Turkish Breakfast

A while back we hosted a couple of CouchSurfer's from Turkey, although they are currently living in Northern Ireland. As always, we learned a lot and enjoyed their company immensely - and, they made a delicious breakfast which in turn inspired some re-creation efforts.

 I haven't been totally confident that my dish is anywhere near the delciousness of theirs, but I'm relatively satisfied and will continue to work out the kinks. For now, here's a general idea of this Turkish Breakfast we learned from a couple of CouchSurfers!

Ingredients/Directions:

In a large skillet heat a couple Tbsp. Olive Oil, saute 1 chopped Onion, 1-3 diced Green Chiles and 3-4 minced cloves of Garlic. Meanwhile, seed and chop 4-6 Tomatoes. Add the chopped tomatoes to the onion and pepper mixture as well as a dash of Cumin, Salt and Pepper. Leave this mix alone until your ready to serve up the breakfast. Before serving, re-heat the tomato mixture and whisk 3-4 eggs which you will then add to the heated tomato mixture. Let eggs set for a couple of minutes before breaking a part and continuing to cook the eggs through. Serve this mixture with crusty bread and fine cheese (Feta would be ideal but we use anything we have on hand here in the land of Kimchi). Scoop some of the egg and tomato mixture onto a slice of bread, top with a bit of cheese and place into your mouth - let out a sigh of satisfaction and repeat until the pan is clear.

Potato and Egg Breakfast Quesadilla

Continuing forward with the newly discovered and loved breakfast trend of 519 Galma, we recently enjoyed half a week of starting the day off with a Quesadilla, how can you go wrong with a Quesadilla beginning? You can't, that's how.

This was quite simple and I'll therefore skip offering exact amounts and such, I'll simply tell you that in my kitchen, the way these panned out was by washing and chopping enough potatoes to fill a pan. Before filling the pan however, I heated up some oil, then threw in the potatoes and covered with a lid, frying them up and softening their insides simultaneously. When they started to brown and were fully cooked through I added a splash more of oil, one chopped onion and some green chilies. Season with salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder. Once this was cooked satisfactorily, I  removed it from the pan and split evenly amongst my tortillas (some had gotten a bit moldy, so I had only 5 tortillas to fill). Next, I whisked together about 8 eggs, a bit of milk, salt and pepper and some fresh parsley, scrambled it up and distributed evenly amongst the tortillas. Sprinkle on some cheese and fold them over, cover them up and place them in the fridge until the following mornings when I would heat up the skillet, throw a couple cold quesadillas on cook for about 5 minutes on each side, flip and repeat and finally enjoy for breakfast - super simple. You probably had it figured out just from reading the title of the post ^^

Eggsplosions and Spicy Black Bean Soup

Pinterest is the source for so much inspiration, it is unbelievable.  This latest 'pinspiration' can be tracked back to this website, and let's just say - my world may never be the same! You may know that we have a deep, deep love for fried eggs, match that up with some toast and a slice of cheese and even the worst of days get to end in a glorious fashion. If you've ever made a grilled cheese and if you've ever made a toad-in-a-hole, you can nail this sandwich.

Using a biscuit cutter or a glass remove a circles-worth of bread from each slice of bread that will soon become a sandwich. Grease a fry pan, throw in one or two slices of bread (depending on space) crack an egg into the hole and let set for a minute or two until bread is toasty and egg is cooked through on the bottom. Flip each slice of bread over, sprinkle or lay on some cheese, let the cook on the other side, but two breads together and you have a eggy, cheesey, amazingly AMAZING sandwich! Serve that up with a bowl of soup and you've got yourself the perfect meal to beat the winter blues.

As for my black bean soup I boiled about 2 cups of Chicken Stock from the freezer added a cup or two of water, roasted about 6 tomatos and an onion, threw them in a food processor with some garlic for a quick chop dumped that into the broth mixture added about 2 cups of black beans and some crisp bacon. Seasoned with salt, pepper, red chili powder, cumin, cilantro (from the freezer) and a roasted green chili mix I had also froze before the chiles could go bad.

(These freezer concepts revolve around a desire to extend shelf life of certain foods, I've posted about the cilantro before, I did the chiles in a similar fashion. Roasted in the oven, threw into the food processor with olive oil and garlic, pulsed and placed in ice cube trays. Now, if I want to add a punch to my dish, I just throw in one or two cubes of 'fresh roasted' chiles from my freezer!)

Just another take on ... Blender Salsa

Salsa is really, REALLY easy to make...and there are plenty of recipes available on the web. I have nothing special to offer...except a word of encouragement that you should all be making your own salsa...because it's EASY!

When I was 'extending shelf life' - I threw some rescued tomatoes and cilantro into the blender to make this salsa.

Recently, I threw some roasted chilies (with some serious KICK), onions, garlic, tomatoes and cumin into a food processor and what do you know? I had a Kickin' Salsa!

Other 'Korea' Salsa's have featured less spicy chiles, roasted tomatoes and on occassion, cilantro.

Salsa...it's easy. No need for Pace ^_^

Tomato Soup

With a killer sore throat and an ever growing hankering for tomato soup, I made my way to the local grocer, picked out a handful of tomatoes and made my way home to attempt my first ever home-made tomato soup. It was incredibly easy and absolutely satisfying.

Ingredients/Directions:

Slice in half 4-5 Red Tomatoes and place in a pan to be roasted at 350 for 20-30 minutes. If desiring a bit of kick add to the pan two chili peppers to be roasted simultaneously. Upon finishing in the oven, let tomatoes cool for 10 minutes before removing skins and leaf. Throw tomato pulp and whole chilies into a pot, blender or food processor. If in pot, use an immersion blender to puree the tomatoes and chiles. Add a splash of liquid if need be and some salt and pepper to taste. If you prefer a creamy tomato soup, add a bit of milk and stir until incorporated - thickness and flavor are up to you! Once you've reached the right consistency and flavor, pour into a bowl and serve alongside a grilled cheese sandwich or crackers!

Mexican Tortilla Lasagna

Finding inspiration from Martha Stewart's Tortilla and Black Bean Pie and being thrilled with my recent NiceDeli purchase (in huge thanks to Jen M.) I was eager to throw together a bit of Mexican flare with this Mexican style Tortilla Lasagna.

Ingredients/Directions:

Saute Onion, Green Chile and 2 Cloves Garlic in a bit of oil 5-ish minutes. Add 1.5-2 cups Black Beans, drained. Season with Salt, Pepper, Cumin and Chili Powder. Add 1 cup of Beer and simmer until thickened (if you become impatient, it is acceptable to drain off some of the liquid). In a round pan or casserole dish set down a corn tortilla, top with a portion of the black bean mixture, followed by shredded cheddar, a tortilla and so-on until the bean mixture has been completely used. Top final layer with cheese and cover. Place in oven of about 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so until cheese is melty and beautiful. (Can remove lid for the last 10 minutes so as to get a golden look to the top of the dish). Enjoy with a margarita, glass of beer or your beverage of choice and good company.