A glut of sage led me to this recipe. Crispy sage is served with shiitake bacon, eggs and yoghurt. A take on Turkish eggs.
A friend handed me a huge pile of homegrown sage this week. Knowing that it goes well with pork, I made use of a great deal of it in some tasty meatballs and then pondered what to do with the rest. As is often when I get a bit stuck with ingredients I refer to my fabulous Flavour Thesaurus. Sage fried in butter over eggs and yoghurt, a Turkish inspired dish was the recommendation that caught my eye. I’ve tried something like this for brunch in a London restaurant before. Perfect excuse to have a go at doing a version of it myself.
Not content with serving the egg & yoghurt combo on its own I recalled an idea a fellow foodie had mentioned article about turning Shiitake mushrooms into bacon, and thought that would be perfect to serve on top. Don’t get me wrong – I love bacon as much as the next person, and think there is absolutely nothing wrong with eating well sourced bacon – but sometimes you don’t have access to well sourced bacon, or sometimes you’re not into meat but still want that smoky umami flavour. The mushrooms unbelievably do a fantastic job masquerading as bacon.
Here for your enjoyment is my full recipe & procedure. Eggs adapted from Flavour Thesaurus, mushrooms adapted from Joy Manning & The Delicious Life
- 4 large Shiitake mushrooms (or the equivalent volume of smaller ones)
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- ½ tsp tamari
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- 200g kefir (or full fat natural/greek yoghurt)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced with salt
- 2 Tbs ghee
- Large handful of sage leaves (approx 20)
- 2 eggs
- Pinch chilli flakes
- Black pepper
- Pre-heat oven to 175°C / 350°F
- Slice the mushrooms into thick slices, and toss with olive oil, tamari, salt and smoked paprika. Lay on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until cooked to your preferred level of crisp.
- Meanwhile mix the yoghurt with the minced garlic, and leave to infuse. Put the water for poaching the eggs on.
- In a pan warm the ghee and when sizzling add the sage leaves, and fry till crispy, make sure you watch them as they can turn in a second (it happened to me and I had to start again). Remove the sage leaves with a slotted spoon and dry on a paper towel. Reserve the ghee for later.
- When you're ready to plate up you can now cook the eggs since this last bit happens so quickly and you need to be ready. Spread half of the yoghurt on each serving plate making a small well for the egg. Put the eggs on to poach, and when done drain on a paper towel. Place an egg in each well, sprinkle over the crispy sage leaves, a pinch of chilli flakes, a twist of black pepper and drizzle the reserved ghee over each plate. Top with the Shiitake bacon.
Hi. I love food blogs and a friend told me about yours and also “Cooking With Mr. C.” on Facebook. I just “Liked” his page and came to check you out. It looks great. I love when people share food blogs with each other. Anne
Cool, thanks. Lovely to have you as a reader!