Eggs like Honey (and Co.)

If you live in London and have never been to the food haven called Honey & Co., stop reading now and make a reservation. My first apartment in London was on Fitzroy Street, just around the corner from Honey & Co. I was walking home from the gym on a sunny and crisp February morning when I saw the window display of beautiful cakes and pastries. I walked in and had the brunch I’d been unknowingly craving all my life. I’ve been going back at least once a month since, and missing it for the other 29 days.

Being the fan girl I am, I’d been waiting for the Honey & Co. cookbook ever since it had been announced in 2013, and just last month, finally, it appeared in bookstores. The book is extremely well done. The recipes are simple and the directions and guidelines are clear. Sarit and Itamar share their stores and anecdotes and explain the essence of how middle eastern flavors come together. The book is still on my bed side table to flip through back and forth and I’ve been using their “Everything Dressing” on everything already. I’d say it’s a must have on any home cook’s bookshelf as the bible of middle eastern cooking.

The book unfortunately doesn’t feature my favorite dish from the restaurant’s breakfast menu. Almost every time I go to Honey for breakfast, I get the “Poached legbar eggs on spinach and yogurt, urfa chilli butter & potato bread soldiers”.

The original dish from Honey & Co. served is with potato bread soldiers. Thanks for the photo Cass!

I adore the combination of creamy egg yolks, tangy yogurt and spinach and the hint of heat from the urfa chilies. Not being put off by the lack of a recipe, I’ve attempted to make Eggs like Honey. The recipe below is my take on Honey and Co’s breakfast dish.

Poached Eggs on Spinach and Yogurt and Urfa Chilli Butter
Serves 2

4 eggs, poached (see below)
750gr fresh spinach
1 cup greek yogurt
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp urfa chilli flakes (can be found in Turkish stores or replaced with red pepper flakes)
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt

In a large pot, sauté the finely diced garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil for 2 minutes over medium heat. Add the spinach, 1/4 cup of water, season with 1 teaspoon of salt and cover the pot. For additional flavor, you can also add the zest of a lemon. Cook until the leaves are tender but still bright green.

Whisk one cup of Greek yogurt with a pinch of salt in a small bowl. The yogurt should be runny, similar to the consistency of honey. If it’s too thick, you can thin it out with a few tablespoons of water.

Melt the butter over medium heat. As the butter starts liquifying, season it with 1 teaspoon of urfa chilli flakes. 2 minutes after the butter starts to form bubbles and sizzle, take it off the heat. The butter should have beautiful shiny orange patches.

To assemble the dish, spread the sautéed spinach in the bottom of shallow bowls. Place two poached eggs in each bowl (see below for more on poaching eggs) and top them generously with yogurt. Finally drizzle the urfa chilli butter to dress the plates and serve immediately.

A note about poaching eggs

I used I think I couldn’t plan poached eggs into my brunch party menus. No matter how well you master poaching eggs, poaching one egg at a time at 3 minutes a pop, adds up to time I don’t have when I’m trying to bring together brunch for 4.

A few months ago however, I stumbled upon a kitchen “did-you-know-that” fact list on twitter. Number 4 casually read, “you can poach eggs ahead of time”. Say what?!

Here’s how it works, fellow egg lovers

Line a clean plate with a few layers of paper towels and set it inside of an ice bath
Start poaching your eggs using your method of choice
I like to poach the eggs one at a time
Once the egg is poached, fish out the egg using a slotted spoon and rest it over the ice bath immediately to stop the cooking process
Keep the poached eggs over an ice bath in the fridge until you start assembling the plates
Right before service, reheat the eggs in simmering water for 1 minute