Eat Your Tapenade Eggs Princess

Today is a twofer as I have a whole mess of things that I want to get out before I go on holidays….less than a month to go now!!!!

I was intending to do two posts from The Margaret Fulton Cookbook, which is the current selection over at The Cookbook Guru.   But they were both about eggs so I thought I may as well combine them and do a kind of then and now. Because you see, one of these recipes comes from the 1977 edition of the book which I own.  And the other comes from the 2010 edition which I borrowed from the local library.  Neither features in both.

So, this time, it’s up to you to guess which is which….leave a note in the comments along with what you most like to cook and, if you get it right,  I will send you a vintage Margaret Fulton Recipe from the 1977 version.  You can choose from:

• The First Course
• Soups
• Eggs
• Fish
• Poultry
• Meat
• Vegetables
• Salads
• Pasta and Rice
• Desserts
• Cakes
• Biscuits
• Entertaining
• International

But now, on with, on with, on with the show.

Tapenade Eggs

I was really worried about this one.  Because tuna is pink and egg yolks are yellow and olives are black and the good Lord only knew what colour of hot mess might end up being  crammed into some poor unsuspecting egg whites!

I think that colour is called puce.  But that is not a nice word, particularly when describing food.  Actually I have no idea what that colour is called.  But it’s inoffensive, and given the ingredients, could have been a lot worse!

I made these for dinner one night.

When I get back from holiday I am going to start a series of posts on the stuff that I eat when Mark  is working nights.  Sometimes it’s the best.  And sometimes, I steam a bunch of asparagus, make some toast into soldiers and microwave a jar of hollandaise sauce.  And I sit and dip.

I won’t post that but I do find I tend to veer from the more experimental or foods he is not fond of (vis a vis the AMAZING prawn and fennel fritters I made the other night) to just plain lazy which can also sometimes be pretty awesome. Both of these recipes are from what I call “Me Alone” nights.

Whilst the Eggs Tapenade were pretty good on the night,  I had some left over which I took for lunch the following day and….AWESOME….I don’t know what happened in my fridge overnight but those ingredients totally chilled out and got to know each other a little better and the result was spectacular!  If you make this try it out – eat one fresh, then let the mix sit overnight.  And let me know if you too could really taste the difference!

 Tapenade Eggs Recipe

• 125g pitted black olives
• 6 anchovy fillets, drained and rinsed
• 3 tbsp capers, drained
• 100g tuna in oil, drained
• 1 lemon
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 8 hard boiled eggs

Crush the olives in a mortar or chop in a food processor.  Add the anchovy fillets, capers, tuna and the juice of half a lemon.  Pound or process until the mixture has formed a fairly smooth paste.

Still pounding, or with the motor running add the oil in a slow steady stream.

Taste and add more lemon juice and pepper to season.

Set aside (can be made a few days ahead and stored airtight in the refrigerator).

Halve the eggs lengthwise.  Mash or sieve the yolks and mix with the tapenade.  Pipe or spoon into the egg whites and arrange on a serving platter.

(I also decorated my eggs with some chopped parley, chopped piquillo peppers, capers, toasted pine nuts and a sprinkle of smoked paprika).

Eggs Princess

How could I resist a recipe with this name?  And thank the Lord for the night time.  And this recipe.  Because it lead me to MY discovery of the year.  And I’m highlighting the word my here because I really don’t know if this is a super amazing thing that not so many people know or if you have all known about it forever and I was the one “discovering onions”.  I have absolutely no idea of what that means either but it is a phrase my family use when you come late to the party on anything.

Mum.  Elucidate.  Please.

But here is my discovery and it has seriously CHANGED. MY. LIFE. You can poach an egg to perfection.  In a microwave.

Perfectly poached eggs in 50 seconds.

FOR SERIOUS.

Here is a link.

Microwave Poached Eggs

And if you all knew this and didn’t tell me before?  You’re too mean!  I love a poached egg.  I also love a poached egg with a creamy ham and mushroom sauce with a dash of cayenne!

The recipe says to serve this with toast triangles as a lunch dish.  I popped mine on a toasted English Muffin and had it for another dinner alone!

  Eggs Princess Recipe

•  4 poached eggs
• 180g mushrooms, sliced
• 90g butter
• 180g ham, diced
• 1 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 2 egg yolks
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Saute the mushroom in 2/3 of the butter in a frying pan.  Add the ham and half the parsley. Heat through on a low heat.

Mix cream, egg yolks, remaining butter and lemon juice in a double boiler.  Stir with a spoon or whisk until slightly thickened then season to taste with salt.

Heap ham mixture into a serving dish (or an English Muffin) and arrange eggs on top.

Spoon sauce over eggs and sprinkle with parsley.

So, retro lovers over to you.

Which is the vintage recipe and which is the modern?  You’ll have a week from the date of posting to post your guess and the section of the Margaret Fulton Cookbook from which you would like your recipe to come.  And if you cook it really quickly, you could even get if featured on the Cookbook Guru which is featuring this awesome book until the end of June.

Good luck and have a great week!