I never thought it would happen. I never thought it could happen. All this; all these years and these days and these nights and these inbetweens. All of the moments through life, all of time. Every single oodle, every last shimmer, speckle, flake, tid bit, morsel…You follow? Throughout all of it, and even now, I’m still perplexed. I really didn’t even consider it – possible.
We got blown off. For brunch.
I know. Try to wrap your head around that. Who? How? I can’t even begin to understand.
A plan in place. A date, a space, a time. There will be glorious amounts of brunching snacks. We are talking: fresh bagels, lox & shmears, Sweet Onion, Gruyere & Bacon Quiche, the permeating scent of homemade cinnamon rolls with vanilla icing wafting from the oven, gorgeous deviled eggs, Mini Strawberry Muffins oozing with salty butter, Charcuterie with fresh, seasonal watermelon dripping off the platter, Guava and Cheese Pastelitos, copious amounts of mummy’s extra special Cherry Thyme ‘Mummosa’, and the crowning jewel – Cast Iron Shakshuka with Butter Beans, Feta and Garlic Toast.
I take breakfast incredibly seriously.
So you tell me, who in their right (or wrong mind) would pass this up? Even hanging by a thread, clinging to life as the worlds worst possible hangover enveloped me wouldn’t make me miss this event. I would have to be actually dead to miss brunch. But it wasn’t me, you see.
We sat there, ghosted. Baffled. Stunned. Fluctuating in a concoction of emotions (concerned, slightly angry). And after a slightly sweet and fizzy sip from our glasses we realized a silver lining: Sitting in the presence of all this greatness, with no. need. to. share. More prosecco for us. And lots of leftovers.
Can’t say I’ll invite those guys again. But can’t say I won’t;)*
Feeds 6 or whoever shows up; Takes 35-40min
Ingredients for Shakshouka
- 1/3 Spanish onion, diced
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 15-17 cherry tomatoes, sliced (I used the yellow sweet ones here)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can butter beans, in juice
- 5 eggs
- 1/2 tbsp thyme, minced
- 1 tsp fresh oregano, minced
- 6-8oz fresh feta cheese, preferably in brine, crumbled
- 1 avocado, cubed
- Olive oil, salt, pepper
Method
Heat a medium sized cast iron pan with 2-3 tbsp olive oil over medium heat.
Add peppers, onion and a good pinch of salt and allow to cook 3-4 min, until translucent. Add tomatoes, garlic and beans in juice. Stir and cook this for another 2-3 min. It will be juicy now, and needs to reduce a little bit.
Add the tomato paste and allow it to dissolve. Add salt and pepper to your taste at this point along with the herbs. Cook this over medium heat for 10-12 min stirring occasionally.
Once the mixture has thickened up a bit, you can make 5 individual wells for the eggs. Make each well and crack in an egg. Season each egg with salt and pepper.
Put a lid on this and turn heat to medium low, cooking for 5 min, or until the egg whites are no longer runny, but the yolks are nice and dippy:)
Remove from heat and garnish with feta, avocado, extra herbs. Serve with the garlic toast. (See right here for how:)
Ingredients and Method for Garlic Toast:
- 1 French baguette, sliced in 12-15 crostini toasts
- Good salted butter
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Maldon sea salt
Preheat oven to 375F.
Butter one side of each crostini and place it face up on a sheet tray.
Sprinkle each one with the garlic powder, salt and finally the parmesan.
Bake for 7-8min until golden.
*Turns out, it was all a big misunderstanding. Brunching with friends will commence again:)
