Avocado and Egg ‘Schmier’

Go anywhere for brunch in London or NYC, and you are bound to find avocado toast on the menu – a place is not hip unless it serves it (the hip-list also requires mismatched crockery, exposed brick walls and bearded baristas sporting extravagant tattoos). Some places serve their avocado toast with strawberry slices – admittedly a strange pairing, but somehow it really works. So, when I developed this recipe I thought why not make a strawberry ketchup?! It is definitely pushing the boat out, so if you would rather stay in the flavour safe zone I suggest you make my slightly more traditional ‘cheat’s ketchup’ from the ‘Tips’ section below.

FYI: in Luxembourgish, a ‘Schmier’ is a slice of bread topped with anything from cheese, ham to jams and sweet spreads.

You can watch me make this sandwich and ketchup here.

If you want the recipe in Luxembourgish, you can find it here.

This is a recipe from my book “Home Sweet Home – My Luxembourg”.

November 18, 2016

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Steps
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Make

Avocado and Egg ‘Schmier’

For the strawberry ketchup:
250g strawberries
1 shallot
60ml white wine vinegar
40g dark cane sugar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp powdered ginger
¼ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp powdered cumin
¼ tsp chili flakes (optional)

1 large ripe avocado or 2 small ones
juice of ½ lemon
4 slices of sourdough bread
olive oil, for brushing
2 eggs
salt and pepper

Prep: 50 mins + cooling – Serves 2 – Easy

Start by making the ketchup in advance:

Wash, trim and quarter the strawberries. Put into a small saucepan.

Peel and finely chop the shallot and add to the strawberries. Add all the remaining ketchup ingredients, stir and bring to the boil. Cook for 15 minutes until reduced and sticky.

Leave the ketchup to cool for 10 minutes, then blend into a purée with a hand blender. If you prefer a smooth ketchup without any pips, press the purée through a fine-mesh sieve or immediately transfer into a jam jar. Leave to cool completely, then refrigerate.

For the Schmier:

Peel, halve and destone the avocado. Cut into chunks, put into a bowl and roughly mash with a fork. Drizzle with a bit of lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Cover the surface with cling film, so that no air stays between the avocado and the cling film.

Cut a hole into two of the bread slices – you can use a cookie cutter, a serving ring or a glass to do so. Discard the bread discs. Brush all the bread slices on one side with olive oil.

Heat a frying pan and fry the bread slices without the hole oil-side-down for a few minutes until crispy. Put them onto two serving plates, crispy side down.

Fry the bread slices with the hole oil-side-down for a few minutes until crispy. Brush the exposed, non-oiled side with olive oil and flip in the pan so that they get fried on both sides. Crack an egg into each hole, cover the pan with a lid and cook for about 3 minutes until the egg is cooked through.

Meanwhile, spread some strawberry ketchup over the two bread slices and top with mashed avocado.

Once the egg is done, season with salt and pepper and put the bread slices on top of the mashed avocado.

Serve immediately.

TIP:
• The strawberry ketchup will keep in the fridge in a sealed jar for 2 months.

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