Recently I published a review of Dabbous, the hot new eatery by Ollie Dabbous that has taken London by storm in the last 2 years. Only three weeks after opening Fay Maschler gave it a groundbreaking 5/5 stars and then within 8 months it had won its first Michelin star.
I won’t duplicate my review here but, let’s just say that I loved it. Read the full spiel here.
Their signature dish is a beautiful ‘coddled hen’s egg with woodland mushroom and smoked butter’. Coddling is an old method of cooking eggs, seldom seen nowadays. Essentially it means barely cooking the eggs, either by steaming them or placing them in a special egg coddling pot.
In a bid to keep reliving the wonderful evening I spent in Dabbous, I have recreated the recipe.
The results, I must say, are pretty good. Texturally, mine is a little different to Dabbous‘, but I think the taste is pretty bang on.
Eggs are one of my favourite ingredients. As is, now I think about it, butter. Barely cooked, luxurious silky eggs stirred through with an absolutely filthy amount of butter, together with deep, earthy mushroom and a warm edge of smoke. Texturally…almost obscene.
Served with some toasted farmhouse bread (please, no more butter), this is just the best brunch, lunch, dinner, breakfast, etcetera etcetera, dish. Seriously though – you can eat this whenever – as a brunch or as a dinner starter.
If you want to listen to this recipe too you can do – it features in the weekly food radio show I present for! See the link at the bottom of this page.
I won’t duplicate my review here but, let’s just say that I loved it. Read the full spiel here.
Their signature dish is a beautiful ‘coddled hen’s egg with woodland mushroom and smoked butter’. Coddling is an old method of cooking eggs, seldom seen nowadays. Essentially it means barely cooking the eggs, either by steaming them or placing them in a special egg coddling pot.
In a bid to keep reliving the wonderful evening I spent in Dabbous, I have recreated the recipe.
The results, I must say, are pretty good. Texturally, mine is a little different to Dabbous‘, but I think the taste is pretty bang on.
Eggs are one of my favourite ingredients. As is, now I think about it, butter. Barely cooked, luxurious silky eggs stirred through with an absolutely filthy amount of butter, together with deep, earthy mushroom and a warm edge of smoke. Texturally…almost obscene.
Served with some toasted farmhouse bread (please, no more butter), this is just the best brunch, lunch, dinner, breakfast, etcetera etcetera, dish. Seriously though – you can eat this whenever – as a brunch or as a dinner starter.
If you want to listen to this recipe too you can do – it features in the weekly food radio show I present for! See the link at the bottom of this page.
Recipe
Ingredients (Serves 3):
250g butter
300g mushrooms, mixed types if you can – e.g. chestnut, trompette, chanterelles, etc. – finely diced
4 eggs (AND their shells)
Lemon juice, a squeeze of
Smoked salt (optional)
Normal salt
Bread, to accompany, if desired
Ingredients (Serves 3):
250g butter
300g mushrooms, mixed types if you can – e.g. chestnut, trompette, chanterelles, etc. – finely diced
4 eggs (AND their shells)
Lemon juice, a squeeze of
Smoked salt (optional)
Normal salt
Bread, to accompany, if desired
Method
1. To prep the egg shells (for serving); the easiest way of doing this is with an egg cutter. One of these devices will perfectly remove the top of the egg without breaking the rest. If you don’t have one, no problem. Take a sharp knife and gently tap around the top of the egg about 1cm below the summit, to remove the top of the egg. Collect the egg yolk and white in a separate bowl. Gently snap off any jagged bits, to leave as smooth an edge as possible. Wash out the inside of the egg shells with some water and keep until needed later. Do this for all the eggs needed – one per person.
2. Next prep the mushrooms. Melt about 60g of the butter in a pan and then saute the mushrooms on medium heat for about 6 minutes until they are cooked through. They’ll release a load of water as they cook and then soak it back up. Season the mushrooms with a pinch of normal salt and with a squeeze of lemon. Leave until later and reheat just before, if required.
3. Now for the eggs. Gently break up all your eggs in a bowl with a fork – don’t over whisk them. Then melt all the rest of your butter (yes, all the rest) in a frying pan. Turn the heat all the way down low. Tip in the eggs and stir them into the butter. Now, cook the eggs and butter on the very lowest heat possible, gently moving the eggs about with a spoon occasionally. Try to make this stage take as long as possible. When the eggs are barely set, and still runny, immediately take them off the heat. They should be on the very edge of being undercooked – and remember, they will continue to cook even when you take them off the heat. Season with a little of the smoked salt and stir through a heaped tablespoon of the mushroom.
4. Spoon a little bit of the mushrooms into the bottom of the empty egg shells. Next the coddled egg, then some more mushroom, and then more coddled egg. Serve with toasted bread, or by itself.
You’ll have absolutely loads left over that won’t fit in the egg shells, but have that on the side to top up!
1. To prep the egg shells (for serving); the easiest way of doing this is with an egg cutter. One of these devices will perfectly remove the top of the egg without breaking the rest. If you don’t have one, no problem. Take a sharp knife and gently tap around the top of the egg about 1cm below the summit, to remove the top of the egg. Collect the egg yolk and white in a separate bowl. Gently snap off any jagged bits, to leave as smooth an edge as possible. Wash out the inside of the egg shells with some water and keep until needed later. Do this for all the eggs needed – one per person.
2. Next prep the mushrooms. Melt about 60g of the butter in a pan and then saute the mushrooms on medium heat for about 6 minutes until they are cooked through. They’ll release a load of water as they cook and then soak it back up. Season the mushrooms with a pinch of normal salt and with a squeeze of lemon. Leave until later and reheat just before, if required.
3. Now for the eggs. Gently break up all your eggs in a bowl with a fork – don’t over whisk them. Then melt all the rest of your butter (yes, all the rest) in a frying pan. Turn the heat all the way down low. Tip in the eggs and stir them into the butter. Now, cook the eggs and butter on the very lowest heat possible, gently moving the eggs about with a spoon occasionally. Try to make this stage take as long as possible. When the eggs are barely set, and still runny, immediately take them off the heat. They should be on the very edge of being undercooked – and remember, they will continue to cook even when you take them off the heat. Season with a little of the smoked salt and stir through a heaped tablespoon of the mushroom.
4. Spoon a little bit of the mushrooms into the bottom of the empty egg shells. Next the coddled egg, then some more mushroom, and then more coddled egg. Serve with toasted bread, or by itself.
You’ll have absolutely loads left over that won’t fit in the egg shells, but have that on the side to top up!
Listen to the show here:
I interview Ollie Dabbous then cook this lovely recipe!
http://www.mixcloud.com/InGoodTaste/ingoodtaste-ollie-dabbous-rock-star-chef/
I interview Ollie Dabbous then cook this lovely recipe!
http://www.mixcloud.com/InGoodTaste/ingoodtaste-ollie-dabbous-rock-star-chef/
