This is an elegant dish perfect for a weekend breakfast or brunch. It brings together the spiced and slightly Smokey flavours of the black beans with gooey poached eggs and the sharp acidity of salsa verde served atop an English muffin.
Salsa verde stands apart from most other salsas as its quite mild with a heavily acidic flavour. The main ingredient in a salsa verde is tomatillos. These are small fruits which resemble green tomatoes. They can be difficult to source fresh but I’ve been lucky enough to find them through a local farmer’s market. Making the salsa verde is relatively simple but I respect that this kind of effort might feel like too much on a Sunday morning and in that case, I have total respect for deciding to use store-bought instead. The sauce can be made up to four days ahead however and refrigerated.
Poaching eggs is often spoken of as if it were a dark art. The truth of the matter is, there are no secrets or hidden tactics that will guarantee a perfect result, practice makes perfect. There are however a few little tips: use a deep stockpot; season your water with salt and vinegar; heat your water to approximately 80°C; crack your egg into a glass; create a vortex by swirling the top of the water with a spoon before you drop the egg in and keep constant watch for the moment that the white is just set.
You can check out my other breakfast recipes here.
Poached Eggs with Spiced Black Beans and Salsa Verde
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 4 toasted english muffins to serve
- 8 eggs
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 2 shallots
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 400 g can black beans
- 1 ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground chipotle
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/3 cup water
- salt and pepper to taste
- sesame seeds to serve
- hot sauce to serve
Salsa Verde
- 3 to matillos husked
- 1 jalapeno
- 1 small white onion finely chopped
- ¼ cup fresh coriander leaves chopped
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 2 tablespoons water
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- For the salsa Verde, preheat oven to 250°C. lay the tomatillos and jalapeno on an unlined baking tray. Roast on the highest rack in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until browned and slightly softened. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
- Place all salsa verde ingredients into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook stirring regularly for 10 minutes or until softened and browned. Add the spices and sauté for a further 2 minutes or until fragrant.
- Add the drained black beans and water and cook stirring regularly for 5 minutes or until thickened and warmed through. Set aside and keep warm until ready to serve.
- Fill a stock pot with water and season with vinegar and salt. Heat the water over medium-high to approximately 80°C. poach the eggs, two at a time for approximately 4 minutes or until the white is just set.
- To serve, toast the English muffins then top with the black beans, place one poached egg on each half then spoon over salsa and sprinkle with sesame seeds.