When my daughter is home in Denver, she always wants a “super-eggy” in the morning — which was my dad’s term for egg-in-a-basket or one-eyed-sailor or toad-in-a-hole or whatever your family used to call it. I make mine with a heart-shaped cookie cutter, using good white bread and a free-range egg, all fried in Irish butter on a hot griddle. It’s tasty.
The Emmabella on The Bindery’s brunch menu is named after Chef Linda’s own daughter, and it’s an indulgent version of the breakfast classic. Two precisely poached eggs nestled into crisp and flaky brioche slices spread with truffle butter. Perfect slices of duck prosciutto top a small grove of arugula, which adds a lovely saltiness to the dish.
I would eat a plate full of just the duck if I could.
When you first cut into your brioche, the egg starts running just enough to goop up the edge of the bread. And then you take your fork and spear a chunk, smearing it with yolk before layering on a sliver of duck and maybe an arugula leaf for a peppery finish. The key is to construct as many perfect bites as possible with each component of the dish, until all you have left on the plate is a dark yellow smear.
Between bites, you stop and savor the moment, sipping at a cappuccino or a bright bubbly. You look around at the ideally designed room, with its high ceilings and open kitchen, the talented staff buzzing around the place. Maybe you feel the geothermal heating coming up from the tiles and warming your feet.
It’s a complacent, content way to enjoy a weekend morning.
Comments