Today I really wanted to serve my special chilli scrambled eggs in a slow roasted sweet chilli pepper, not actually being bothered to go out and get one kind of ruined the idea. I had an hour or so before my dentist appointment so I thought I'd explore the fridge and the store cupboard
to see what I could rustle up for breakfast. This is not a proper recipe in terms of measurements but it's not hard to follow if you wish to try it.
The magic ingredients I found and have presented for you today are:
- A handful of sliced medium sized button mushrooms (about 5 whole ones)
- 2 large eggs
- Half a sweet chilli, medium heat
- A handful of fresh flat leafed parsley
- 2 thick slices of stone baked bread
- 1/4 of a medium sized onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 3-4 sprinkles of natural breadcrumbs
- Sunflower oil
- Salt and pepper
- Small lump of butter
- Cholula original hot sauce
- A glass orange juice
Preparation:
Beat the eggs, you can use a splash of milk if you wish, I chose not to this time just to have the full richness and texture of the egg. Beating with a whisk increases the fluffiness. When it comes to seasoning I like to treat each egg equally so use 2 pinches of salt and two grinds of the pepper mill before you start beating.
Finely chop 4 or 5 medium sized button mushrooms which will shrink as they are being fried, so what seems like a lot now will be a fair sized portion at the end.
Finely chop at maximum half a sweet red chilli of medium heat and remove the seeds. The type of chilli and quantity you're going to use will depend on your heat tolerance. An interesting choice of flavour would be using a habanero chilli which also gives more of a kick. However this is about using ingredients most people are likely to have at home so the simple red chilli will do the trick. When chopped, divide the end amount by two as one half will be used for the eggs and the other for the mushrooms.
Take a small amount of flat leaf parsley for the mushrooms, loosely rip the leaves from the stalks. Do not chop them otherwise the flavour becomes too overpowering.
Use a 1/4 of a medium sized onion, slice it to a medium thickness.
Add to a bowl 3 or four pinches of natural breadcrumbs, this will be used with the mushrooms and onions to give it a crunchy texture which works especially well with the onions. It reminds me of a German market dish I once had which consisted of fried potatoes, onions, olives and breadcrumbs.
Peel and halve a single clove of garlic, similarly to the parsley, chopping this will overpower the mushrooms and compete with the parsley. The two halves should subtly flavour the mushrooms.
The cherry tomatoes can be used in two different ways, my personal favourite is to take 5 cherry tomatoes and cut off one end of each. Squeeze out the pulp and the seeds to ensure the scrambled eggs do not become watery and slice each tomato. The second way is to halve 3 tomatoes and fry them like a miniature full English.
Slice some of your favourite bread, in this instance I had a stone baked loaf bought fresh and left overnight wrapped in a bread bin. The slight staleness of the bread makes it fantastic for toast the next morning. Thick slices are best to soak up the butter, make sure they are evenly flat so that the eggs can rest on top without rolling around the plate.
Time to Cook:
Preheat your grill for the toast on a low setting, the eggs and mushrooms will not take long to cook and you want to make sure the toast is ready at the same time.
Heat 2 pans and insert the toast into the grill just as pans becomes hot enough to cook with. Add in a knob of butter to the first one for the scrambled eggs and a tablespoon or two of sunflower oil to other for the mushrooms. You only need a shallow coating on each pan so adjust the amount to the size of the pan you use.
Add the chopped chilli to the scrambled egg pan at the same time as the butter to get the smokiness of the chilli and infuse the butter which will mix in with the eggs. If you decide to use sliced cherry tomatoes then add them now and let them fry for a few seconds to bring out their sweetness and then pour in the beaten eggs. Stir continuously and take off the heat before it dries out. Remember that without milk the eggs will cook faster and dry out more quickly.
Make sure the toast is done and buttered on the plate before the eggs are ready so they can go straight on.
In the other pan you can add the mushrooms, chilli, parsley, onions and garlic all at the same time as they take slightly longer to cook, all the flavours will emerge as an equal balance. Brown the mushrooms slightly before seasoning and adding the breadcrumbs and mix in whilst tossing the pan back and forth. Continue to cook whilst you place the toast and eggs on the plate.
If you decide to halve the cherry tomatoes to serve on the side, they can be cooked in the pan along with the mushrooms. Put them in just as the mushrooms brown and take them out slightly earlier. Place the tomatoes and the mushrooms alongside the toast and serve.
For added decoration and of course flavour I have used three thin strips of red chilli and some Cholula original hot sauce. The hot sauce is made from habanero chillies, is quite hot for a novice chilli lover, don't forget there is a fair amount of heat in the eggs and mushrooms. But it does add an extra dimension to the breakfast which I find flavoursome and testing of my chilli tolerance levels.
Also serve with a glass of orange juice, freshly squeezed is best! It complements the eggs well and cools down the spiciness of the chillies.
A really simple and easy dish that allows you to experiment with items you would normally have at home and a great start to the day.
Let me know what you think or if you tried it/added any variations. Just post a or e-mail me at commentrebelwithoutafork@gmail.com
Enjoy!
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