This post is monetarily sponsored by Egg Farmers of Canada. You can follow Egg Farmers of Canada on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more egg recipe inspiration and egg nutrition.
Is there anything more glorious than an egg? Have you really truly sat down to contemplate that question?
In my opinion, eggs are one of the most versatile and most beautiful ingredients on the planet. It’s delicate outer shell, a zero-waste package before zero-waste was a thing, ranges in a plethora of breathtaking colours — whites to greens to blues, browns and beyond. Some are speckled, some are smooth, some are oblong, and some just are that perfect oval egg shape.
And then you crack it… You gently tap the side of the shell on the counter and suddenly that hard outer shell is just not that hard anymore.
Slowly, you pull the two halves apart, clear liquid oozing down into your bowl in long thick clumps. A dark yellow sphere topples out of the half shell next and lands in the bowl as quiet as a whisper… How magical it must be to experience an egg for the first time. I wish I could remember!
Today is World Egg Day, the day the world celebrates these glorious little ovals and I couldn’t be more excited to celebrate!!
In the Blair House, eggs are one of the ingredients we use the most. Between our meals and all the baking we do together, we can easily use 6-8 dozen eggs on a weekly basis (sometime a lot more!!), so it wouldn’t surprise you to know how happy I was to find out that on average, eggs in Canada travel from the farm to the grocery store in less than a week. When making meals and baking with my children, I try to source high quality ingredients whenever possible. My heart feels happy knowing that every time I pick up a carton of fresh eggs, they come from a local family of egg farmers who take great pride in providing exceptional care for their hens and producing eggs of the highest quality for Canadian families to enjoy. Did you know that Canadian eggs are produced in over 1000 family-run farms in every province and the Northwest Territories? No matter where you purchase your Canadian eggs, they are from a local farmer. That is something the Blair family can get onboard with!!!
It truly is amazing how versatile eggs are. They can go from Breakfast to Dinner, Snack to Dessert. They can thicken, bind, leaven, glaze or garnish. They can be center of the plate or they can blend into the background. They are versatile and quick cooking but first and foremost, 1 egg contains 5g of fat, is 70 calories, and provides 14 important nutrients such as vitamins A, D and E, folate, iron, zinc an choline.
Have I made you look at eggs in a different light yet?
Now, the question is…. How will you be enjoying your eggs on #WorldEggDay? The Blairs will be making Breakfast Khachapuri in three easy ways so all five of use can enjoy our eggs together! I encourage you to share your favourite egg recipes on social media using #WorldEggDay – lets get these eggs trending!!
BREAKFAST KHACHAPURI, 3 WAYS
ingredients
dough:
500g flour
350g water
1/4 tsp. instant active dry yeast
2 tsp. fine sea salt
traditional (makes 4):
8 slices bacon
4 breakfast sausages
cheddar cheese
2 large potatoes, cubed
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
4 eggs
fresh chives (optional)
upscale (makes 4):
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
8oz. spinach
prosciutto
1/2 cup caramelized onions
brie
Avocado
4 eggs
red pepper flakes (optional)
flake salt (optional)
fungi (makes 4):
1 head garlic
1 Tbsp. butter, unsalted
3/4 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 large sweet onion, peeled and sliced
button mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp. rosemary
4 eggs
mozzarella cheese
red pepper flakes
steps
dough:
The night before, mix together flour, active dry yeast, and fine sea salt until combined.
Add water, and mix until combined.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature (for up to 24 hours). The dough should be doubled in size and bubbling when ready to use.
When ready to make your khachapuri, preheat oven to 500F and place your pizza stone inside (if using)!
Place a piece of parchment paper on a peel if using a pizza stone, or if using a baking sheet, dust with flour. Divide the dough into 4 portions. Using the first portion, flatten out the dough into an 8-inch round.
Continue with your desired toppings below!
traditional:
Pre-cook bacon and sausage until done. Make sure not to cook bacon very crispy as it will over bake in the oven. Allow bacon and sausage to cool and then slice into bite-size pieces.
Drizzle olive oil in skillet or frying pan. Add cubed potatoes and let fry, untouched, for 3-5 minutes over medium heat. Resist the urge to stir them during these 5 minutes! While potatoes are frying, mix together salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. Stir potatoes and let fry for another 2 minutes. Once the potatoes are crisp, add spices. Continue frying until crispy but not burned. Remove from heat and let rest.
Prepare your dough as instructed above. Top the dough with a drizzle of olive oil, and 1/4 each of the cheddar cheese, bacon, sausage and potato, making sure to leave a 1 inch border around the outside. Top with a pinch of salt and pepper. Remember to leave a small well in the middle for your egg. Pinch up two opposite sides of the dough to make a “boat” shape.
In your already pre-heated oven (see dough instructions above, slide khachapuri into the hot oven and bake for 4 minutes. Open the oven and quickly crack an egg into your well. Bake until the whites are firm but the yoke a bit runny, about 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and top with a few snips of fresh chives and salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
upscale:
Place balsamic vinegar in a small skillet or saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it bubbles and reduces to a thick syrup consistency, about 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. The balsamic reduction will continue to thicken a bit as it cools.
Prepare your dough as instructed above. Top the dough with a drizzle of olive oil and minced garlic. Add 1/4 each of the spinach, prosciutto, caramelized onions and brie, making sure to leave a 1 inch border around the outside. Top with a pinch of salt and pepper. Remember to leave a small well in the middle for your egg and another for you avocado. Pinch up two opposite sides of the dough to make a “boat” shape.
In your already pre-heated oven (see dough instructions above, slide khachapuri into the hot oven and bake for 4 minutes. Open the oven and quickly crack an egg into your well. Bake until the whites are firm but the yoke a bit runny, about 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and top with a few thing slices of avocado, pinch of each red pepper flakes and flake salt (optional). Drizzle with balsamic reduction. Serve immediately.
fungi:
Cut the top off the head of garlic to expose just the tips of the cloves within. Lightly drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Wrap up the garlic inside tinfoil to ensure the heat gets trapped inside. Place in the oven and roast 40 – 45 minutes at 400F – the garlic should be oozy and lovely when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool to touch. Once cooled, squeeze the pulp o a bowl and discard the casings.
Place butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When it begins to sizzle, combine the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream, coarse sea salt and roasted garlic. Return to the heat and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens, approx 3-4 minutes. Set aside. ** For quicker assembly, make garlic cream sauce ahead of time (up to 24 hours in advance and store in fridge) **
Heat 1 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-low heat. When hot but not smoking, toss in the sliced onion and a generous pinch of coarse sea salt. Stirring regularly, sauce until the onions become soft and have caramelized.
Toss the mushrooms and another pinch of salt into the pan and if need be, an extra splash of olive oil. Increase the heat to medium. Stirring often, allow the mushrooms to cook through and just begin to get some colour on them. Add rosemary and sauté until fragrant. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool.
Prepare your dough as instructed above. Top the dough with a drizzle of olive oil, a spoonful of garlic cream sauce and 1/4 of the onion-mushroom-rosemary mixture, making sure to leave a 1 inch border around the outside. Remember to leave a small well in the middle for your egg. Pinch up two opposite sides of the dough to make a “boat” shape.
In your already pre-heated oven (see dough instructions above, slide khachapuri into the hot oven and bake for 4 minutes. Open the oven and quickly crack an egg into your well and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake until the whites are firm but the yoke a bit runny, about 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and top with a a pinch of rosemary and red pepper flakes (if desired). Serve immediately.
NOTE: For quick morning assembly, you can prepare dough, and the majority of the toppings the day (or two) before. Store in fridge until ready to use!
