Baghdad Eggs with Herb Yogurt and Pitta Crisps

This entry for The Egg Award 2013 - Baghdad Eggs with Herb Yoghurt and Pitta Crisps - is by food blogger Genevieve Taylor - The Urban Kitchen 

It's her most popular blog ever and it's hardly surprising as it sounds and looks delicious!

When I heard about The Egg Award 2013 via twitter I decided I'd be a complete fool not to enter a recipe. After all 2013 is the year that I published an entire cookbook devoted to seasonal egg recipes.

A Good Egg - a year of recipes from an urban hen keeper (Eden Project Books, 2013) charts a year of egg cookery in my Bristol kitchen. Passionate about seasonal eating, the book is organised as an edible diary, with around 2-3 entries per week, each recipe containing eggs in some form or other. Some are not necessarily very egg-rich - a Christmas prune and rabbit pate for example just uses a single egg, whereas Pasteis del Nata (exquisite Portuguese custard tarts) are more what you'd call classically eggy. The point was that I had a seemingly endless supply of eggs and I simply had to get through them.

The eggs I use come from my 'girls',  3 sturdy hybrid bluebell hens that share my back garden along with my husband, two boisterous young kids, 2 dogs and 2 cats. With all of us vying for space it can get a little busy out there but generally we all get along rather well. As a passionate gardener of both edible and ornamental plants I have spent rather a long time planning and adapting our space so that we can all pretty much rub along harmoniously.

With the girls providing me with 2-3 truly delicious eggs a day, all year round, I was never short of a reason to experiment with  them. Eggs, I think, are one of natures absolute wonder ingredients - a perfect package of protein, nutrients and great flavour that is so utterly versatile it beggars belief.

People often ask me why I wanted to keep chickens in my garden and the answer is somewhat multifaceted. It started with a simple and enduring love of animals - as a child entering my teenage years I passionately wanted to be a vet, until my physics teacher told me quite plainly one day that I wasn't bright enough. I know, how appalling is that? I often think of him, a weasily bald-headed, miserable thin bearded man and how much I would love to be able to tell him I went on to get a first class degree in Biology from Manchester University. F-him I say.  I digress. Cooking then is another lifelong passion - I love the creativity of it, the smells, the colours, the way I can let my imagination run wild as I dream up new recipes. 









The way peoples faces light up when I offer them something  delicious to eat. My other great love is gardening, that connection to the soil, the feeling of mud under your finger nails, the dozen scratches up my forearms from pruning my rambling rose, the joy of unearthing the garlic I've been nurturing since the winter.

I guess chicken keeping is a natural culmination of all the things I love most - that and the desire for my children, Izaac aged 8, and Eve aged 5, to feel a connection to the land that I adore. And I'm not alone, with some estimates suggesting there are getting on for a million people keeping chickens in their back gardens.   

During the course of writing the book I blogged some of my recipes to kind of test the waters as to what people really want from the humble egg. Looking back over my blog, it was very, very easy for me to pick my entry to The Egg Award 2013. One post was overwhelmingly popular, receiving tenfold more hits than the next most popular. So here, egg lovers the world over, is my entry.......... 

Baghdad Eggs with Herb Yogurt & Pitta Crisps

These spiced fried eggs make for a really fresh and interesting brunch dish and they are welcome change from the more usual scrambled or poached. Eggs go so well with herbs and spices and this recipe uses both in abundance.

Pitta crisps are easy and delicious, and so useful that I often make a double or even treble batch. They store brilliantly in an airtight tin for a week or so and are great with all manner of dips or just for snacking on when you feel peckish. So much tastier and healthier than reaching for a bag of regular crisps. I normally add chilli flakes as I can’t resist the opportunity to spice them up a bit them but do leave them off if you prefer.  

