Sunday, January 28, 2007

Poached Eggs with Zucchini Fritters and Red Pepper Coulis

tasty and very healthy

recipe #157

I have taken a serious second look at the The Cafe Pongo Cookbook and now love it. Cafe Pongo was a small breakfast and lunch place in Tivoli, NY where my husband and I went to college. My husband, actually lived above the restaurant. I bought him the cookbook a few years ago because he had such great memories of the chicken salad sandwich (great sandwich) and slaw (amazing slaw). I made a few things from it and then, for the most part, shelved it.

Upon a second look there are a bunch of really wonderful breakfast recipes. Most take a fair amount of prep and most reference other recipes in the book. Still all dressings and condiments are terrific on their own and worth having in the fridge.

Heres a particularly good one:

Pouched Eggs with Zucchini Fritters and Red Pepper Coulis

For Fritters
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup flay leaf parsley, chopped
1 table spoon lemon zest
2 pounds zucchini grated (6 cups)
1 cup all purpose flour or brown rice flour
4 large eggs lightly beaten
2 cups vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste

For Coulis
2 cups roasted red peppers
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup blanched almonds
Juice from 1 lemon
salt and pepper
I also added minced garlic to this and thought it was great with it

To Finish
8 eggs

For the Fritters:
Fold together garlic parsley and lemon zest. Stir in grated zucchini then flour and eggs. Add salt and pepper. (You might want to drain or pat dry the zucchini after grating it. When I made it the fritter mixture was to wet).

Form thin 2 inch wide cakes. Make sure that they are flat and not round like meatballs or they will not cook properly. Heat oil, add fritters and cook until golden brown.

For the Coulis
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor until evenly pureed.

To Finish:
Pouch the eggs and place 1 egg on top of 3 or 4 fritters for each serving. Spoon the coulis over the eggs and serve

Serves 6


This a terrific breakfast. The red pepper coulis could be used for tons of other recipes. It would be great on sandwiches, over hummus, on pasta, for a crostini topping. It is a nice alternative to aioli.

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