Sublime, Sublime Simplicity

With my presence being chronically absent in my cosy l'il kitchen thanks to a 5-week long 'boomerange' flu hitting Layla and I repeatedly in the head, I've wrested back control and have designed my week's feasts. And though money is as chronically absent as my presence in the kitchen, there is a blessed return to mindfulness in the act of choosing ingredients, preparing them and, finally, savouring the simplicity of flavour and texture combinations. And so, the rustic little supper I've chosen that's brand new to my tirelessly experimental repertoire is Eggs in Tomatoes. Even the name doesn't tickle much of an exotic fancy, but again, the unfettered, uncontrivedness of the ingredients is refreshing! Perhaps the biggest culinary challenge in elevating this dish from boring to feasty is the freshness, ripeness and free-range/organic quality of the eggs and tomatoes.

(designed by lisarobertscarter)

Tomatoes, in general supermarkets, are pale, plastic versions of the plumply blood red tomatoes that must've been enjoyed before refrigeration and mass-production. They're awful, and make me sad. So, if you can hunt down the reddest, most voluptuous beef tomatoes in an organic market, this little dish will magically transport you to Tuscany: a languid, family-infused breakfast at the rough oak table beneath the trees on the family olive farm. (The same goes for the eggs. The violence of battery chickens is something my heart can't bear to even think about this morning as I write...)


Soundtrack Recommendation: Cesaria Evora (They call her the Barefoot Diva, for all her philanthropic workfor her people. She broke my heart with her humble joy when my dad and I saw her performing at the Cape Town Jazz Festival a few years ago...)

The Ingredients

• beef tomatoes : as many as each person might be hungry for!
• eggs : the same number of tomatoes (make sure they won't overflow out of its tomato house)
• butter (or olive oil)
• salt : Himalayan rock salt crystals, Maldon flakes (or like moi at the mo: simple, plain ol' table-salt!)
• ground pepper

Modus Operandi

1. Turn up your oven's heat to 200degC.
2. Slice off the tops of the tomatoes, and scoop out the inner seeds&pulp.
3. Salt&Pepper the insides of the tomato, before breaking an egg into each one. 
4. Crown with a knob of butter, and season once more.
5. Bake for 20 - 25min, or until eggs are as soft, medium or hard as you desire!

Serve on a bed of rocket, or baby spinach anointed in olive oil and : either, balsamic vinegar / Worcestershire sauce / a freshly squeezed squirt or two from a sun-ripened lemon.

Other variations: blanched asparagus to dip into the sunshiney yolk. Or perhaps even wrap the asparagus in a decadent slice of parma ham? Or dust the tops of the eggs with fresh, grated parmesan or slivers of pecorino.

And - if you've got any more variations on this farmy little brunch, add your deliciousness in the Comments box below. (And if I publish this as a *gorgeously glossy* recipe book one day, I'll whisk you and your ideas along with me on my skyrocket to gastronomic fame, waving adios to Nigella behind us!)

Amor! Love! Liefde!

Another new blog. Because: I love food. I ADORE food, actually. I think about food more than I perhaps should. I crave South African food like samp-and-beans and boerewors. I salivate with almost sinful obsession at the mere thought of 'world food' like sushi, chai handcrushed and expertly blended by my long-lost Pakshi and the dim-sum I discovered on a holiday in Melbourne that I can still taste and feel in my mouth and heart -- so indelibly connected to memories of those special cousins too far away...

In light of my sudden concern about developing Type 2 Diabetes after a close shave with gestational diabetes while pregnant with Layla, my once unfettered love of food needs to be redirected into a more constructive and healthy outlet: hence Samp&Sushi. This can be a place where I can indulge my foodie fantasies without succumbing to glucose- and cholesterol-spiking temptation! (I've also been indulging in an unhealthy rollercoastering ride of low energy - high sugar/carbs - low energy - high-sugar ... you get the picture. Unhealthy, hey? Layla also needs to see that food is not a crutch or comfort, but something to be celebrated and respected: a source of nourishment for our bodies and souls. (Another element about my eating habits that was unhealthy was the rush to prepare and eat: being a mommy trying to co-ordinate naps, bathtime and very intense playtime made me lose my focus on the importance of the mindfulness of food: treating food with respect, joy, thoughtfulness and... taking it s-l-o-w... Choosing recipes that delight your gastronomic imagination! Shopping for the ingredients with care and sensory delight: tenderly feeling for just the right plumpness in a fig, feasting your eyes on the deep purple blush, the soft velvet of its skin, the lingering scent as you hold it close. And then... the cooking. Put on an apron - of linen or cotton or denim. Feel your heart skip a beat at the dangerously sharp glint of your gourmet knives. Put on some of your wildest rock anthems or some sultry, sexy jazz. Light some candles, or let the sunset steal the scorching sun away into its indigo night. Or gather your family and friends around you in an Italianesque celebration of togetherness! Or, solitude when you need to escape into yourself after a long, long day of too much job-related community. Feel the textures of onion sliced paper-thin, hear the pop of squashed baby tomatoes and the slow, hot sizzle of melting butter. I'll stop here - you get the picture.)

The next post will be about samp which I shall attempt to cook for Layla - under the authentically South African instruction of Thenjiwe Eunice Bunu (our family nanny for the last 30 years!)

I would also like to celebrate the marvellous coming into being of my friend, Melissa's company: Sublime Cakery! She's talented, beautiful, amazing, ingenious and as sweet as her confectionary delights: and, sadly for my heart (and tummy!) lives in Northamptonshire, UK. Check out her deliciousness on Sublime Cakery's Facebook page!