Cardamom and Tea

za’atar breakfast skillet

by 2 Comments

It’s so hard to know what kind of recipe to post the week after Christmas. With New Year’s resolutions around the corner, no one really wants to bake, but it’s not time for penitential eating quite yet. And after all the feasting and entertaining, everyone’s a little cooked out too. So I thought I’d post a recipe for something easy, practical, and delicious: a za’atar skillet with wilted spinach and fried eggs. It’s nothing fancy, just a simple breakfast made with simple ingredients. It’s the kind of thing you’d find in your favorite diner—a bed of perfectly crispy potatoes, topped with a few of your favorite veggies, and sunny-side-up eggs (but here, I’ve added za’atar and a yogurt tahini sauce, because I couldn’t resist).

While one-pan-wonders are indeed wonderful, I like to use two pans for this, to make sure the spinach doesn’t make the potatoes soggy. But you can use the same pan you used to cook the eggs, which saves on cleanup. If you prefer scrambled, poached, or over-easy, feel free to go with your egg of choice. And if you feel like it, you can even crack them right on top of the potatoes, and throw them under the broiler for a few minutes. If you don’t feel like spinach, most other veggies work wonderfully here—try kale, blistered cherry tomatoes, or zucchini. This recipe is very adaptable, and the basic concept (which you should always remember) is tried and true: dusting za’atar on potatoes will never lead you wrong.

Print

za’atar breakfast skillet

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • neutral oil with a high smoke point (e.g., olive oil, but not extra virgin)
  • 1 pound potatoes, small-diced
  • Salt
  • 2 tablespoons green za’atar
  • 2 tablespoons plain whole milk yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons tahini
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 3 to 4 eggs
  • 6 ounces spinach leaves
  • 1 scallion, greens chopped

Instructions

  1. Heat 2 to 3 tablespoons oil in a non-stick or well-seasoned cast iron skillet over medium or medium-high heat, until the oil is hot enough that a potato sizzles when it touches it.
  2. Add the potatoes, along with 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste). Spread them out evenly over the bottom of the skillet, and let them sit for a couple minutes before stirring them. Stir every couple minutes for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are golden brown and cooked through. Once they’re done, remove from heat and stir in the za’atar.
  3. While you wait on the potatoes, whisk together the yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, water, and a pinch of salt, until it’s totally smooth.
  4. Also while you wait, fry your eggs however you like. Here’s how I do it: Heat a small skillet over high heat for at least 3 minutes, until it’s very hot. Add about 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan, swirl it around, and immediately crack an egg wherever the oil is pooling. Be very careful—it will splatter violently. While the egg is cooking, season it with some salt and (carefully!) baste it by spooning hot oil onto the whites to help them cook faster. The egg is done once the whites are set and brown on the bottom and around the edges (just about 2 minutes). Remove to a plate and repeat if you’re making multiple servings (replace some of the oil as you go) (eggs inspired by Smitten Kitchen).
  5. Once the eggs are done, remove them to a plate, pour off the old oil, replace with a teaspoon of new oil, and add the spinach leaves and a pinch of salt. Keep over high heat to wilt the spinach (stir it constantly for about 2 to 3 minutes, until it’s bright green and wilted). Most of the liquid should cook off, but if the spinach looks watery after 3 minutes, wring it out with the back of a spoon and strain away the liquid.
  6. Combine the spinach with the potatoes, stir everything together, top with the yogurt sauce, crispy eggs, green onions, and a little extra za’atar, and serve.

find us on instagram and let us know what you made!

brussels sprouts with pickled apples and roasted raisins

by 2 Comments

It’s barely a walk from our apartment to one of our favorite restaurants in Hong Kong, the izakaya Okra Kitchen. Naming a restaurant after a polarizing vegetable is the kind of thing I could totally see myself insisting on, and I happen to be strongly on team okra, so I was sold right away. We most often find ourselves ordering their brussels sprouts, which are deep fried, sprinkled with boozy Xinjiang raisins, covered in their special sauce, and piled high with julienned radishes.

