Salmon-Wrapped Poached Eggs (Page 635)

RECIPE #1144

• Date: Friday, April 16, 2010 -- 7pm
• Location: Berkeley, CA
• Kitchen: Our Temporary California Home
• Dining Companion: Matty
• Recipe Rating: A-
  

I was in the mood for some brunch food for dinner last week, so I made this dish. I started by making the sauce. I whisked together sour cream, lemon juice, olive oil, fresh chives, fresh tarragon, salt, and pepper. Then I soaked slices of red onion in cold water. I poached some eggs, then assembled the dish. On the bottom I placed slices of toasted brioche. I sprinkled the brioche slices with salt and pepper, then topped them with arugula leaves, avocado slices sprinkled with lemon juice, the sliced red onion, and poached eggs wrapped in smoked salmon. I put a bit of sauce on top of each egg and served. This dish was super-tasty. The combination of flavors was fantastic and every ingredient contributed positively to the dish. Rather than seeming heavy, like many similar egg dishes, this dish felt rather light. I loved the salmon with the sauce and avocado, and the poached egg gave the dish some substance. Building this dish on a base of brioche really worked well -- I wouldn't recommend substituting any other bread. My special gentleman and I both enjoyed this dish. It made a nice dinner, and I look forward to making it again sometime for brunch!

The recipe is here.

And the shad roe drama continues... This morning I got an email response from a place in Virginia whose website claimed they ship shad roe. The content of the email:

Teena,

Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately shad roe season ended last week. We can notify you next year when shad roe will be available. The season is usually 3-4 weeks long

Discouraged, but not defeated, I called a fish market in Massachusetts that I discovered online yesterday. I talked to a very nice woman in the shipping department who told me that they could ship shad roe to California! I asked, "Do you have any today?" And she said, "I assume so, we have had some every day this week." So she took my order, promising delivery tomorrow. I was delighted when I hung up the phone. Finally, my shad roe problems had been solved! I was not delighted when my phone rang 5 minutes later -- the store, calling me back. I had ordered 3 pairs of shad roe, which was the quantity required for the recipe in The Book. The woman called me back to tell me that they had only gotten 2 pairs in today, and one had already sold. When she called her purveyor to find out if she could get me a couple more pairs, he told her that the one remaining pair of shad roe they had in the store was the last shad roe of the season!

"Do you still want it?" She asked me calmly.
I practically yelled into the phone, "Yes!! I really need it. Please send me that last pair!"
"Ok, as long as no one has purchased it while we have been on the phone, I will grab it and ship it to you."

I waited for a few minutes after she hung up to see if she would call back. It seemed inevitable at this point that it would be gone. But she never called. So I think tomorrow the FedEx man should come with a package of shad roe (and steamers, which I figured I would also order while I was at it -- I haven't been able to find those here either). And tomorrow night I will be making a third of a recipe of shad roe for dinner. I am eating tomorrow at Emilee and Brian's. So Em, Brian, Sam, and Chris will all be there to experience the shad roe with me. Now I just have my fingers crossed that there won't be some sort of shipping disaster!