Serves 2

Ingredients

for the pitta crisps:

3 pitta breads

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper 

for the herb yogurt:

160g greek yoghurt

a generous handful of mixed fresh herbs, finely chopped (coriander, mint, parsley & chives are all great)

a little salt & freshly ground black pepper

for the Baghdad eggs:

2 tsp cumin seeds

50g unsalted butter

a splash of olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 tsp paprika

4 eggs

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Slice the pittas into 3cm wide strips and peel apart the 2 layers of each strip. Lay in a single layer on a baking tray, drizzle over the olive oil and scatter on the cumin seeds, chilli flakes and a generous seasoning of flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until completely dry and crisp. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack

Make the yoghurt sauce by stirring through the herbs and seasoning to taste with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Spoon onto two plates and set aside.

In a large frying pan, dry fry the cumin seeds for just a minute or so. As soon as you smell their aroma lifting from the pan tip them into a pestle and mortar and grind coarsely . Add the butter to the pan, along with a little drizzle of olive oil to help prevent it burning.  When it has melted and starts foaming, stir through the garlic, paprika and ground cumin and fry for a couple of minutes. Then crack in the eggs, and fry, basting in the spiced butter until they are cooked to your liking.

When the eggs are cooked use a fish slice to lift them out onto the serving plates, two per person, and drizzle over the butter. Serve immediately, with the pitta crisps to dunk in both the yolk and the herby yogurt. 

Poached Egg and Stir Fried Samphire on Dulse Bread

This entry for The Egg Award 2013 was entered by Fiona Bird (no honestly, that's her name!) from Uist.


You can find details on how to enter your dish for The Egg Award 2013 by clicking on this link

Fiona Bird considers herself to be a fortunate lady, and here's why.  "My eggs are more often than not 'gifted' to my husband, the island GP - BUT I am about to start buying from this exciting project, which is one reason why I am entering The Egg Award 2013 competition."

South Uist hatch a plan to Rent A Hen

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-23238953

The eggs used in this recipe were given to me by Miriam (see photo) Macdonald's Mummy.  Miriam's aunt (Marion Steele) lives on Benbecula (the next island) and sells 6 eggs for £2.00 There is an honesty box for those in the know.

My recipe uses foraged samphire from the Isle of South Uist and the granary bread has dulse (seaweed) in it but basically my recipe is a poached egg on toast, Uist style. If you don't have a diet problem you could gild the lily and add a dollop or two of homemade Hollandaise. However, the flavour of a freshly poached egg, with stir-fried samphire on lighted toasted dulse bread, is in my opinion, perfect.

Poached Egg and Stir Fried Samphire on Dulse Bread

What to forage, collect and find:  

Per person:

Teaspoon lemon juice

Large free-range egg

30g samphire, well washed and drained

10g butter

One piece of lightly toasted bread, buttered and still warm

What to do:

 

Fill a deep frying pan 2/3rd full of water and bring to the boil. 

Add a teaspoon of lemon juice and lower the heat so that the water is just simmering.  

Crack the egg into the water and poach for 3 minutes or until the yolk has 'just' set.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan and stir-fry the samphire to heat through (1-2 minutes).

Remove the egg with a slotted spoon or fish slice and lay it on a dry tea towel to shake off excess water.

To serve. Put the egg on top of the buttered dulse toast. Pile high with the warm samphire and add a squeeze of lemon juice and freshly grated pepper if required. Eat immediately.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

This entry for The Egg Award 2013 is by maker of traybakes and sweet treats, using the freshest of eggs - Dottie Hen (Katie Gibson) from Newcastle upon Tyne.


You can find out details on how to enter your own dish by clicking on this link

Dotty Hen's motto is - Happy Hens = Happy Eggs = Happy Cakes = Happy People so we'll let her take up the story of her entry.....

We are delighted to be entering the Egg Awards 2013. It is everything that we stand for.

We are Dottie Hen and our Ethos is simple. Happy Hens = Happy Eggs= Happy Cakes= Happy People! Our cakes are made with the freshest of eggs from our own hens, Dottie and her friends.

Their names (Yes we went to the trouble of naming them haha) are: Dottie, Vicky, Tracy, Christine, Sal, Jane, Janey, Maureen, Bruce & Keith. (Yes we know Bruce and Keith are boy names but our kids named the last two hens so what can you do!).

