Mexican Baked Eggs

I did a cheat’s version this morning using leftovers from last night’s Burrito dinner.  It is so easy to prepare such a hearty breakfast!

Ingredients (serves 1)

3-5 tbsp of leftover cooked mince/bean sauce or make fresh if you want to (I’ll post my mince sauce recipe for Burritos soon)

1-2 eggs

1 tbsp of shredded cheddar/tasty cheese

A few sprigs of fresh parsley or coriander

Method

1.          Preheat oven to 200C.

2.          Spread mince sauce at bottom of ovenproof dish.

3.          Make a little well in the centre and crack the egg in the middle.

4.          Sprinkle shredded cheese over.

5.          Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

6.          Sprinkle chopped parsley on top.

Chicken Congee with Turnip Omelette

Congee is a breakfast staple where I grew up. Actually it’s often baby’s first food. So I really did grow up on this LOL! It is made with rice cooked to a gooey state, one can have plain congee with just rice and water, and have it with various condiments, usually pickles or salty dishes. Or you can add meat and vegetables to  it to make it a one pot meal. This is the version I usually make with leftover roast chicken.

Ingredients for the Congee:

Leftover roast chicken (or 1 chicken breast fillet)

5cm knob of fresh young ginger, julienned

150g pumpkin or sweet potato, diced into 2cm cubes

2 cups of rice (you can use brown rice, or a mixture of jasmine, brown rice, or even barley)

5 cups of water or part chicken stock

Ingredients for the omelette:

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tbsp of chopped Chinese preserved turnip

2 tbsp of chopped coriander

1 tbsp of cooking oil

Method:

1.          Place everything in a large pot and boil till the rice is softened and the water a bit gooey. I like to be able to see the rice grains still. Pick the meat off the bones, discard the bones and shred and return the meat to the congee.

2.          Add a bit more water if it dries up. If you’re not having it with other condiments, add salt and pepper for seasoning.

3.          To cook the omelette, heat oil in a flat pan.

4.          Add the eggs; sprinkle the turnip and coriander over.

5.          Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side.

6.          Serve with chopped spring onion and more coriander.

Note:

To make this baby friendly, omit the meat and ginger for really young babies, you can boil the congee with pumpkin and other baby friendly vegetables for a bit longer to soften it. When the baby gets a bit older, you can add mince to the congee.

Kedgeree

Kedgeree is an Anglo-Indian breakfast dish.  I was inspired to try cooking it after I had the best kedgeree at The Chelsea Bistro at The Barracks, Brisbane. I didn’t go to the trouble of home-smoking any fish of course. It is actually quite easy to make, a bit like an Indian fried rice.

Ingredients (serves 5)

250g of smoked trout/cod (I used hot smoked salmon in mine)

4 hard boiled egg, cut into quarters

1 ½ cups of cooked basmati rice

1 carrot, diced

4 stalks of celery, diced

2 tomatoes, diced

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp of black mustard seeds

1 tsp of crushed cardamom

2 tsp of curry powder

1 tsp of tumeric powder

1 tsp of cumin powder

½ cup fish/vegetable stock

2 tsbp cooking oil

Few sprigs of parsley, finely chopped

Salt to taste

Method

1.          Heat the oil in a large pan.

2.          Sauté onion and garlic.

3.          Add the mustard seeds and cardamom until the mustard seeds “pop”.

4.          Add all the spice powders.

5.          Add carrots and celery next.

6.          Add a bit of stock if too dry.

7.          Add in the rice, make sure you break up any lumps.

8.          Add the stock and stir well.

9.          Next, add the tomatoes and salt to taste.

10.      Turn the heat off and sitr in the fish, eggs and parsley.