Poached eggs are a staple of many families.
Inexpensive, nutritious, and versatile, eggs are the go-to when you have to make a meal fast. And they are great no matter the time of day.
Usually poached in water, poached eggs are a plain platform to be creative with.
Yesterday, I wanted to use up my homemade pasta sauce and decided on eggs poached in the sauce.
Because I had some zucchini which I promised to cook up for Deane, I decided on a bed of sauteed zucchini for the eggs and sauce.
This type of meal is so flexible.
You can substitute your choice of base: sauteed or boiled vegetable, boiled rice, grain or lentil/bean, or boiled pasta, or a bed of fresh mixed greens, or toast or oven-baked garlic bread.
You can substitute your sauce: Salsa, chili sauce, tomato sauce or even gravy (maybe cool Greek Tzatziki OR my Warm Yogurt Sauce*).
So: Eggs + sauce + base = Great Tasting, easy and cheap meal.
1 cup of sauce per person
1-2 eggs per person
1 cup of cooked pasta, vegetable, grain or lentil/bean OR 1 cup of fresh mixed greens or toast or garlic bread.
Cook up whatever base you want to serve over.
Crack, carefully, all of the eggs you will be using into a bowl and season with cracked black pepper and salt.
Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and gently slip eggs into the sauce, one at a time (it is easy to control each egg coming out of the bowl but don't worry it they come out together - you can cut them apart later). Simmer covered until the white cooks, but the yolk is still runny.
Plate up your base, make a well in the center, and using a slotted spoon place one or two eggs per person into the well, top with sauce. Serve and enjoy.
Back when I was writing my cookbook, I was reading about a chef who, after a long day's work (near Midnight) wanted something fast and satisfying so he poached up some eggs and served them over greens, and I thought about wanting to do something with yogurt for a while and the light bulb went on. I wanted a warm/hot sauce to go with the eggs, so I developed a Warm Yogurt Sauce made with a Fennel/Parsley Pesto. It was a hit.
Midnight Eggs Over Bed of Greens with Warm Yogurt Sauce
1-2 poached eggs per person
1 cup of mixed greens
Yogurt sauce recipe
Warm Herb Yogurt Sauce
From “101+ Recipes From The Herb Lady”
1 cup of plain yogurt, gelatin-free
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-2 teaspoons corn starch
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons of Fennel Parsley Condiment (below)
Place yogurt in a sauce pan and very, very gently warm—stirring regularly (using a double boiler may be easier). Add in lemon juice and olive oil. Mix corn starch and water together and pour slowly into warmed yogurt—stirring to desired thickness. Add condiment and stir in well.
Fennel/Parsley Condiment (Pesto)
1 teaspoon fennel seed, ground
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons water
In a mini-processor or with mortar and pestle, mix fennel and parsley, add oil, and add enough water to make a paste. Store in refrigerator for up to 1 week. Use in following recipes.
OTHER USES For The Fennel/Parsley Pesto:
– As a sandwich spread with sliced chicken;
– make tuna salad with 1 tablespoon Fennel/Parsley Condiment, 6 oz. tuna, mayo and a bit of salt and pepper;
– toss with 1 cup chopped tomatoes and a bit of salt and pepper if desired;
– 1 tablespoon mixed into scrambled eggs.
Back in 2009 at the Mesa Farmers Market I was tasting some of the Salsas for sale when I thought of Huevos Rancheros a traditional dish of a fried egg topped with salsa.
Hmmm, I thought - why not poach the eggs IN the Salsa. I grabbed eggs, salsa, a bag of mixed greens and some great kalamata bread and cooked up dinner. The link below is to my recipe.
Huevos Mercado Granjero aka Farmers Market Eggs
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| Back Cover "101+ Recipes..." |
-- Catherine, The Herb Lady
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