It is just as much about the hens as it is the cakes for us. They love nothing better than chomping on kale, cabbage leaves, blackcurrants, pea pods and corn at the moment! Whatever they can get their little beaks on really. Our hens are free to roam when we are there to keep an eye on them from Mr Fox but also have a nice run and a 8x6ft hen house to sleep in. That is a lot of space for the hens to “bok bok” in. Even though they have all this space, when we go to collect the eggs in the evening (which is a family event that never fails to excite our 2 boys), the eggs are all found in the same corner of the nesting shelf, all nestled together. There is definitely a sense of happiness and team work amongst them!

And what utterly fabulous, sweet sunset yolks they are! This, we believe is our daily reward for keeping them happy and paying each individual hen the attention they need and deserve. They each have their own personality and distinctive bok boking sounds! We (and i mean all of us, even my husband although he would never admit to it..oops) chat to the hens everyday while cleaning them out and we get lots of 'bok boking' back! I am sure they understand us! :-)

The ultimate recipe to put these lovely eggs of gorgeousness in has to be Sticky Toffee Pudding! I came across this recipe in a magazine some time ago before we had hens. The recipe was still nice but now it is made with our own eggs that are literally hours old when they go into this sticky batter..it really does take it up to the next level. No fancy picture of the finished dessert just an honest image of how it usually looks after Sunday lunch and after it has been partly demolished. I don’t think you would ever see a picture of a whole one. Big wedge missing.. But that is how it is in our house...straight out of the oven and dive in to this homemade treat! Delicious! You will not regret making this!

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Ingredients

225g Ready-to-eat stoned dates

85g   Butter, softened

150g Dark Muscovado Sugar

2 Eggs

175g Plain flour

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

For the Sauce

300ml Double Cream

200g Dark Muscovado Sugar

60g Unsalted Butter

Method

       Preheat oven to 170C,Gas Mark 3, 150C Fan

       Grease 1 litre pudding basin and line the base with a circle of grease-proof paper

      

     Put the dates in a small saucepan with 200ml of boiling water from the kettle and simmer for 5mins, stirring occasionally until the dates are soft, leave to cool.

      

     Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar together until very soft. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well. Sift over the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and then gently fold into the mixture. Stir in the date mixture until just mixed.

      Spoon into the pudding basin, and level the surface with the back of the spoon. bake for about 1 hour 20 mins until just firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in to the centre comes out clean. Check after an hour as it can be fully cooked at this time.

      When the pudding is reaching the end of it's cooking time, make the sauce. Put the cream, sugar and butter in a pan. bring to the boil, stirring and simmering gently for 2 minutes until the sauce is smooth and thickened.

      Turn out the pudding and remove the paper. Pour over some half the sauce, and put the rest in a jug and serve separately. serve with custard, cream or ice cream the choice is yours!

Shakshouka

This entry of Shakshouka for The Egg Award 2013 is by Rachel Leoning

You can find details on how to enter The Egg Award 2013 by clicking on this link

My first experience of eating a fresh egg was a memorable one. I was Ten years old and was visiting a nomadic Bedouin family in their hot black tent. The simple fried egg with its orange yolk in the dusty environment was the tastiest egg I had ever eaten!

It took me almost 30 years to recreate this, but on the west coast of Scotland, when my husband and I bought an outdoor centre and converted it into a sustainable off grid yoga retreat in 2010  www.ecoyoga.org. Building a chicken coop was one of our first projects and we have been enjoying the daily fresh eggs ever since.

As recycling is a strong ethos of our centre as a whole, I also like the idea of recycling our food scraps. Just as we recycle the energy of the sun to produce hot water to fill our river baths and use the energy of the river to produce electricity. We turn (mainly organic) waste food into fresh eggs.  As my father in-law says: In nature there is no such thing as recycling, only cycling; there is no waste.

Our hens are free range and friendly each with its own personality and name. They love eating grass and insects (which helps keep the slugs at bay) and give us beautiful tasty eggs daily.

