Özge’s boiled egg meze

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This recipe is really thanks to Zeliha İrez, Özge’s mother, but I’m naming it after Özge as she helped make it while we stayed with them.  In fact, Özge has not (yet) taken after her mother kitchen-wise, but does know how to boil an egg.  This is a great little starter or amuse bouche, and so simple to make. Go on, try it!

Recipe:  Ozge’s egg meze.pdf

1 egg per person, free-range, naturally
salt
some lovely thickish, plain yoghurt, mixed well until smooth
good olive oil
medium hot bright red chilli flakes, preferably Maraş pepper

1. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil.  Carefully add eggs and boil until white is hard and yolk is nearly hard, ie very slightly gooey in the centre (approx 6-8 mins depending on number and size of eggs, altitude etc).
2. Immediately plunge cooked eggs into ice water to cool for a few minutes.  (This helps prevent the yolks going grey and sulphurous, which would be a problem if you weren’t serving the dish immediately, plus they’re hard to peel when piping hot.)
3. Peel eggs and halve lengthways.  Arrange on serving plate(s), yolk side up.
4. Spoon over some yoghurt.
5. In a pan gently warm some olive oil.  Remove from heat and add some chili flakes.  The oil should go a lovely red colour.  Drizzle oil over eggs and serve immediately.