OMG, I can’t tell you how much I’m in love with the Turkish idea of combining yoghurt and melted butter as a sauce. It’s soo soo good. You get all the tangy creaminess of the yoghurt and then the nutty richness of the caramelised butter.
It’s brilliant here with eggs but it’s also genius with vegetables. One of my faves is to add it to charred eggplant. Also great with grilled chicken or fish.
If you’re nervous about poaching eggs, I used to be as well. Just use lots of vinegar and the freshest eggs you can get.
Turkish Poached Eggs with Yoghurt
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons white vinegar
- 4-6 eggs
- 1 cup Greek yoghurt
- 4 tablespoons butter melted *
- pinch sumac optional
- salad leaves
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of water to the boil. Add vinegar and bring back to a rapid simmer.
- Crack eggs into the water. Simmer gently for 3 minutes (longer for well done). Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and pat dry on paper towel.
- Meanwhile, divide yoghurt between two plates or shallow bowls.
- When eggs are cooked, pop 2 eggs on each plate on top of the yoghurt. Drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle with sumac (if using) and serve with salad leaves on the side.
Variations
*melted butter – if using melted butter I like to slightly caramelize it to add extra nutty brown flavours (although straight melted butter is good too). Just melt butter in a small saucepan and let it sizzle on a medium high heat for a minute or until it looks brown and lovely but not burnt.
dairy-free – use chilli oil and replace yoghurt with hummus.
different eggs – I adore poached but fried, boiled and peeled or scrambled would also work.
carb-lovers / more substantial – serve with extra eggs and warm flat bread or hot buttered toast for dipping.
more substantial (low carb) – extra Eggs. Roast Almonds.
crunchy – add some toasted nuts like almonds or pine nuts.
different vinegar – you just want something to make the cooking water nice and acidic to help the whites solidify as soon as they hit the cooking water. I use cheap white vinegar for this but you could use any vinegar you have – although it’s a bit of a waste of your fancy vinegars.
carnivore – serve eggs with bacon, some pan fried chicken or this pulled chicken.
paleo (grain, legume & dairy-free) – replace yoghurt with tahini lemon sauce. Replace butter with Chilli oil.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
white vinegar / sumac – keep it in the pantry.
eggs – will keep in the fridge for weeks or use for another meal.
yoghurt – usually has a shelf life of a month or so. Otherwise, have it for another meal like breakfast! Don’t freeze.
chilli Oil – store in a glass jar in the fridge. Better to use a wider necked jar rather than a bottle so you can spoon out the lovely solids. Will keep in the fridge for 4 weeks or so. Can be frozen for up to 12 months.
butter – will keep in the fridge for weeks.
salad leaves – are highly perishable. My first path would be to use them for another meal (salad for breakfast!) but if that isn’t possible you can pop them in the freezer. They will wilt down but can then be used anywhere you’d use wilted greens. At least this way they wont go slimey.
Prepare Ahead
No! Best when freshly made. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for a week. Don’t freeze.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
Jules, you’ve found yet another way to get me to eat eggs. 🙂 I definitely need to try this one. And I know just the place to drop it into my menu plan.
Oh I’m so glad to hear that Susan – eggs are the best 🙂
We had this for dinner tonight, and it is a definite keeper recipe! I followed your suggestion of caramelizing the butter and that made the dish for me. Served it with my vinegar-dressed coleslaw. I’m happy to report that we both enjoyed it.
It’s so good isn’t it Susan. If you like the browned butter + something creamy combo, you’ll probably enjoy this Turkish Cauliflower & Yoghurt Soup,
That soup is on the menu this week, and I’ve made it a couple of times before. I’ve learned to forget the stick blender for it (too much cleanup required) but I’ve not tried browning the butter before. Needless to say, I’ll be doing that this time. These days some things no longer taste that great to me, so when I find something like browned butter that does, I’ll put the effort in. It’s worth it. And I’ll look forward to seeing what it does for the soup. 🙂
Yes I remember now you didn’t like the stick blender texture 🙂
MY other favourite way to use browned butter is to make a vinaigrette replacing 1/2 the oil with the butter – amazing extra flavour that works well for more robust salads (I’m thinking your vinegar slaw would be fab)
I also didn’t like the mess in my kitchen… I’ve noted your suggestion on my slaw recipe, and hope I remember to try it (the problem is I’ve been making it for so long, and so often, that I never look at the actual recipe. It sounds like that would take the slaw flavor up a few notches.
I came across your comment again today and was considering the possibility, but there is one issue I can’t get past: if I were serving the slaw immediately and using it all, and everything was at room temperature, it would work well. My issue is that I always let the slaw marinate for at least 24 hours before using it, and I also only make a big bowl of it (2 quart casserole). Wouldn’t the brown butter seize up in the refrigerator? I could try making a small, two serving batch of slaw, but figuring out how much dressing to make would be something else again (not sure my brain knows how to do that)…