Poaching Eggs with Julia Child (a vegetarian dinner)
We had lots of produce and a need for something closer to the earth. Adam wasn’t thrilled once we sat down and he realized that we were doing a vegetarian meal but then again, he didn’t feel well and didn’t really eat much anyway.
Adam was working until 8 so we needed a small snack to tide us over. Someone brought home a camembert cheese and we restocked on crackers so we noshed a little on this yummy goodness.
I love roasting beets and mixing them up with some goat cheese, olive oil, pumpkin seeds, salt and pepper. We’ve talked about roasting beets by simply putting them into a Dutch oven-like pot (covered) in a 350 degree oven for about an hour. Let them cool a little bit and then use a paper towel to wipe off the skin. Slice or dice. No need to wash or peel before baking. I do cut off the leaves and the root. Not much beats a good beet. (See what I did there? I’m a comedic genius. No need to thank me.)
I had Zeke pick up some baby spinach to which I added some raspberries and sliced strawberries. I broke up some walnut pieces and made a vinaigrette of Dijon mustard, olive oil, champagne vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper. I wanted the dressing to be a little sweeter than normal because of the berries.
The main dish for dinner is one I’ve stolen from Donato: roasted asparagus with poached egg on top. He’s served it with a duck egg in the past but we only had chicken eggs and it was quite lovely. We’d never poached eggs before, so this was an experience. I’d poached eggs but it had been a while.
Zeke snapped the ends off the asparagus and I drizzled them with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
At the same time, I cut up a bunch of carrots into carrot sticks and tossed them with olive oil, salt, and pepper and added some fresh thyme leaves and peeled garlic cloves. These too went into the oven for 30ish minutes.
After I put a pot of water on the stove to bring to a simmer and added some vinegar, Rei got out their trusty Julia Child Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook to learn from the master herself the best way to poach eggs.
I cracked an egg one at a time into a saucer and poured them into the simmering water. Rei then worked to wrap the egg white over the egg yolk and left them to cook for 4 minutes. Rei then removed them one by one and put them into a cold water bath before draining and placing gently on top of the asparagus. They were perfectly cooked (if not attractive) and the yolks were runny yummy golden goodness. Yeah, they look a little like hockey pucks or really snotty tissues or something, but they were wonderfully cooked and nice and gooey. We need to perfect our presentation and visual aspect, but the flavor and technical was on point.
I reheated some leftover potato leek soup and added to the table of vegetarian goodness.
To recap:
— Beets with goat cheese, olive oil, salt, pepper, and toasted pumpkin seeds (I’ll be having leftovers for lunch)
— Baby spinach salad with raspberries, strawberries, walnuts and a honey-dijon vinaigrette.
— Baked carrots with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic cloves, thyme leaves
— Potato leek soup
— Roasted asparagus with poached eggs
Rei, how many plant-based items did we have last night? I count 14. Do you have anything to add to this?
I trust you know how to count, and am too lazy to count and double check you. Dinner last night was lovely; I really enjoyed the salads. There are some days where you’re just craving a nice salad, you know? Those are the days where our inner cows come out and we feel the need to graze on the back lawn but that’s not socially acceptable because it’s “gross” and “weird” and “just plain wrong, Rei, what the fuck do you think you’re doing” so you compensate by eating other plants that have been cut up and put in a bowl for you instead of dining al fresco like Nature intended…no? Just me?
I’m glad we didn’t have beef last night because that would have been awkward.
Anyways, moving on, I think we’ll need to work on our poached eggs a bit, and it’s my personal opinion that the carrots could have taken just a few more minutes in the oven. They were still lovely, I just prefer them a bit softer and mushier so I don’t have to chew as much because teeth are overrated and I think I misplaced a couple the last time I cleaned them. I’m not too worried, because I know I’ll find them eventually when they start to stink again, though. I think this sheltering-in-place is getting to Rei.
Speaking of, I think I have an idea of where they might be, so I’m gonna head out now. Until next time, ciao, and remember where you leave your teeth!
Rei and Terri+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
P.S. The beautiful flowers are courtesy of Sophia’s mom who sent them as a thank you for hosting her lovely daughter for an indefinite period of time. She ordered them through Farm Girl Flowers at my request…Farm Girl is women owned and operated and they try to ethically source all of their products. I split the bouquet into two arrangements…one is in Rei’s room and the other is on the table.
