poached eggs with yoghurt, sage and chilli

i bought the moro cookery book and it seems that all i am cooking at the moment is in some way inspired by it. it feels right for the tail end of this summer, somehow. (ironically, i've only eaten in their restaurant once, even though it's about ten minutes down the road.)

this dish is just something nice and a bit more special to do with eggs for brunch. it was soft and mildly garlicky, with the slightly bitter and very distinct sage flavour. don't be tempted to skip the sage - i do think it's an essential part of the dish.

use turkish yoghurt with ten per cent fat if you can find it - our local shops sells it. if not, try greek but thin it with a little bit of milk. basically, as long as you don't use any low fat stuff, you're fine.

the chilli flakes i used was the turkish kirmizi pul biber - it's less spicy than the normal chilli so less likely to dominate the flavour.

POACHED EGGS WITH YOGHURT, SAGE AND CHILLI
for two

a small bunch of fresh sage, maybe 4 leaves per egg
1/2 garlic clove, crushed to a paste with some salt
150g yoghurt
30g butter
a splash of vinegar
2 eggs
some turkish chilli flakes or paprika
salt and pepper

first, caramelise the butter. place it in a small saucepan and heat gently until it melts. you'll see the milky, white stuff separating from the oil - carry on cooking past this stage, stirring occasionally, until the butter has turned brown and smells nutty. now chuck in the sage and fry it for a few seconds until crispy. fish the sage leaves out and drain on the kitchen paper but reserve the oil.

mix the garlic and salt into the yoghurt. divide this mixture up between two plates or ramekins.

poach the eggs - add the vinegar to some boiling water and slide in the eggs. being back to the boil, cover and turn off the heat. they should be done after a couple of minutes.

while that's happening, reheat the sage-flavoured butter.

drain the eggs and place an egg on top of yoghurt in each ramekin. scatter over the reserved sage leaves and sprinkle with the chilli flakes. spoon the hot butter on top.

if only everything i cook was so photogenic...