Shakshouka is a dish of Libyan origin; pouched eggs in a rich tomato sauce. Best served with hot pita breads for dipping into the soft egg yolk and fresh mint lemonade. The kids love it too!

Shakshouka

Ingredients

4 medium onions- diced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp roast (or normal) paprika

2 tsp cumin powder

1 pinch of salt

1 tsp coriander seeds- crushed with pestle and mortar

3 cloves of garlic- finely chopped

2 red Bell peppers (optional)- cut long strips

5 large very ripe tomatoes- diced

5 organic free range eggs

1/2 cup flat leaf parsley- finely chopped for garnish

Method

Fry the onions in a deep frying pan until golden brown. Add the tomato paste, paprika, cumin, coriander seeds and fry for one minute while stirring on a medium flame as the oil gets infused with a rich colour from these spices. 

Stir in the garlic and red pepper (if you are going to use peppers), fry briefly then add the chopped tomatoes (I don't bother peeling the tomatoes or separating the seeds) bring to the boil and simmer on a medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once the tomatoes have cooked down use your wooden spoon to make 'wells' in the mixture and break an egg into it. Repeat this with the rest of the eggs spacing them out evenly in the pan. Don't linger as the first egg will over cook. 

Place a lid on the pan and cover for 3 or 4 minutes- I prefer the egg yolk to stay soft. 

Garnish with parsley and white pepper if you like and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Chicken and Tarragon Scotch Egg

This dish is an entry for The Egg Award 2013 by chef Hugh McGivern


You can enter your own recipe for The Egg Award 2013 by clicking on this link




What does Hollywood action movie star Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson , King Abdullah ll of Jordan and The Egg Award 2013 have in common?  Chef Hugh McGivern of course!  He's been personal chef to both and he's entered his Chicken and Tarragon Scotch Egg for this years debut competition!

He's already entered his Chocolate Latte Egg Nog (which is delicious) so we'll let him take up the story.

The eggs are from the same source at my friend Catrionas small holding near Auchterarder in Perthshire, all the chooks run aboot without a care in the world, between the legs of her Black Highland Cattle at times she tells me (but thankfully no fatalities).

The original recipe used Quails eggs and I'm sure that Pheasant or even Duck eggs would be good.

Chicken & Tarragon "Scotch Egg"

Ingredients

4 Fresh Eggs

1 Fresh Chicken Breast

15ml double cream

1 tsp fresh tarragon

salt & pepper

50g fresh breadcrumbs

25g fresh coconut

25g plain flour

1 egg beaten with a little milk.

Method

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and pop each egg onto a spoon and place into the pan, when all eggs are in and the water comes back to the boil, cook for 3 minutes then remove and plunge into cold running water for 5 minutes.

Remove any fat and sinew from the chicken breast and cut into dice, place into a food processor and whizz up. remove from the machine and empty into a bowl, fold in the cream, tarragon and a little seasoning, allow to chill in the fridge for 1/2 an hour.

Shell the eggs and pat dry, divide the chicken mousse into 4 and with an oiled hand pat flat then cover the egg ensuring there are no holes.

Place the beaten egg and milk into 1 bowl, the breadcrumbs and coconut in another and finally seasoned plain flour in the 3rd.

Pass the egg firstly through the flour, patting off any excess then into the egg mix and finally into the coconut mix, ensuring they are thoroughly coated.

Heat a fryer to 180c and place the eggs into the basket then lower into the hot oil, fry for at least 5 minutes shaking the pan occasionally, turn onto kitchen paper and allow to drain and cool slightly before devouring.

These are great summer picnic items and best to make enough for 2 each as they are really yummy.

The Honest Irish Egg

This entry for The Egg Award 2013 is called The Honest Irish Egg by 'Ave Maria' -  @readytocrumble on Twitter.

You can find details on how to enter your own recipe for The Egg Award 2013 by clicking on this link.

We'll let Maria tell you the story of her eggs.

