Moroccan poached eggs. Serves two.

• 1½ tsp whole cumin seeds
• virgin olive oil
• 4-6 shoots green onion, sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
• 4 large, ripe tomatoes, chopped, or one 400g can
• 1 cup stock or water
• 1½ tsp sugar
• 4 large eggs
• handful each of fresh continental parsley and chives, roughly chopped
• grilled ciabatta or sourdough, to serve

Heat a heavy skillet or sauté pan over medium flame, and dry roast the cumin seeds for a minute, until they’re beautifully fragrant. Add green onions and garlic, and sauté in olive oil until soft and beginning to brown. Add tomato, sugar and stock, and simmer for fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomato is beginning to break down and the mixture has thickened a little. Season. Make a few depressions in the surface of the tomato sauce, and break the eggs onto them. Poach for another few minutes, until eggs are done to your liking. You might need to add a little more stock, if things are in danger of burning. Top generously with parsley and chives, and serve with grilled bread and a drizzle of olive oil. Yum.

Edit: just remembered that this recipe is mostly inspired by a breakfast in Casa Moro: the second cookbook, by Sam & Sam Clark.

The food went down well. We made rice paper rolls,  baba ganoush, hummous and a carrot dip, served with with grilled Turkish bread and crudités.

Carrot and cumin dip

This dip is is fragrant, sweet, and smooth.

• 6 large carrots (about 750g)
• ½ cup virgin olive oil
• 4 large cloves garlic, or to taste, peeled
• 3 tsp whole cumin seeds, and extra to garnish

Peel and roughly chop the carrots, and steam or microwave, covered, until very soft (about ten minutes at 800W). Meanwhile, add garlic cloves and oil to a small skillet and fry over medium heat until fragrant. Add cumin to hot oil and cook for a further minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before adding contents to food processor. Add steamed carrot, and blend until smooth. Season well and garnish with a pinch of whole cumin. Serve warm with grilled bread.

Hummous with parsley

An easy improvisation on a familiar and delicious theme.

• 400g can of chickpeas, drained
• 1½ tbsp unhulled tahini
• handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• ½ cup virgin olive oil
• juice of one lime

Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until combined. Smooth or a little chunky – completely up to you. Season and serve with a drizzle of good olive oil and crudités.

Baba ganoush

• 2 medium aubergines/eggplant (about 1 kg)
• 1 tbsp unhulled tahini
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• ¼ cup virgin olive oil
• juice of one (juicy) lime

Grill or barbeque aubergines, whole, until skin is black, blistered and crisp, and the whole fruit is very soft. Carefully peel, discarding skin, and add flesh to food processor with remaining ingredients. Blend until combined, and season well. Serve warm with Turkish bread.

Tea eggs are super easy to make – as simple as boiling eggs, cracking the shells, and re-boiling them in a darkly-stained broth.

Chinese tea eggs

• ½ doz. free-range eggs
• 1 tbsp black tea leaves
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
• 1 tsp Chinese five-spice

Hard-boil eggs in a medium-sized saucepan. They should be ready five or six minutes after the water comes to the boil. Remove eggs from water and leave until cool enough to handle (or run them under cold water). Once you can touch the eggs, gently crack them all over by rolling on your benchtop or tapping with a teaspoon. Return the eggs to the saucepan of water, along with tea, soy, rice wine and five-spice powder. Simmer gently for half an hour, then allow to cool. Refrigerate eggs in the broth for at least 24 hours before serving.

Almond Pesto

• 1½ cups raw almond kernels
• 1 cup virgin olive oil
• 150g parmesan reggiano, chopped or grated
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• armful of fresh basil – I used a fairly even mix of Greek, Genovese and Thai.
• salt and course-milled black pepper to season

Wash and shake dry basil. Pluck leaves and add to a food processor with parmesan and half the oil, and process until just combined. Toast almonds until fragrant, then add to food processor. Sauté coarsely chopped garlic in remaining oil until just soft. Add oil and garlic to food processor and process until well mixed – you may need more oil to get sufficient smoothness. I like mine fairly chunky, although biting into a large piece of almost-raw garlic can ruin your date. Serve warm on grilled ciabatta, mixed with pasta for alla genovese, or store under oil in the refrigerator.

Buttermilk scones

Makes about eight medium sized scones.

• 2 cups plain flour
• 3 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 40g butter, cubed
• 1 cup buttermilk
• ¼ cup water
• jam and whipped cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Sift together flour, sugar and baking soda. Add butter, rubbing into mixture with fingertips until crumbly consistency. Add buttermilk and water, and stir until just combined. Spoon onto a greased tray. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until firm and just crisp on the outside. Serve with whipped Irish cream and strawberry jam.

I would have taken photos, but we ate them too quickly.