Happy Easter Monday!  Hope you’ve had a lovely weekend enjoying the beautiful weather and scoffing plenty of eggs – whether they be the chocolate kind, or the regular kind!  Speaking of which, I bloody love a good egg.  We go through boxes and boxes of them in my house; I use them for baking, for brunches and lunches… and even Bungle’s a big fan – he gets a boiled egg with his dinner every night.  So, with that in mind, I’ve scrambled together (…see what I did there?) five of my favourite egg recipes, from pink poached eggs to pavlova. 🙂

1. Hair of the Dog Shakshuka

Eggs in Purgatory, Shakshuka… whatever you want to call it, this is breakfast comfort food done right.  This recipe kind of reminds me of the “Wake Up Juice” that Marty McFly feeds to Doc Brown in Back to the Future Part III when he’s passed out in 1885 (one of my favourite movies of all time!).  It’s got a punch that’ll put you back on your feet after a heavy night out!  The egg and crumbly feta are just the kind of comfort food you need when you’re hungover, while the vodka, lime and chilli flakes give it a bit of a zing.

2. Perfectly Creamy Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled eggs was the first “meal” I learned to cook for myself; it was pretty much my go-to lunch whenever I came home early from school.  I was using exactly the same method (two eggs, splash of milk, knob of butter, stir) until recently, when I decided I could probably do better.  I’m talking super creamy scrambled eggs – so rich that you can forego the obligatory slice of toast.  And, after doing a little research and experimentation I think I’ve got it down.  All you need are two eggs, a tablespoon of butter, and a tablespoon of sour cream (…and a pinch of black pepper if you’re into that).  The trick is to whisk together your eggs and sour cream first, then melt the butter in a deep, nonstick saucepan on a low heat.  Pour the egg mix in and then use a silicone spatula to gently shove the eggs around rather than scramble them.  Serve them up BEFORE they set.  Yum! 🙂

3. Halloumi Hash

You just can’t go wrong with a heavy helping of Halloumi Hash!  It’s one of those meals that’d work for breakfast, brunch or dinner since it’s got a little bit of everything.  Aside from the necessary potatoes and chunks of halloumi, fill it out with whatever veg you fancy – or whatever you’ve got in the fridge!  And of course, it wouldn’t be complete without a fried egg on top. 🙂

4. Pink Poached Eggs

I’m going to be absolutely clear on this one; this recipe is purely for the ‘gram.  There’s nothing out of the ordinary here – bog standard eggs, bog standard toast and a little bit of spinach and seasoning – the only thing that’s different is that the egg is pink!  There’s absolutely no culinary reason to make your poached egg pink – it won’t taste any different to a normal poached egg – but, it’ll definitely bring a smile to your face. I mean, isn’t everything better when it’s pink?  The trick is to use beetroot juice instead of the water you’d usually use to poach your eggs and – voila! – pink whites!

If Poached Eggs are your nemesis, here are some tips:

1. Crack the egg into a small bowl or dish rather than straight into the water.
2. Use a deep frying pan – it’ll give you more maneuverability.
3. If you really want to cheat, crack your egg into a very lightly greased square of clingfilm and then twist to seal – it’ll keep all the whites together (but obviously won’t work for for the above recipe!)
4. Crack your egg into a sieve to get rid of all the wispy white bits before you put it into the water – that way you’ll get a nice neat egg!
5. Use a dash of white vinegar in the water to keep your whites together, or – if you’re only poaching one egg – try the whirpool method (swirl the water, then plop your cracked egg in the middle).

5. Pina Colada Pavlova

You weren’t expecting that, now were you?  But hey, it’s a recipe that makes utilizes the whole egg (no more wasted yolks!); the whites are used for the meringue and the yolks make a lovely pineapple curd.  If there’s one thing I remember about dinners in my house as a kid, it was the prepacked meringue nests my Mum used to buy from Sainsbury’s to make impromptu pavlova for afters (sorry, Mum, I know… I meant “pudding”).  So I thought I’d give it a go from scratch and make a pina colada flavoured one complete with pineapple curd, coconut cream and a healthy splash of rum.

Have an eggcellent week everyone! 😉