There’s one dish that solidified me being that guy who cooks.
I’d say it was my first “signature” dish if you can even call it that. It was the first thing I understood well enough to start tinkering with the recipe to make it better and better, and eventually became the “most requested” thing I made at dinner parties and stuff (even though it’s ridiculously easy).
Which had me wondering why I held off on adding this one for so long. I think in my head I was going to write some either really romantic or really funny to go along with it, but I now realize if it’s taking me this long to come up with something, I must be trying to force it, and I don’t want to force anything fake or surreal.
But it is the dish that my girlfriend claims made her fall in love with me.
So let me tell you a quick story.
Very early in our relationship, my girlfriend slept over at my house for the first time.
The next morning, as a gentleman does, I asked her if she wanted something to eat.
Since she is a human being, she said yes, I would like something to eat.
There’s something super personal about cooking someone breakfast. I think maybe it’s because we’re all kind of vulnerable in the morning. Probably some of the only people that have ever really seen us in those tender, unwashed, early hours — or cooked us any form of breakfast was just our mom or dad or maybe siblings.
I went over to my fridge and found that there were very few things to eat. I had some tomatoes and eggs in an otherwise empty (but clean) refrigerator.
So tomatoes and eggs are what I made.
I started panicking internally, to be honest.
Just writing this now, I still remember how nervous I used to get cooking for other people, let alone this super cute girl that was still in a very judgmental, fact-finding phase of “who really is this guy?”
(now I cook for dinner parties after *several* drinks and chuck shit on a plate without a second thought)
I cooked the tomatoes down in some olive oil in a pan, watching it like a hawk. I’d wipe the sweat off my brow with my arm and sneak a glance behind me to see her peacefully reading a book on the couch.
Can’t. Fuck. This. Up.
I dropped the eggs in and was careful not to overcook them, a mistake I had made the previous time I cooked the dish for myself.
After taking it off the heat, I went above and beyond to make it look pretty.
Back then, I was growing some basil plants in my apartment. Tips for any single people — you get x92379458998 points for going over to your plant and picking off fresh herbs and sprinkling it on the dish.
Damn, she was so impressed with that.
I was pretty lucky because most of my plants tend to die quickly, but on that particular day, it was healthy and fruitful. The universe was like “here buddy, here’s some help, even though you don’t really deserve it.”
I set the pan down with some crusty bread next to her and she was super impressed. Sure, it looked pretty enough, but that was the easy part.
But how did it taste?
I remember handing her the fork and watching her carefully spoon a balanced bite of juicy tomato, runny egg yolk, and fresh basil onto the end of a piece of bread.
Seconds turned to minutes turned to hours.
Seasons passed. Babies grew into adults.
To this day, that “Mmmmmm” reaction I got from her was the most passionate “Mmmmmm” I have ever gotten from her.
I did good.
To this day, I’ve literally gone out of my way to make the most complex and exotic dishes for her.
But whenever asked what her favorite thing is that I cook, it’s always this simple shakshouka that I made for her on one of the first few days we met.
Moral of the story?
A can of tomatoes and some eggs is all you need to make someone fall in love with you.
Ellie’s Shakshouka
Ingredients:
1/2 large onion diced
2-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 can of tomatoes, crushed (or fresh or cherry tomatoes whatever)
1 -3 eggs
S+P
1 tbsp. olive oil
Crusty bread to dip
Optional But Do It:
Cumin
Smoked paprika
Red pepper flakes
Basil, parsley, or spring onions for topping
Feta Cheese
Directions:
1 - Saute onions over medium-high heat in a tbsp. of olive oil until softened.
2 - Add salt, pepper, red pepper flakes (optional), smoked paprika (optional), and cumin (optional) to the onions and garlic and mix it up and cook until fragrant.
Seasoning this early lets all the spices bloom and really ingratiate themselves in the rest of the dish.
3 - Add garlic after and cook for another minute, watch the garlic and don’t let it burn.
4 - Add crushed tomatoes. Once the juices flow, let it come to a boil then lower it to a simmer and let it cook down until it is less liquid-y, maybe 5-10 minutes. Just watch it until it is your desired consistency. Give it a little mix once in a while.
I usually use canned tomatoes and crush them with my hands, but use what you have. As a wise man once said, “tomato, tomato.”
Just crush them up or cut them into small pieces to let them cook down easier.
After it cooks down, season with salt and pepper to taste. After adding all the seasonings earlier, it should be pretty good by now.
5 - Once it has thickened, with the back of a wooden spoon, make little wells to crack eggs into. Crack one egg directly into each well. Salt and pepper the eggs.
If the “well” looks kinda dry on the bottom, just add a touch of olive oil before you drop the egg in.
6 - You can cover the pan and let the top of the eggs set easier, but watch them carefully.
You want the top to set but not be overcooked, and that change happens really quick. You want that runny yolk. Should still have a little jiggle jiggle if you shake the pan.
6 - Top with whatever you have. I like using broken-up feta cheese, basil, cilantro, or spring onions. And do NOT forget crusty bread, it’s a necessity.
Serve it right out of the pan. Also another impressive aspect of this dish.
Boom. Make this for your next date and send me an invite to the wedding.
I was planning on doing a little internal celebration for myself for making it to ten consecutive issues, ten consecutive weeks of writing this newsletter — on top of the other 15+ articles I write a week for work.
I realize now that I already missed my 10-issue anniversary, this is 11. Haha whoops.
This newsletter has been more than just screwing around talking about cooking and stuff I like to do, it’s kind of been a test for myself on consistency and discipline and sticking to something even on days where I don’t feel like doing anything at all, whether I’m talking into a black hole or not.
So, small little pat on the back to me for getting this far.
Thanks to my small and loyal audience for continuing to read!
Let me know what you’ve liked and not liked about tangy language. Appreciate ya!
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a can of tomatoes led us to this day! amazing :))
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