Turkish Eggs

Turkish Eggs are possibly my favorite way to eat poached eggs. A base of garlicky yogurt is topped with a poached egg with a gooey yolk, then a spicy butter gets poured over the whole thing. Dip in some sourdough toast. You'll be sad when it's over.

Turkish Eggs | How to be Awesome on $20 a Day

I've wanted to tell everyone ever about these Turkish Eggs since the first bite, but instead, I've had these photos stuck on my phone for a couple weeks while I stagnate in indecision. There's been a lot of women's football in the mix, and a total obsession with Harry Potter Wizards Unite.

Have you been following the Women's World Cup? We've watched nearly every match. This year is seeing record attendance and viewership on television, and I think people are finally ready to admit that female athletes are totally legit. So far, we've been cheering on England and the USA, but both our teams are about to face each other in a semi-final match on Tuesday. It's gonna be high drama in the house. You should join us.

What makes Turkish Eggs so awesome?

You know what else you should do? Eat Turkish Eggs. Like right now. Then keep doing that every day forever. When I first read about this recipe, I didn't quite know what it would be like. It's not liked a baked egg, shakshuka, huevos rancheros kinda thing. It's not like anything I'd ever had before. This dish has four components that come together seamlessly to create a unified dish that is irresistible.

The first layer in Turkish Eggs is a garlic infused Greek yogurt, just warmed through, making it perfectly fragrant. The next layer is a poached egg with firm whites and a gloriously oozy yolk. We make this last though. Don't stress. Nigella gave me a great method for poaching eggs that has working better than anything else I've tried, and I'll share it with you. The final layer, which we're actually going to make second, is browned butter loaded up with crushed red pepper flakes. In an ideal world, those would be Aleppo pepper flakes, but I found those difficult to come by without ordering online, and I already had some regular crushed red pepper flakes in my pantry, and I'm cheap, so I used those, and this dish was still great. The final component is some sourdough toast. This is how we're getting all the good stuff to our mouths. Forks are for nerds. The crunchy, chewy sourdough toast is the perfect delivery method.

That was a super long description, but I hope it's convinced you to make this. I've wished I was eating this at least once a week since the first time we tried it. We've always eaten for breakfast, but I can't really think of a wrong time of day to eat this. Just make sure you do. Turkish Eggs for life.

Servings

2 servings

Prep time

30 minutes

Cooking time

15 minutes

Ingredients

200 grams Greek yogurt
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (Aleppo pepper if you can get it)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Dill, optional
Sourdough toast

instructions

Fill a wide pan with a couple of inches of water and put it on the heat to bring it to the boil. If it starts to boil before you're ready to poach your eggs, just turn it all the way to low until you're ready.
Add Greek yogurt, garlic, and sea salt to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave this 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until the mixture is warm to the touch. Mine took 1 minutes. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt your butter and let it bubble, keeping an eye on it, until it starts to brown and smells nutty. Turn the heat off and stir in the olive oil, followed by the red pepper flakes. It will sizzle up a bit. Don't panic. Set this aside and let that fieriness sink in to your brown butter.
Now it's time to poach your eggs. You want to get your water to a bare simmer, so adjust the heat under your pan of water, or even turn it off it's it's boiling too rapidly. Crack your first egg into a fine mesh sieve and let the watery parts of the egg white drain away for a few seconds. Transfer your egg to a small dish, and sprinkle a teaspoon of lemon juice over the white of the egg. Repeat with the second egg.
Gently transfer your eggs into your barely simmering water on opposite sides of the pan. Poach the eggs for 3-4 minutes until the whites are just set. Transfer your eggs to a paper towel lined plate to wick away any excess water.
To build your Turkish Egg bowl, divide your Greek yogurt mixture between your two bowls, gently nestle an egg into this bed of yogurt, pour your spicy brown butter over the top of all this, and dip in with your pile of toast which some gracious soul has been cycling through the toaster for you while you did all this other work. Enjoy.