I am not what you would call skilled with eggs...yet. Sure, I can scramble with the best of 'em, but when it comes to more advanced techniques like poaching or flipping to the perfect over-easy without breaking the yolk, I tend to flounder a bit. I had pretty much given up and decided I would stick to comfortably scrambling at home and heading to the diner next door for any other egg dish I may desire. But then last night I had a dinner interesting enough to renew my inspiration for preparing those trickier egg meals.
Let me backtrack. I went to dinner at Bocca di Bacco last night with some co-workers. I enjoyed the dinner, but must admit my favorite part was the warm and cozy atmosphere (exposed brick, rustic wooden tables, and likely-gay but oh-so-cute waiter walking around in a santa hat and super tight jeans) that felt perfect on a frigid NYC evening. We orderd an antipasti meat platter and a cheese plate (usually my fave, but I've had better) for the table, and then I had a ceasar salad to start. The salad was quite tasty, but hey, it's a ceasar salad, I'm sure I could find it elsewhere.
What I would be hard-pressed to find would be a replication of my entrée. The plate was lined with prosciutto, which was then topped with white asparagus and brown butter, and then - wait for it - a poached egg. Never before have I seen such a combination and loved slicing open the egg and allowing it to mix with the brown butter to create a unique sauce for the dish.
There are tons of wonderful Italian restaurants in New York City, and while this one was very good it didn't stand out overall. However, that one dish was enough to inspire my imagination and renew my drive to properly execute multiple egg preparations. Whoever happens to be the next dinner guest chez moi will be one eggs-tremely lucky person.
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