Thursday 26 April 2012

avocado on sourdough, paprika egg and tomato jam

avocado on sourdough, paprika egg & tomato jam
breakfast, the first meal of the day is quite an important one at thirty-two. i think mama and babcia should be glad of the breakfast discipline they instilled in me. for aside from my late teens when eating and i had a relationship breakdown i have never gone breakfast-less. o is quite content eating cardboard flavoured bran flakes, which he says, keeps him going till lunch. i on the other hand much prefer my little tupperware of greek yoghurt with a sliced banana and a drizzle of honey. sometimes i’ll leave a tablespoon or two of oats to soften in yoghurt with a grated apple overnight. and i’ll sprinkle it with nuts before carrying it to work. i usually have a jar of homemade granola at hand to spruce up weekday breakfasts. i don’t see why one should content oneself with things that look and taste like cardboard just because it’s a weekday. on weekends o has particular favourites, which always involve eggs.

as of late i’ve been eating a lot of avocado on toast. i’ve found these baby hass avocado’s that are perfect for individual servings and so i decided to introduce o to one of my favourite combinations – eggs and avocado. i first had this combination in arizona and i know that it is very popular in california. american egg breakfasts invariably come with some kind of cheese and sour cream. i find that the buttery flesh of avocado needs to be treated with a little delicacy and this is where the australian’s have figured out the perfect combination. tori’s absolutely right when she says that sourdough, eggs and avocado are ‘the great rendering of a holy australian trinity’. i take no credit for this recipe as it is derived solely from porch and parlour (where i have never been) and tori herself. the little bit of me comes in the shape of a tangy stovetop tomato jam which i feel cuts through the richness of the avocado and the gentle protein of the egg. there is a generous pinch of kirmizi biber that ties the eggs, avocado and tomato jam together in a sweet-spicy heat. i rolled the egg in maldon salt and some smoked paprika as suggested by tori. the yolks should have been a little runnier but i missed the sound of the timer and luckily o wasn’t too fussed about it.

although this is a really simple breakfast, it is the quality of the ingredients that make it taste good. so get eggs that have sunflower yolks and a really good quality sourdough bread. i use clarence court eggs (both burford browns and legbars are excellent). make sure that your avocado is ripe and at room temperature as that helps bring out both its buttery and nutty flavours. drizzle your toasted sourdough with a good olive oil.

and don’t rush. this is the kind of breakfast that you take your time over.

if you still have space left over then you may want to tuck into  a sweet version of avocado on toast. i remember eating grilled avocado drizzled with honey in arizona once and often replicate it on toast. essentially, you take half an avocado, brush it with honey and put the cut side down on a grill. this was served with a side of meat. at home, i just take slices of avocado, place them on toasted bread and drizzle with runny honey or maple syrup. i usually make this when i make cornbread as its slight grittiness provides a lovely contrast. but it’s equally good on sourdough too. 

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