Cilbir with Chilli Labneh

FEATURING MONJAY MEZZA’S LABNEH WITH CHILLI

Not much needs to be done to enjoy our products, Break open a packet of your favourite crackers or cut a carrot into batons and dip away. Or simply arrange our delicious finger foods on a platter and watch them crowd around. But the potential of our range is so much more, and we want to prove it. So we've created our very own recipe page to show you the versatility of our products. Dips to marinate or bake with, finger food transformed into main meals - the limit is your imagination.

SERVES: 1

Cilbir, an ancient Turkish dish, was once served to Ottoman sultans as a nourishing and energising breakfast. And, as the old saying goes, what’s good for a sultan is good for us, too. Poached eggs, garlicky, chilli labneh and spiced butter – it tastes as good as it reads.

Poached eggs have a reputation of being tricky, but the budding breakfast chef need not be intimidated. There is much advice available out there on how to do it ‘right’, and it’s hard to know what path to follow. Do you strain the egg to remove the looser bits of eggwhite so you aren’t left with thready strands? Do you add vinegar to the water? Should you wrap the egg in cling film?

Our version is simple. We don’t strain the egg. We don’t add vinegar to the water (yes, there is scientific backing behind the technique as it de-natures the protein in the eggwhite, helping it set, but we find it takes it too far), and we don’t use cling film. The result? A delicious and delicious-looking poached egg.

Ingredients

2/3 cup of Monjay’s Chilli Labneh
Half a clove of garlic
2 tablespoons of salted butter
2 eggs
A good pinch of paprika or Aleppo chilli flakes
Snipped dill, as garnish

Method

Put a medium pot of water over a high flame. Add a generous pinch of salt.Crush the garlic in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt and stir through the labneh.

Spread on to your serving plate and put to one side.Melt the butter in a small saucepan or frying pan with the paprika or chilli flakes. When the butter starts foaming, turn off the heat and let it sit.

Crack the eggs into separate cups. Once the pot of water has come to the boil, turn it down to a bare simmer. Use a chop stick to swirl the water, creating a vortex. Drop each egg into the vortex from as small a height as possible. Use the chopstick to gently swirl the water around the eggs, encouraging the strands of white to coil about the yolks.

They should be ready after four minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and rest them on the labneh. Drizzle over the spiced butter, and sprinkle with dill. Serve with toasted, crusty bread – there will be plenty of juices to mop up.

Monjay Mezza is the home of traditional Middle Eastern Dips, Finger Food and Desserts.