Smoky potatoes and eggs

February 8, 2013 at 5:20 pm (breakfast, Deborah Madison, Quick weeknight recipe, Root vegetables, unrated, Winter recipes)

This recipe is from another cookbook that I “borrowed” from Spoons and Kathy:  Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen.  When I returned home from California, my fridge contained (in addition to sauerkraut) a pack of eggs.  And there were some soon-to-be-seeing potatoes in the pantry.  So this recipe seemed like a good fit for a welcome home dinner.  

Instructions:

1. Heat 2 Tbs. of oil in a cast-iron skillet and cook the diced potatoes (2 pounds) over medium heat, turning occasionally, until tender (about 15 minutes).
2. Once the potatoes are crisp on the outside and tender inside you sprinkle on salt, a tsp. of Spanish smoked paprika (pimenton), 1 minced garlic clove, and four thinly sliced scallions.
3. After seasoning the potatoes you break four or more eggs over the potatoes, cover the pan, and cook over medium-low heat until the whites are set.  Garnish with parsley (I had none) and serve.

For a prettier presentation Madison recommends moving the potatoes to a terra-cotta gratin dish and baking the dish in the oven at 375 for about 15 to 20 minutes.

My notes:

I didn’t have any scallions so I used half of a red onion.  I added it with the potatoes, which was a mistake, as the onion started burning before the potatoes were fully cooked.

My scale battery was dead so I’m not sure if I had 2 pounds of potatoes.  My 9-inch cast iron skillet was definitely full though.  And the potatoes formed about two layers, not one.

We used five eggs but still didn’t feel like the dish was particularly eggy.  In fact, we barely noticed the eggs.  The potatoes definitely dominated.

I liked the texture of the potatoes a lot, especially the really crispy bits.  But the dish seemed underseasoned.  We used the larger amount of paprika (1 tsp. rather than 1/2 tsp.) but I could barely taste it.  I wanted a much more in-your-face fiery potato dish, like Berley’s chipotle potatoes.  We ended up eating the leftovers with some leftover homemade Thai chili paste, and that certainly perked the potatoes up.

Overall I liked the technique of this recipe, but not the seasoning.