Poached Eggs with Shiitake Mushrooms, Wilted Arugula and White Truffle Cream
In my quest to find the “best” recipes, I’ve been so fortunate to discover incredibly talented professional and home chefs and bloggers. And many of them have been so willing to share their recipes and techniques with me and the readers of this site. Chef Viviane Banquet Farre is even more generous then most. Whenever I visit her website I am captivated with the mouth-watering photos and elegant combination of ingredients. Everything is beautiful and flavorful. Even the design of the website is inspirational and will remind you of the finest gourmet magazines.
As a big fan of brunch, I swooned when I saw this refined vegetarian “eggs benedict style” dish on Viviane’s website. Fortunately for me (and you) Viviane continues to be gracious and sharing so I didn’t even have to beg to add it here as one of the “best” recipes for an elegant sunday morning brunch. Thank you V!
Serves 4
For the white truffle cream
- 3/4 cup vegetable stock
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 1 TBSP La Tartufata or white truffle cream
For the balance of the ingredients
- 1 TBSP unsalted butter
- 4 large shiitake mushrooms – stemmed
- 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 3 oz baby arugula
- 4 large eggs
- sea salt to taste
- freshly ground pepper to taste
- 3 TBSP white wine vinegar
- 4 – 1/2” thick slices whole grain or sourdough country bread – cut into 3” rounds with a cookie cutter
Step 1:
Place the stock, cream and salt in a medium saucepan. Stir well and heat over medium-high heat. Once the mixture reaches boiling point, reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 15 minutes until the mixt
ure has reduced by 2/3rds and has slightly thickened. Remove from heat, whisk in the Tartufata/white truffle cream until well blended. Transfer to a bowl, set aside and cool.
ure has reduced by 2/3rds and has slightly thickened. Remove from heat, whisk in the Tartufata/white truffle cream until well blended. Transfer to a bowl, set aside and cool.
Cooks note: The sauce can be made up to one day ahead and refrigerated (after one day, the truffle cream starts losing its flavor.) Bring to room temperature before serving. The sauce doesn’t need to be reheated before serving.
Step 2:
Heat a large non-stick skillet over high heat. Add the butter. Once the butter has melted, reduce heat to medium-high and add the mushrooms gill-side down. Saute’ for 2 to 3 minutes until golden-brown while applying a little pressure to the mushrooms with a fork or small spatula as they cook (this is ensure even browning.) Flip the mushrooms and saute’ until golden-brown on the other side, continuing to apply a little pressure. Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper to taste.
Step 3:
Return the pan to the heat. Add the olive oil and the arugula. Toss well and quickly toss the arugula for about 30 seconds to 1 minute until barely wilted. Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
Step 4:
Fill a wide saucepan with 4” of water. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir in the vinegar. Break an egg into a small bowl and tip it on itself into the boiling water. Repeat with the balance of the eggs, working as quickly as you can. Boil the eggs for 1 1/2 minutes to 2 minutes, depending on how done you like your eggs (at 1 1 /2 minutes, the whites of the eggs will still be a big wobbly. At 2 minutes, the whites will be more firm, but the yolks will still be runny.) As soon as the eggs are done, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels (can can trim the uneven edges of the eggs to make a cleaner shape if you’d like.)
Step 5:
To assemble the dish – quickly toast the bread under a broiler until golden brown on both sides. Place each slice in the center of the plate. Top with a spoonful of the wilted arugula, a mushroom cap (gill-side up) and a poached egg. Drizzle the white truffle cream on top of the eggs and around the plates. Sprinkle with plenty of freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately.
