Spicy Stewed Chickpeas and Butter Crumbed Eggs
Post Author: Jenny McCoy
At brunch yesterday morning, I decided to order something far from a traditional American breakfast—spicy stewed chickpeas.
The chickpeas were cooked in a flavorful stew of tomato, black olive and dried spices—the result being similar to a Middle Eastern tagine. This was topped with what was interestingly called “butter crumbed eggs,” a pair of perfectly poached eggs that were breaded and fried. Breaking through the egg’s crunchy exterior to find a bright yellow and runny yolk was definitely the highlight to my breakfast! All of this was topped with a scattering of freshly picked parsley leaves, pickled yellow onions and a few triangles of toasted pita. It was a great choice for a hearty breakfast on a grey-skied day with more chill in the air than I would have liked for a late-April afternoon…
Filed Under: Food Finds, Food Talk
May 19th, 2008
9:28 am
Can you supply a recipe for butter crumbed eggs? This morning I was reading “Peace Like a River” and they mentioned them; however there isn’t a recipe per se that I could locate.
May 19th, 2008
3:55 pm
From what I understand, eggs prepared in this manner are a classic Escoffier preparation. So, you can do one of two things–go to your local book store and look through some classic French cookbooks and see if you can find a recipe, or you can do what I would do, which is make a guess as to how they are prepared and test away.
Here’s my best guess: Poach the eggs by gently breaking them into boiling water and poaching for two and a half minutes. Then remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and place directly into a bowl of cold water. Once they are chilled, remove the eggs and lightly coat them with butter, then follow with a light coating of seasoned bread crumbs. Deep fry them until they are golden brown. (For the sake of simplicity, you could also just poach the eggs, skip the deep frying bit, and sprinkle them with toasted bread crumbs, giving them a similar flavor and texture without all the work.)
And if this doesn’t work, go out to brunch!