the incredible edible egg (polenta and eggs)

subtitle: when i fell in love with the nytimes dining section

i still have the nytimes clipping of the article shoved into a binder with recipe tear outs. these days, i generally browse the nytimes online but there was a time when i had a job where the best part was the nytimes daily delivery. this was my first formal, regular introduction to the wednesday dining section.

you may have heard of such books as alone in the kitchen with an eggplant or what we eat when we eat alone, where the entire concept rests on some secretive meal that we each have to make when we're on our own. now, i have made this particular meal for others but i'm just not sure if it's appreciated as well in a group versus curling up alone in a couch corner after an exhausting day.

everyone's heard of putting a fried egg on top of almost anything as an added bonus to a dish. however, when i read this article, i never had. it sounded so good that i decided to go home and make it that very night. with that, i concocted my own comfort food. by that i mean that this is not something my parents ever made for me when i was younger (i have some of those too but that's a different story). this is something i independently discovered, and have made my own. granted, i did have to be of age enough so that i could appreciate an over easy egg and how the runny yolk seamlessly combines with just about any other flavor and adds a comforting richness to it. once i discovered this, there really was no stopping the endless combinations and possibilities. and each one tastes just as good as the last.

the recipe below is the first one i saw using this concept (polenta, eggs and dark leafy green) but now i put eggs over almost anything: various grains (rice, quinoa, pasta) and any vegetable (don't stop with dark leafy greens). it's the ultimate meal: quick, easy, affordable, tasty and comforting.


polenta, greens and eggs for 1 (adapted from melissa clark, nytimes)

• 1-2 eggs (depending on how hungry you are. sometimes i make 2 eggs just so that i can have the two yolks)
• polenta
• lots of grated parmesean cheese
• dark greens (my favorite is spinach but above you might be able to see that i used csa bok choy)
• garlic
• red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper
• chicken stock
• butter

• i usually make the greens first since they can sit for a little bit without any trouble. heat olive oil in a pan, add lots of minced garlic and greens. cook over high heat until wilted. stir in red pepper flakes.
  
• make the polenta: contrary to nytimes advice, i use quick cooking polenta (not quite instant but not the slow cook kind). bring 3 cups of chicken stock to a boil, reduce heat and add polenta, start whisking. once the polenta has started to thicken, stir in salt and pepper, parmesean cheese, and some butter. keep whisking until the polenta starts to pull away from the pot. cover to keep warm.
• fry eggs in some olive oil. the olive oil helps the whites get all crispy. the runny yolks are downright necessary, so sunny side up or over-easy are best.
• spoon polenta into a shallow bowl, top with greens and eggs. top with additional parmesean cheese.
  

julie & julia and a celebratory meal at takahachi

i finally read julie & julia sometime last winter, shortly after i had started my blog. the comparisons seemed obvious: she and her husband lived in a not-so-perfect apartment in long island city with a "challenging" kitchen, she had an unsatisfying corporate job, and learned to gain satisfaction through cooking.

the two on screen stories of julia child and julie powell finding their culinary paths are sweet and gratifying. i dragged two friends to a showing on opening day, purchased the tickets a couple of weeks in advance, and made them show up to the theater with plenty of time to spare (so we could get good seats!) it was all worth it. and i'm pretty sure we all cried at parts. if you like food at all, go see this movie. if you like julia child at all, go see this movie. if you've ever lived in new york or paris, go see this movie. and finally, if you don't qualify for any of the statements above, go see this movie.

i must say that i was relieved that i enjoyed the movie so much. i mean, who doesn't like julia child? and after such a good reading experience of julie's book, i was worried that the movie would come up short. but it didn't, which is why it deserved a celebratory dinner at one of my favorite restaurants: takahachi.


we started our meal with red miso duck (to julia!). i'm not much of a duck fan since i feel it's usually too fatty and gamy but this was the perfect occasion for it. it was good but the sauce was better: a thick rich and sweet miso. we continued with our always-ordered tried and true favorites: hamachi jalapeno and tako sunomono. the hamachi (yellowtail) slices were thick and fresh, and the sweetness of the fish went so well with the spicy, vinegary jalapeno topping. tako sunomono, also called tako su, is a vinegared salad of octopus, seaweed and cucumber slices. i have a total thing for vinegar which makes this dish so tasty to me; last supper component for sure.


we continued the meal with the amazing sushi special which consisted of three pieces of sushi: slightly seasoned tuna, briefly smoked salmon with avoacado and a smokey spicy mayo, and yellowtail with a spicy topping (more like habanero than jalapeno...) we rounded it all out with some salmon sashimi and a spicy scallop roll. i don't often go for the spicy rolls but the spicy scallop is a somewhat recent discovery for me. scallop is so smooth and sweet that again, so goes perfectly with the spiciness. even better, the spicy sauce was not overly mayo-ey here; just a slight layer of heat.

i absolutely consider takahachi one of the absolute best sushi places i've been to in manhattan (and i do my fair share of sushi eating). the prices are also totally reasonable for the high quality food that you'll find and eat.