I recently found myself yet again at one of my favorite Chicagoland haunts, Evanston’s Dixie Kitchen, which boasts some seriously tasty Southern and soul food. They have one breakfast dish I can’t resist: a variation of the Creole dish Eggs Sardou which uses fried green tomatoes instead of artichoke hearts. It’s so good and super doable at home, albeit a little more intense than some of my usual dishes. Read: usually super lazy times.
In this version, I decided to bake the tomatoes instead of frying them just to keep it lighter. In traditional Eggs Sardou, there’s creamed spinach and a hollandaise, but I wanted to simplify it, so I combined the two and made a spinach-tastic hollandaise!
You can really ease up on the workload by using a premade or packet-style hollandaise, too, but I already had some leftover homemade hollandaise available (recipe included below!).
Any excuse for yolk porn, amirite?
Ingredients
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- 3 green tomatoes
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup Italian-flavored panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 8-12 eggs
Instructions
- Melt the butter slowly in a small pot, without boiling it.
- Add egg yolks, lemon juice, and salt, into a blender.
- Blend the egg yolk mixture at a medium speed until it lightens in color, about 20-30 seconds.
- Once the yolks have lightened in color, turn the blender down to its lowest setting and drizzle in the hot melted butter slowly.
- Once emulsified and salted to your liking, fold in the spinach and let it wilt in the warm sauce.
- Store until needed in a warm spot and use within an hour.
- Pre-heat oven to 375F
- Cut tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices and dip each into an egg wash of two eggs, whisked.
- Dip each slice into breadcrumbs until lightly covered. Transfer to a parchment-covered cookie sheet.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until browned.
- Into a large saute pan or deep skillet, pour 2 inches of water and the vinegar. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat so that the surface of the water barely simmers.
- While swirling the water in a circle, break the eggs and gently slide them 1 at a time into the water.
- With a large spoon, lift the whites over the yolks. Repeat the lifting once or twice to completely enclose each yolk. Poach until the whites are set, 3 to 4 minutes. Poached eggs can be transferred to a bowl of warm water until ready to serve.
- When ready to serve, place an egg on top of a slice of tomato and top with hollandaise. Enjoy immediately!
Catherine Clark is a Chicago native sharing noteworthy things she sees and attempts to make in the world. She's a geek, cat lady, designer and editor by day, and noob chef by night.
