Thursday, August 21, 2008

Piperade

piperade

I have to tell you about this wonderful little dish - basically a creamy vegetable omelet - that I found in Chocolate & Zucchini the book. I've simplified it a little, cutting down on the cooking time at least a little bit, but that's just because I'm lazy. And I'm adding cumin, since it goes so incredibly well with the eggs.

Serve this with either a few slices of air-cured ham, or maybe with some smoked salmon, or like me tonight: with roasted chicken. It goes alongside many things, and would be nice on its own for a small supper too.

You can use frozen peppers, pre-cut into strips, if you have them. I do, because fresh peppers can be incredibly expensive and I stumbled over this huge bag a while ago and as long as you're cooking the peppers, there's really no difference at all. If you want, you can skip the tomatoes. I don't have any today, so it'll have to be without. I'm sure it's still going to be delicious.

I should mention that my omelet making skills are so-so. Thus, this is more of a scrambled eggs dish for me. As evident in the photo. But never mind that...

Piperade
serves 2

1 small yellow onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 peppers (preferrably a green and a red)
chili powder
cumin
salt
olive oil
pinch of sugar
3 tomatoes
4 eggs
cream (optional)

Slice the onion and the peppers into thin strips. Fry with the minced garlic in a splash of olive oil with cumin, chili and a little bit of salt on low heat until the vegetables are soft. Aim for at least 30 minutes.

Blanch the tomatoes - which means, dip them in boiling water, then peel them. Cut them into wedges, remove the seeds, and chop up the flesh. Add this to the vegetables with a small pinch of sugar, and fry until the liquid seems to have evaporated.

Whisk the eggs with a little bit of salt, and if you're feeling luxurious, add a splash of cream. Pour into the vegetables, and fry over medium heat. Stir gently to make sure that all the egg cooks evenly. Or stir less gently, and get scramled piperade. Really, it's up to you.

Recipe in Swedish:
Piperade

4 comments:

Jeanne said...

Mmmm, I'm thinking... brunch with the Jamon Iberico I have waiting in the fridge :)

AstridVU said...

One question from a rookie at this food-in-blogs thing; Do you take pictures of the food yourself, or do you copy it from a cook book or internet or something? If you do take the photos, you are quite good at that, I must say :)

I'm making something with asparagues for the first time tonight (never used asparagues before), and I tried your tip regarding break the asparagues with my hands, and you where right; It does snap off excactly where it should :) (as you know, of course)

Have a great weekend!

Anne said...

Astrid, all the photos are my own :) Thank you! Photography has been a hobby of mine for quite a few years, so I'm glad I get to show off my pictures nowadays. Photos are pretty much always protected by copyright, so re-publishing something from books or the internet would be iffy :)

My Sweet & Saucy said...

Thanks for your great suggestion! I LOVE your idea!