Petit dejeuner de provence
Recipe by DCOE40
2 Large white onions, sliced thinly into half rings.
3 Green bell peppers (capsicums), deseeded and sliced thinly.
3 Medium sized tomatoes, sliced.
6 Garlic cloves, sliced thinly.
4 Eggs – more if preferred.
Mixed herbs or oregano – quite a lot.
Salt and pepper.
Olive oil.
Thin, crisp toast, preferably brown (to serve).
Prep. Time → 110 mins min
Cook Time → 220 mins min
1. It is important to build up layers of onion, green pepper, garlic and tomatoes before putting the pan on the heat.
2. The heat must be very low – it is important that the vegetables cook in their own steam and are not fried.
3. DO NOT STIR OR TOSS DURING COOKING!
4. Put some olive oil (about 3 or 4 tablespoons) in a frying pan (must have a lid, or can use an inverted plate).
5. Spread the sliced onions over the bottom of the pan.
6. Spread the peppers over the onions.
7. Spread the garlic over the peppers.
8. Spread the tomatoes over the rest of the ingredients . . . . building up layers.
9. Sprinkle the herbs over the tomatoes.
10. Season well with salt and pepper (add some chilli pepper if liked).
11. Put the lid on the pan and put it over a very low heat; the aim is to generate steam – do not fry!
12. Once steam has begun to flow, allow the vegetables to cook until 2/3 done (tomatoes and peppers soft), then break the eggs over the pan contents. Sprinkle a little smoked cayenne pepper on the eggs, refit the lid and return to the heat.
13. Allow the eggs to poach in the steam until cooked to your liking (we like them so that the whites are just on the point of hardening with the yolks are still very soft and dark yellow).
14. Remove form the pan and serve with the toast and hot tea.
15. ENJOY!
16. This was a breakfast that I came across when working at a tiny village called Biu in Borno State in the North of Nigeria. I was working with a French contractor. The site boss would get the workforce organised for the morning and would then disappear for 90 minutes. As I was working for the consultant, I was also responsible for contractor hours and used to get annoyed that he disappeared without my knowledge of his whereabouts.
One day I followed him and found him in the messroom (actually a pair of 40 foot containers that had been assembled side-by-side with the adjoining bulkheads cut out – the roof leaked in the wet season!).
I asked him why he didn’t take his breakfast before start of work like everybody else and he was fully able to justify his actions – he was on site early before anybody else was up so that he could set the jobs up before the scheduled start time. If he were to have started his day’s work at the same time as everybody else, work gangs would have been delayed while he got everything prepared.
Anyway; he invited me for breakfast.
Which was wonderful!
This meal is more filling than it sounds and at home we tend to eat it for a weekend brunch.
main courses October 20, 2013 13:34
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