salads. The fams loved the corn edamame salad, me included. As for the broccoli salad, I'd recommend NOT adding too much dressing. I added all the dressing at one go and thought the amount of dressing was way too much. Add half the below first, and then gradually add more to taste.

I guess it was the first time my Dad tried baked eggs in this style. We mopped up the dish thoroughly with the toasty bread slices. My attempt at poaching the eggs in the ceramic container over the stove took so long, and I sort of ended up burning the bottom of the shakshouka (probably cos I didn't stir the dish after adding the eggs for fear of disturbing the eggs). I wonder if a cast iron skillet would have helped cooked the eggs faster. A pity I don't have a cast iron skillet on hand. Nevertheless, a delish brunch if I may say so myself!

Shakshouka v2
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, sliced into thin strips
1/2 yellow pepper, sliced into thin strips
3 sausages, fried and sliced into rounds
1 tbsp canned sliced jalepenos, deseeded and diced (optional)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
3 big tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 tbsp sundried tomato pesto
2 tbsp ketchup
1 cup water
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
salt and pepper to taste
5 eggs
bread (any kind - I used storebought focaccia), sliced, buttered and toasted

Heat oil in a pan. Add onion and fry till softened, browned and translucent. Add peppers and increase the heat slightly to cook till nicely browned (best if can get it slightly charred). Add the sausage slices to brown on all sides.
Lower the heat again, add jalepenos and garlic, cook for a few minutes, be careful not to burn the garlic.
Add chopped tomatoes, tomato pesto, ketchup, parsley and water into the pan. Cook over low heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or so.
Season with salt, pepper and dried mixed herbs.
Carefully make five spaces in the sauce with a spatula, crack the eggs into each gap. Cover and cook for about seven minutes or till the eggs are done in whatever consistency you prefer. (I prefer mine to be runny than fully cooked)
Remove from heat and serve immediately with toasted bread.

Corn edamame salad
2 ears corn, steamed and shucked
1 cup shelled edamame
1 lime, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

After shucking the corn kernels, I tossed them into a pan with some butter to brown them slightly. (This step is optional, but I recommend it. Alternatively, you could grill your corn instead of steaming it.)
Combine corn kernels, shelled edamame and diced cucumber and onions in a bowl. Add lime juice.
Season with salt and pepper, toss to coat evenly. Serve.

Broccoli mandarin salad (adapted from here)
1 head broccoli, chopped into small pieces
1 canned mandarins, drained
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/3 - 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/3 cup mayo
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Lightly steam broccoli florets for a few minutes till tender. Set aside and leave to cool.
Place broccoli in a big bowl, add mandarin slices, cranberries, toasted almonds.
Mix mayo, sugar, vinegar, oil and mustard together. Season with salt and pepper.
Toss about half the dressing with salad ingredients, if sufficient, the remaining of the dressing can be kept in the fridge. Serve salad.

Waffles
Recipe > here