My mom got me a great gift for Christmas a couple years ago. All this silly chef could ask for, really. A Le Creuset. With a beautiful lilac finish. That I just love.
The problem? There isn’t one at all. Except that for years and years I’ve been thinking too big, most recently with sheet pans and Dutch ovens, and my little pseudo-skillet hasn’t gotten nearly as much love as it deserves. So, this year, I’m thinking small.
While I’ll be using my specialty equipment (sold as a braiser, apparently), the recipes I’ll be making this year will work in a 9- or 10-inch skillet, though a lid (or some aluminum foil) will be useful this week, and likely throughout the year.
I’ve done some minor research on recipes to ensure that I’ll have plenty to work with, but it’s not super easy to find recipes that say the exact size of the pan, pot, or otherwise that should be used for each recipe.
My vague memory is that pies were a rare exception among the hundreds of recipes I’ve looked at since recording my foodie adventures that specify the size of the equipment I should be using. So aside from thinking small, the challenge this year will be kind of a more literal version of “if it fits, I cooks.”
Mercifully, as I was thinking small, I remembered that one of my favorite cookbooks (another Christmas gift, this one from my brother) has recipes that uses just 5 ingredients. Now, this doesn’t have to mean small, but there are options. And even better, the author Jamie Oliver does occasionally list the size skillet. None were my 22 cm small, but several were close enough. I hoped.
With my fingers crossed, I tried my first recipe and prayed that a can of beans plus 4 other ingredients would fit. If it didn’t, I may have been reassessing my choice. I breathed a heavy, happy sigh of relief when my first test of Mexican breakfast was a success. I still overcooked the eggs.
I’m still working out some kinks in becoming an expert but I hope you, dear readers, will be patient and stick with me through the ride. Welcome to small skillet 2020!
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
- 1 can (14 oz.) black beans
- 4 eggs
- ½ jalapeno, diced, divided
- 1 avocado, peeled and sliced
- Juice from 1 lime
- Olive oil
Directions
Add the olive oil to your small (9- to 10-inch) skillet over medium heat. Add about half the diced peppers. Once they start to sizzle, crack in the eggs, and then immediately spoon in the black beans, including about half the juice from the tin. Cover and simmer the eggs to your liking, probably around 4 to 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the avocado slices by squeezing on some lime juice.
Once the eggs are ready, remove from heat, top the mixture with the avocado around the pan, and then add the remaining peppers, and enjoy!
