Perfect for a lazy Sunday brunch with good company and a glass of bubbles.
Poached eggs and haloumi on corn and baby marrow cakes with tomato and vanilla relish and a brown butter vinaigrette
Ingredients
- Corn and baby marrow cakes
- 3 eggs, separated
- 200g cake flour + extra, to dust
- 5ml (1 tsp) baking powder
- 2 ears of corn, blanched and cut off the cob + extra, to garnish
- 200g baby marrow, coarsely grated
- large handful fresh mint and coriander, mixed
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- olive oil, to fry
- Preserved lemon
- 3 lemons
- 5ml (1 tsp) salt
- Tomato and vanilla relish
- 2kg jam tomatoes
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 4cm fresh ginger, peeled
- 2 red chillies
- oil, to fry
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds removed
- 200g white sugar
- 200ml red wine vinegar
- Brown butter vinaigrette
- 125g butter, cubed
- 50ml balsamic vinegar
- pinch salt
- pinch sugar
- To serve
- 250g haloumi cheese, sliced and fried until golden brown
- 12 eggs, poached in 5ml (1 tsp) white wine vinegar
- 100g kalamata olives (drained weight), chopped
- small handful fresh coriander leaves
- fresh microherbs
Instructions
For the corn and baby marrow cakes, place the egg yolks and the remaining ingredients (except the egg whites) in a food processor, reserving a third of each of the corn and baby marrow. Pulse until the batter just comes together, remove from processor and fold in the reserved corn and baby marrow.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Fold into the batter.
Shape the batter into cakes and fry in batches in a hot skillet with a little olive oil until they look set around the edges and bubbles appear on the surface, 3 – 5 minutes, then flip and cook for a further 3 minutes. Once golden brown, remove from the skillet and keep warm in a tea towel.
For the preserved lemon, carefully peel the lemons with a peeler, making sure not to peel any of the pith. Finely slice the peel and place in a pan with the salt and juice of the three lemons. Bring to a boil to dissolve the salt. Remove from heat and set aside.
For the tomato and vanilla relish, fill a large pot with salted water and bring to a boil. Lightly score a small cross into the top of the tomatoes with a sharp knife. Plunge the tomatoes into the boiling water for a few seconds until the skins start to come loose. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and place in a bath of iced water. Once the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, remove from the iced water, peel off the skins and cut in half. Scoop out the seeds and discard. Roughly chop the tomatoes and set aside.
Finely chop the garlic, ginger and chillies and brown lightly in a little oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the tomatoes and remaining ingredients, turn the heat to very low, and reduce until thick and glossy, about 10 minutes. Be careful as the bottom burns easily. This keeps for up to one month in the fridge.
For the brown butter vinaigrette, place the butter in a saucepan and melt over a medium heat until nutty brown. Remove from heat and whisk in the vinegar, salt and sugar until emulsified.
To assemble, place 2 corn and baby marrow cakes per person on plates and top with the tomato and vanilla relish and the fried haloumi cheese. Place 2 poached eggs per person on the haloumi and drizzle with the warm brown butter vinaigrette. Finish the dish with a sprinkle of the corn, chopped kalamata olives, the preserved lemon and fresh coriander leaves. Garnish with microherbs.
