Dinner Party: The Morning After

Thanks to last night's dinner party, I had leftover really good cheese in the house. This is very rare and very exciting -- truly a gift from God. I had a little bit of each type left, but I really wanted to rip into the truffle-laced sottocenere.

There is a new restaurant on my Third Street, called Tasca. There's a lot to say about this place -- it's a small Mediterranean tapas place (immediately evident why I'd be in love with it), the decor is gorgeous, the proprietor and all the staff are warm and attentive, and they are in the middle of a stupid crisis because one person in the neighborhood is trying to prevent them from getting their wine license. But for now, I just want to mention one delicious dish: I first went there for breakfast, and swooned over the truffle egg toast. It starts with a thick toasty slice of brioche with a little indentation in its middle. In the indentation is a bit of cheese and a fresh fried egg. It is served with 2 spears of skinny asparagus, 2 spears of white asparagus. The intoxicating scent of truffle oil permeates the whole thing.

But today, I was eating at home. I wanted to recreate those flavors, using the sottocenere. The end result was fine -- the cheese melted very well, and baguette instead of brioche made an interesting texture constrast. But, with every bite that didn't have cheese, I was missing the truffle taste. You really need truffle oil to satisfy the intense desire for that taste. How are truffles so delicous?!

Fried Egg with Sottocenere

This recipe is made a lot simpler with a toaster oven.

2 slices baguette
extra-virgin olive oil
1 egg
3 thin slices sottocenere cheese
salt and pepper

Generously brush both sides of the bread with olive oil, and toast until edges are golden brown. Fry the egg in about 1 Tbs olive oil, on medium heat, until whites have cooked through. Place bread on a plate, top with the egg, and lay the cheese slices over the egg. Lightly salt and generously pepper the dish. Place plate into toaster oven, broil until cheese melts.



Or, just go to Tasca for breakfast: 8108 W. Third Street, just west of Crescent Heights.