So lately I’ve been making a more home-cooked Middle Eastern version of this for quick weeknight meals and holiday celebrations, with yogurt tahini sauce, pickled apples, a little crushed red pepper, and my favorite magical thing I learned from my grandmother: roasted raisins.

why roast or sauté your raisins?

The difference between roasted raisins and straight-out-of-the-box is like the difference between homemade sea salt caramels and milk duds. Roasting takes them from stale, lifeless blobs to soft, chewy flavor bombs.

Even before I knew what roasted or sautéed raisins were, I loved them in riza sh’ariyeh (jeweled rice with vermicelli noodles). I’d always strategically scoop rice onto my plate to end up with extra topping. If we had guests over, I would do this as tactfully as possible, but if it was just our immediate family, all civility went out the window and I was shameless.

It wasn’t until I learned how to cook riza sh’ariyeh a couple years ago that I learned what made the raisins in it so delicious. It turns out, my grandmother sautés them briefly in butter, before sprinkling them on top of the rice. It takes so little time that it may seem like an insignificant detail, but it’s everything.

When I’m cooking on the stove, I sauté them in a little butter, but when I’m roasting, I like throwing them on the sheet pan for the last couple minutes, just until they puff up a little and caramelize slightly. In this brussels sprouts recipe, you sprinkle them on after the sprouts have started to caramelize, so they can broil for a minute or so. Top everything with yogurt tahini sauce, pickled apples, and crushed red pepper, and be sure to watch out for strategic raisin scooping at the dinner table.

Print

brussels sprouts with pickled apples and roasted raisins

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: about 5 servings

Ingredients

for the yogurt tahini sauce:

  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • 1/4 cup Greek yogurt *
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 pinch salt
  • Water, as needed

for the quick pickled apples:

  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 big pinch salt
  • 1 small pinch sugar
  • 1/2 of 1 granny smith apple

for the roasted veggies:

  • 21 to 22 ounces (600g) brussels sprouts (about 50 small sprouts, 25 medium ones, or 17 giant ones)
  • olive oil
  • salt
  • 1/4 cup golden raisins
  • 1/2 tablespoon softened or melted butter
  • crushed red pepper

Instructions

  1. Make the yogurt tahini sauce: Combine the tahini, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, and salt, and stir together until it forms a thick sauce. Stir in water, about 1 teaspoon at a time, stopping once the sauce still has some body, but is a pourable consistency (I used 1 1/2 teaspoons when developing this recipe—it will vary depending on your Greek yogurt).
  2. Quick pickle the apples: Combine the apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and sugar in a small bowl, and stir until dissolved.
  3. Peel and julienne (or allumette) the half apple, using a mandolin or very sharp knife.
  4. Add the julienned apple to the brine (quickly so it doesn’t brown), and gently press it down with the back of a spoon until it’s submerged. Let it stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour, and then strain once it’s as tangy as you’d like.
  5. Roast the veggies: Preheat the oven’s broiler.
  6. Halve the brussels sprouts, coat them in oil, place cut-side-up on a sheet pan, and season to taste.
  7. Broil the brussels sprouts for about 10 minutes (it might take as little as 5). Keep an eye on them to make sure they’re not caramelizing too quickly (if they are, move them away from the heat source, turn the temperature down, and/or remove them from the oven early).
  8. Coat the raisins in a little softened or melted butter. In the last minute of broiling, sprinkle the raisins over the brussels sprouts, and broil them for about 1 minute, just until they’re starting to swell a little and caramelize in spots. Do not let them burn, and keep a close eye on them (it might take just 30 seconds, and varies from oven to oven).
  9. Move the brussels sprouts and some of the raisins to a serving bowl, top with a few spoonfuls of yogurt tahini sauce, sprinkle the rest of the raisins over the top, and top with a heap of the apple pickles. Garnish with crushed red pepper, and serve with extra yogurt sauce on the side.

Notes

* To make this vegan, instead make a lemon tahini sauce. Also be sure to use oil instead of butter when you roast the raisins.

find us on instagram and let us know what you made!