I had the chance to visit Istanbul, with my mother, last weekend. Unfortunately, it rained for 3 days. This takes nothing away to the charm of the city, but we needed to take shelter on a regular basis. So we eyed the stalls of the covered bazaar of spices to my delight. And for the colds that were attacking us we found a sure cure: hammam and a lentil soup.

On the way back I wanted to redo a lentil soup, we had long red lentils, so I tried the alloy lentil-coconut milk which I had often heard. It was far from the Istanbul lentil soup but still really good. But I was disappointed that the color of lentils changes with cooking.

I was looking for a way to use saffron we got from the bazaar and I came across a Madame Figaro article in which a Spanish chef explained his technique of using this precious spice. So I added boiled egg with saffron mouillettes in my daily menu to test my new Iranian saffron. (One must differentiate the Turkish saffron that costs nothing and can be used to color or decorate a dish of saffron from Iran which is very expensive but has a unique flavor).
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Lentil soup with coconut milk

Prep: 10mins
Cooking: 15mins

Serves 6 people

- 300grams of red lentils
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 75cl water
- 1 large onion
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (or powdered)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- salt, pepper
- 20cl coconut milk
- juice of 1 lime

Peel and chop the onion. In a large saucepan, Heat one tablespoon olive oil. Add onions and sauté over high heat 3/4mn.

Rinse lentils. Boil water 75cl.

Pour the rinsed lentils into the pan and then boiling water. Add spices, stir and cook 15 minutes over high heat, turning occasionally so that it does not catch.

When lentils are cooked, pass them in a blender until a smooth. Add coconut milk and lime juice. Mix. Add salt (go frank) and pepper. Add a little water if the soup is too thick. Let stand for 30 minutes to release all the aromas of spices.

Heat in saucepan or microwave before serving.
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Boiled eggs, mouillettes saffron

Prep: 10mins
Cooking: 8 + 4mins

Serves 2 people

- 2 egg shell (fresh)
- 2 Poilane bread (or country)
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads from Iran
- 3 tablespoons water
- sea ​​salt

Prepare the saffron juice: Place saffron pistils in the bottom of a bowl. Place the bowl 30 seconds in the microwave on full power to dry the saffron. Then reduce the saffron powder, with the back of a spoon. Pour over 3 tablespoons boiling water. Leave the saffron flavor the water a few minutes.

Heat the grill. Cut the slices of bread into mouillettes 1 cm wide. Soak each mouillette with saffron juice and place them on the oven rack. When the grill is hot, bake the grid with blotters at the top of the oven. Grill 5 minutes and then take out the grid. Return mouillettes, sprinkle with fleur de sel. Then place back under the grill for 3 minutes before serving.

Boil a pan of water. When the water boils, Gently fresh eggs at the bottom of the pan with a spoon. Let the eggs cook for exactly 4 minutes . After 4 minutes, remove from heat and pass each egg under cold water to stop cooking.

Serve boiled eggs in cups with saffron bread mouillettes right out of the oven.

Saffron juice is a simple way to use saffron to flavor a dish.