Medi Brunch
Brunch baby
If you’re cooking up a brekkie/brunch, this dish is dead easy and uncomplicated whilst maintaining a notable presence on the plate. It incorporates the classic poached egg which, let’s not lie, always looks impressive – along with a few other all-round yum ingredients.
When poaching your eggs, I would always recommend cracking them one by one into a small lipped dish/teacup rather than directly cracking them into the water. I just feel I have more control over that step in the process, where as if I crack the egg directly into the water it might be a bad crack, and a piece/pieces of egg shell might get in and then comes a stress moment and then: panic. Also, this way, you have a free hand – one to gently slide the egg into the water and the other to use a ladle/spoon to create a whirlpool motion so the egg doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
The tomato chili jam does the heavy lifting here, tying all the ingredients together. It’s my mums’ recipe, which she’s generously shared. It’s everything you look for from a chili jam. The tang from the tomato and sweetness from the sugar balance with the subtle fieriness from the chili and unexpectedly gorgeous kick of ginger will all just make you melt in your chair. This and some cheese on a buttery piece of toast make for an epic lil snack, but I could honestly put it on everything.
Recipe (makes for 2)
prep time: 5/10 mins
cook time: 20 mins for tomatoes in the oven, 4 mins per poached egg
Ingredients:
- 1 tray of baby vine tomatoes
- Sprinklings of cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, za’taar
- 4 free range fresh eggs
- 1.5 Tbsp apple cider vinegar/white wine vinegar
- 2 doorstopper slices of sourdough bread, lightly toasted
- 2 Tbsp of tomato chilli jam (recipe coming soon, store bought will also work)
- 4 generous dollops of hummus
- Handful or two of rocket
- Za’taar, olive oil and balsamic glaze for garnishing to your hearts content
Optional Ingredients:
- Avo (not just any avo will go with this, only a great avo will do)
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 200°C
Snip the vine of your baby tomatoes in half and place them on a lined baking tray.
Dash some olive oil over them and a dousing of the above mentioned spices.
When the oven is ready, throw the tray in the middle/higher half of the oven and roast for 15-20 mins until the tomatoes start to burst open.
While the tomatoes are in the oven, place a pot of water on the stove on medium heat.
When the water comes to a simmering, low boil, crack the egg into a small bowl/teacup, start swirling the water around and gently place the egg into the whirlpool.
Keep swirling the water and place each egg in one by one, repeating the same whirlpool motion.
The eggs should take approximately 4 minutes to cook, but use a spoon or ladle to hoist them out the water and give them a gentle prod, they should be slightly soft to the touch with more firmness around the whites (if you think it’s just that little bit too soft, don’t worry, the eggs will continue to cook when taken out).
In between the eggs poaching, place a frying pan on high heat and place the halloumi slices in once the pan is hot. Fry for 2 mins on each side.
Toast your sourdough breads and start to assemble everything. Start with spreading the chili jam, then the hummus, then the rocket and next the halloumi.
Finally place your eggs on top and drizzle generously with more chili jam, olive oil and balsamic glaze and a heavy sprinkling of za’taar.
Enjoy!
