Tag Archives: Aleppo Pepper

Avocado Toast with Fried Egg

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No recipe this week, just a fun video to watch what I make for lunch at least 3 times a week. I have been taking a new online food video course from the talented Eva Kosmas Flores, and I’m having so much fun creating little snippets of cinematic beauty.

This lunch is fast and I always have eggs in the fridge and bread in the freezer. Catching an avocado at the perfect stage of ripeness is a little bit trickier. I like to buy 4-5 avocados at a time. I leave one on the counter and put the unripe ones in the fridge. That slows down the ripening process and they will last about 2 weeks in the fridge. Just remove them 1-2 days before you want to use them.

Because we’re amongst friends here, I will be completely honest, and share a few truths. There is no chill jazz music playing while I make my lunch. I usually have a rerun of Masterchef Australia playing on TV. I’m obsessed with the Australian version of Masterchef. I dislike the US and Canadian versions, but can’t get enough of the Australian series. Haver you watched?

Second truth, I usually just pop my frozen slice of bread into the toaster while the egg is frying. But if you’re feeling a little extra, I highly recommend frying the bread in butter. It’s quite delicious. A little tip when frying the egg. If you like your yolk to be runny, (and I’m not sure we can be friends if you don’t), pop a lid on the fry pan. The steam created will cook the white fully, but leave the yolk soft.

While I might skip the fried bread, I never skip the sprinkling of Aleppo pepper. It has a fruity gentle heat, with a hint of sweetness, unlike red pepper flakes. I use it wherever you might use red pepper flakes. Do not skip a sprinkling of salt on both the egg and the mashed avocado,. When building a sandwich, every layer must be seasoned.

Final truth, I don’t plate my avocado toast on the pretty blue plate you see in the video. I eat my avocado toast with fried egg, standing up, over the sink, to catch any egg yolk drips. I also eat my salads in a stainless steel mixing bowl! And no, I wasn’t raised in a barn. When I was growing up, we were not allowed to have any condiment jars on the table. Everything had to be served in a pretty little bowl. I guess it’s my small rebellion.

Let me know in the comments what your go to lunch is and if you eat it standing up or sitting at a table like a human being. Inquiring minds want to know.

Kicked Up Matzoh Crunch

4 squares 625 sqI read in the Globe and Mail Food section this week that God gave us cardboard so that we could describe the taste of matzoh. Not this matzoh treat!!

I made this for my sister Bonnie. I slightly adapted the recipe from the April 2015 issue of Bon Appetit. This matzoh crunch is kicked up with a pinch of hot pepper. I wanted to make it with Aleppo pepper because she puts that sh#t on everything! Sadly, if you have been following the news, you will know that Aleppo pepper is almost impossible to get now. The civil war in Syria has virtually destroyed the Aleppo pepper production. (Although the scarcity of Aleppo pepper is the least of their problems.) The citizens of Syria are in my thoughts and prayers.

Aleppo is a dried crushed red pepper. It is slightly fruity, with a whiff of smoke and only moderately spicy. I actually found a forgotten tin of it at the back of my cupboard. Not sure how long it’s been there but it has lost most of it’s potency.

I decided to make a few batches of this treat using a variety of peppers and compare the results.
peppers
Maras pepper (sometimes spelled Marash), from Turkey, is a good substitute for Aleppo. It is slightly smokier and hotter. I made a third batch with supermarket red pepper flakes and one final batch with chipotle powder, because that’s my jam!what you'll needBrown sugar, butter and your chill pepper of choice get whisked together over moderate heat until hot and bubbly. Pour over matzoh and spread into an even layer. spreading toffee Bake toffee covered matzoh for about 10 minutes. Top hot matzoh with bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate chips and let sit until they melt. Spread chocolate until smooth.waiting for chocolate to meltTop with toasted chopped pistachios, dried cherries, toasted coconut flakes, coarse salt and cocoa nibs.ready to chillChill and cut into squares.stacked squares 625 sqOr cut into wedges. Any way you slice it, it’s delicious.wedges of crunchThe batches I made with the Aleppo and Maras were not very spicy. The heat was barely noticeable even though I doubled the amount of pepper recomended in the Bon Appetit recipe (I used 1 teaspoon instead of 1/2 teaspoon). The red pepper flakes batch had obvious but not burning heat. It was my favourite. The chipotle was too smoky for my liking. This matzoh crunch is a flavour bomb in your mouth. Sweet (chocolate), salty (coarse salt and pistachios), sour (cherries), bitter (cocoa nibs), spicy and crunchy.

Click here to print recipe for Kicked Up Matzoh Crunch.