Another lesson from my Armenian cousins in California!
Won't you try some? It's delicious! No thank you!
In fact, my California cousin prepared Za'atar & Eggs for me every morning for breakfast, and every morning I refused to even try them, until the last morning.
Do you want a taste? No, I really don't, thank you. But she persisted, and now I'm a believer. Here's how you prepare this delicious, quick and easy, spicy taste treat -- great for hors d'oeuvres, though I'm still not so sure how much I like it for breakfast!
This is a dish that looks awful but tastes delicious, so perhaps the first time you serve it, you would want to serve the "za'atarized" eggs disguised as a sandwich. I took some pictures of the dish when I prepared it, but it did NOT look appetizing! One of the reasons it looks so bad is that I decided to be lazy and mash the eggs and za'atar in the Cuisinart. MISTAKE! All the white of the eggs disappeared and made the dish look like this (more like liverwurst than eggs).
If you want to try this recipe, start with still warm, freshly hardboiled eggs, peeled and mashed with a fork, or better yet, chopped with a knife so that the whites of the eggs do not disappear, add olive oil, a tablespoon of za'atar, and stir. Serve on bread or as a tasty side treat.
N.B. Za'atar is a spice usually made out of thyme, sesame seeds, sumac, and salt, although if you go to a Middle Eastern store, you'll find 3 different bags, one from Lebanon, one from Syria (more sour) and one from Jordan. There was discussion as to which was the best, but I finally decided to buy the bag of za'tar from Lebanon and to add toasted sesame seeds as it seemed to have fewer sesame seeds as compared to the za'atar from Syria or Jordan. You can make your own za'atar by combining 1/4 cup sumac with thyme, roasted sesame seeds, marjoram, oregano, and sea salt or kosher salt, but I recommend you try the already prepared variety in order to decide which combination of tastes you want to achieve.
Thanks for the idea. I love za'atar.
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My daughter brings me Zatar from Jordan, where she and her 3 kids live. She and her mother-in-law make it also with mint. We place great bread in olive oil, then zatar, and try not to eat everybody else's portion too. I will send her your blog address.
ReplyDeleteThey are coming to visit late in June for a month. Can't wait.
I am visiting Marash Girl and she treated me and my husband to Za'atar eggs for breakfast. It was delicious! Eggs are such a versatile food. An alternative to mashing or chopping the eggs is to use an egg slicer. First, cut the egg length-wise, but instead of dumping it in the plate, hold it together and rotate it in the slicer 90 degrees, then cut again. This way, you get nice little egg-white cubes and/or rectangles in the Za'atar dish.
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