The chef made the most delicious breakfast yesterday. As you know by now, we often have eggs for breakfast and having gone ‘trigger’ happy with the cauliflower bounty (1.95AED in Lulu, Barsha), he needed to get rid of it. He made a Mexican inspired egg dish reminiscent of his student days at New York’s Culinary Institute of America (CIA) . The original dish called for potatoes, but since we are lingering lower on the Glycemic Index, (and we had all that cauliflower in the fridge, he modified it.
Add jalapenos. Yes, we love to infuse our oils. This makes the food taste better.
Hold back on the coriander (cilantro) until the end.
And with the cumin powder, the sound of the mariachi rises, the dust settles in the background and three men appear, strumming guitars in big Mexican sombreros singing…
“Stir it up, little darling, stir it up…”
Add the whisked eggs. Talk about colourful!
Chef’s Scramble eggs trick: always scrape away from the sides of the pan and lean the runny bits to the edges. Scrape. Lean. Repeat.
Just when the eggs are cooked to your liking, add the fresh coriander.
Heat the wok.. then add oil…
And the leading star finally makes her performance! Saute’ cauliflower, add salt and pepper to taste, then add a tuups (little bit) of water and ….
Cover that wok! So what if it doesn’t fit? It still does the job of trapping the steam to gently cook the crunchy veggy through.
The brown stuff on top of the cauliflower is a lovely butter sauce made with bread crumbs, butter and very finely chopped parsley.
Cloudcutter says
The process is so Indian, I love it. Our spices always go into the oil first, and we always sign off with a flourish of coriander leaves!
chefandsteward says
You know…you are right! Jamaica is a multi-cultural melting pot and we have Indians, Chinese, British, French, Spanish, African elements in our cuisine. This is not a Jamaican dish but you kind of apply what comes natural don’t ya? Great observation! I have a love relationship with coriander. It isn’t used in Jamaican food but it is featured heavily in Mexican, Latin American, Indian and other cuisines.
MaryAnn says
This looks quite delicious 🙂 This is definitely something I will make for DH come Friday morning. I’ll cook it and let you know how it came out!
chefandsteward says
Please!
inafryingpan says
Gosh, I can literally smell this dish…perfect for a Friday morning. For the butter sauce, do you saute the bread crumbs in butter or just mix it all up in a bowl & drizzle it over?
chefandsteward says
Chef’s reply: Saute breadcrumbs in butter on medium flame, when it turns brown, take it off the burner and add the finely chopped parsley. Stir and serve.
Kamaria says
This looks so yummy! I hate cilantro, but the addition of jalapenos and coriander is making my mouth water. Cauliflower as the carb – definitely the way to go. I am going to try this recipe this weekend 🙂
chefandsteward says
I believe you could add powdered coriander, since you dont like it in the green form. It does take a bit of getting used to when fresh because it is such an intense flavour. Dried, it a a little more suttle, though it still makes it’s presence felt.
Kamaria says
Who knew I’d been having a secret affair with coriander all this time?! Thanks for the tip. Yes, unfortunately I pick the fresh cilantro out of everything – including salsa but I love the powder in meat and rice as well.
Aroma y Cocina says
Really wonderful and healthy scrambled eggs.
Nice and light to eat.
Glad to see your blog
tami says
I have been eyeing this chicken gumbo recipe for awhile now but all the factors have not been able to align themselves until recently. I finally got the time, okra and chicken in the same space and gave it a go. I had no jalapenos so I used a local hot red pepper (only 1 and it did quite a bit of damage). My husband who thinks chicken should always have the baked of stewed look…wasn’t very thrilled when he saw it but absolutely loved it….so much so that he took ALL the leftovers to work…will try it again and serve it up with some boiled green figs and cucumber salad…can’t wait…thanks Lij and Kari.
tami says
oops wrong recipe…..