For those who are familiar with my current living situation, in short, I’m living in a hotel, and the wife, well, away on a family emergency. While the room is generally small, it does have a kitchen, of sorts, if a microwave, a mini fridge, a sink, and a two burner stove can be called a kitchen. Along with the pot and pan, and dish service for three, it presents a challenge. Since I tend to take on such challenges, it should at least represent something very accessible to a person who needs to cook in less than ideal circumstances, without sacrificing the qualities of good food.
While much can be said on fine cuisine, honestly, for some of us, there is still something to be said for plain simple foods. Things like this bring back memories of different days, quiet relaxing times, where the world could let go, while inside, life could feel simple again. A mugging could go on outside the glass of the place, and while sad, it does not diminish the inner peace within. My wife and I talk about this a lot, coming from differing perspectives on this inner peace, and realized it is often triggered by certain taste queues. So we decided to take those queues that come from the first meal of the day, and given it a name, the ‘glad to be alive’ breakfast. Normally, these breakfasts involve my loved ones, a seven-foot tall by eight foot window, where we could gaze at the work action of the local bird guild, just beyond, what we call “Bird TV”. My, things have changed, just in the last month or so, with the house sold, living in a hotel, and the wife, away, with her being emotionally torn in two, because of family issues. I thought this out on a lark, a one dish meal, evoking the flavors of a good American diner, only without much in the way of storage or equipment. The onions and potato bring out the flavor of hash browned potato, the egg, brings a richness to it, and a creamy mouth feel, while the tomato brings a fresh and clean flavor, a counterpoint to the earthy creamy flavors. The important things in this recipe are the eggs, and the tomato, which should be as fresh and ripe as possible. If your tomatoes are not as ripe as possible, you can lightly pan fry them, but the flavor looses the freshness. This recipe serves one, but it can be doubled ad-infinitum, depending on the amount you need. Just be sure you cool the stove before the egg, and ideally cook one egg at a time.
Ingredients
1 large, or 2 medium potatoes diced into 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) chunks
1 medium or 1/2 large onion, diced into 1/2 inch (1cm) chunks
1 medium tomato, sliced to 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) slices.
1 large egg oil for frying salt and pepper, for seasoning
Preparation
Place diced potato into a microwave safe bowl, and add water, until the potatoes are just covered). Microwave on high 10 minutes, or until the outside is soft, but the inside is still hard.
While the potatoes are getting nuked, place the tomatoes in one layer on a plate, and sprinkle salt on them, by the time the potatoes are out of the microwave, the tomatoes should have started to release a water-like nectar. Yes, its drinkable, if a little salty.
When the potatoes out of the microwave, drain the water, and put a pan on the stove-top on high. with some oil in the pan, brown the potatoes. Once they are browned, remove them to a quart-sized bowl.
Brown the onions, just as the potatoes were done. After being browned, place them in the same bowl, mix with the browned potatoes. This is also a good time to season with pepper.
Lower the temperature of the pan to low, and its decision time.
If your tomatoes are ripe and red, simply take the tomato slices and places them along the outside of the potato – onion mixture. If they are not quite ripe, Sear them in the slowly cooling pan, for one minute, then place them along the outside of the potato – onion mixture.
Once the pan has cooled, add the egg to the pan, and the tomato juice to the bowl. In the pan, we are not actually looking to brown anything, but rather simply to cook the egg.
Once the egg white is cook through, gently remove the egg from the pan, and place it on top of the potato-onion-tomato pile.
Season with pepper and serve.
Note: I intend to serve this to my wife when she returns from her family emergency. Come home soon, dear.