Middle Eastern eggs with crumbled haloumi

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Let’s just talk for a minute about how much I love a really good breakfast.

I mean, it’s kind of a hypothetical love, in the same sort of way that I “love” shopping for clothes without children throwing tantrums and hiding under the clothes racks…. or how I “love” sleeping in on Saturday mornings.

In other words, I WOULD LOVE THESE THINGS IF THEY EVER ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO ME. I would. They’re like a really appealing urban legend. I hear some people do in fact do all of these things. Is it true? Tell me.

Well, breakfast is the same. In my fantasy life, the one in which I sleep in on a Saturday morning, I then meander into the kitchen to whip up a gourmet breakfast that will be eaten in the sunshine while idly flipping through a house magazine.

Of course I’m also wearing my new clothes that I just bought the day before in a completely untraumatic shopping experience that didn’t involve me crawling under clothes racks to extract maniacal children.

In reality, I’m spooning cold muesli from a bowl while standing up at the counter, except for when I don’t have time to put the muesli into a bowl, in which case I’m eating a banana in the car on the way to wherever.

I don’t want to make you jealous or anything, but this one time? We actually went out for breakfast on a Saturday morning. 

We did. I don’t know exactly how it happened. Perhaps it was before soccer season began (if such a time ever actually existed.) It’s all hazy now.

But I do remember that we had the most amazing Middle Eastern breakfast which has stayed with me TO THIS DAY, and every now and then I get inspired to re-create it in my own kitchen and then we all drool over it just as much as we did the first time we tried it.

It involves perfectly poached eggs sitting atop a pillow of silky hommus, topped with crumbled golden pan-fried haloumi and a sprinkling of nutty dukkah. In short, it is heaven on a plate.

If you haven’t heard of dukkah before, it’s an Egyptian mix of roasted seeds, nuts and spices. Hazelnuts and sesame seeds are usual ingredients. It’s delicious, savoury and not “hot” at all. You can find it in most supermarkets, or if you’re super ambitious you could of course make your own. (I actually tried to type that with a straight face, but I couldn’t do it. Screw that – just buy it.)

Since Father’s Day is coming up this Sunday, I thought it would be a perfect time to share our favouritest-ever brekky. Forget the bacon and eggs – give your man this creation. It is to die for. Super simple, a bit out of the box, and lick-your-lips delicious.

As you can see, it’s very straightforward – the only tricky part is the timing. The eggs are the most time-consuming part if you use this traditional method of poaching, so do them first and reheat at the end. And the haloumi should be served fresh and sizzling straight from the pan for the most melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness.

Got another method for poaching eggs? Do tell. I hate poaching eggs and I want to know all your secrets. This method is the closest I’ve come to conquering them. But I still feel like there should be an easier more magical way that doesn’t freak me out every time as all the white part swirls off into stringy tendrils. I tried the trick of twisting the eggs into cling wrap first, and it worked, but the eggs looked like a little old lady’s wrinkled up mouth pursed all disapprovingly at me. Plus it was way fiddly which makes me roll my eyes because anything in the kitchen that requires that much effort can’t be a real thing, surely. I just want the eggs to get in my mouth as fast as possible, thank you.

Anyway… even the trauma of egg-poaching is totally worth it in this case. You really must try this because it will change your life. And now I need to go eat some haloumi.

So what’s your favourite breakfast?

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. Liked this? Check out some of my other favourite recent recipes…

Moroccan Lamb Filo Parcels

Pesto Pasta with blistered cherry tomatoes