My dish is called The Honest Irish Egg and the reason for this, is because I sourced my eggs from the brilliant Castlefarm Shop in Athy, County Kildare. They operate an honesty box for their eggs and other produce every day of the week and this is how I obtained my eggs!

All info about this fab organic farm can be found here - http://www.castlefarmshop.ie and via their Facebook page here - https://www.facebook.com/castlefarm

As Mr Ave is coeliac, this recipe is also gluten-free. I used some beautiful gluten free Black Pudding from Inch House in Thurles, County Tipperary.  You can find them on Twitter here @inchouse.  My Honest Irish Egg recipe is a variation of an egg en cocotte - simple, tasty and above all, showcasing the wonder of the egg itself!

The Honest Irish Egg


Serves 1

Pots & Pans required

A lightly buttered ramekin

                                 
A small deep-sided baking tray

Ingredients 

1 glorious organic egg, approx 50g of good quality black pudding, a dollop of double cream, snipped fresh chives to garnish.

Method

Pre-heat oven to 155 deg cel.

              
Gently fry the black pudding until soft, being careful not to overcook.

              
When cooked, transfer to the base of the ramekin and use fingers to lightly flatten it down.

              
Carefully break the egg on to black pudding. Try not to break the yolk but it really doesn't matter if you do!

              
Spoon a dollop of double cream around and over the top of the egg.

              
Sprinkle the snipped chives over the top.

              
Put the ramekin into the baking tray and add boiling water into the tray - just below half the height of the ramekin is fine.

              
Very carefully (no scalds wanted!) transfer the baking tray into the centre of the pre-heated oven.

              
Bake for about 10-15 mins, or until the egg is lightly set. It's lovely when gooey, not so much when dried and rubbery!

              
Very carefully again, remove hot tray from oven. Remembering the ramekin will be hot, carefully lift it out and serve/eat immediately!

I like it best as shown, with melba toast and crispy bacon!

Dal and Eggs

Dal and Eggs runner-up recipe in The Egg Award 2013 by chef Tony Singh.

Leith born Tony Singh has established himself as a leading force on the Scottish restaurant scene and has run 3 of his own restaurants, Oloroso, Tony's Table and Roti with great critical acclaim.  He's also appears regularly on TV and has taken part in The Great British Menu and currently on BBC 2's The Incredible Spice Men with Cyrus Todiwala of Cafe Namaste.

Here's Tony receiving his prize donated by sousvidetools.com at his pop-up at the Edinburgh Fringe recently.

For over 25 years, Tony has pushed the boundaries of culinary innovation, combining his Sikh upbringing with his love of Scottish produce. His distinctive style soon developed and made him hot property in restaurant circles and helped him secure membership of the country's leading bodies including the Academy of Culinary Arts, the Craft Guild of Chefs, the Scottish Chefs Association and the Master Chefs of Great Britain. Visit Scotland recently named Tony as one of the chosen few "Real Scots". He is now an ambassador for Scotland and all things Scottish. He has the responsibility of promoting Scotland and its delicacies globally.

When he can, Tony uses eggs from his neighbours hens or Campbells Prime Meat near Linlithgow in Scotland.  The pictures of Tony's presentation of the Dal and Eggs dish are indicative of his unique and infectious sense of humour!

Dal and Eggs



Ingredients


400g  Red Lentils
10g    Turmeric
20g    Salt
100g  Tinned Tomato


The Turka

1        Big Pinch Asafoetda
100g  Butter
45g    Cumin Seeds
5g      Chilli Powder
90g    Garlic and Ginger Paste

3        Fresh Local Eggs

Chilli Oil and a Spring Onion for garnish



Method

Wash the Lentils in a pot.

Cover the lentils with water to the second finger joint (approx 5cm).

Add the Salt and Turmeric.

Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer.

Cook until tender.

Heat up the Oil and add all The Turka ingredients.

Pour into the Dal and stir in the Butter.

Slowly bring to a simmer and stir in 3 whisked Eggs.

Cook until the Eggs are just setting, garnish with Chilli Oil and chopped Spring Onion.