This is the second time I’ve made this. The reality is that I think I like the idea better than the result, and individual parts better than the sum. This is a beautiful salad though, and it’s fun to make. This time, I decided to try Dorie’s method for the ruffly eggs – that was fun, and they turn out kind of cute. I think that would be an easy way to make “poached” eggs ahead of time for something else.
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| we had some red-leaf lettuce in the garden I used that along with some baby spinach to balance the flavors |
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| as noted, I decided to try the ruffly poached eggs my “poaching” cups provided an easy container to use to assemble the pouches |
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| ready to drop into the pan of simmering water I’m actually not sure if they are cute or creepy at this point… |
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| once cooked, the eggs are ready to do a little turn in the bacon grease |
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| the assembled salad as an indivicual portion (my picture of the platter didn’t turn out) |
So, here are my thoughts: the dressing needed to have a bit more punch – either more dijon, use only walnut oil (since I was using walnuts in the salad), or something. We liked it, because we like all of the flavors, but it really was missing something in the flavor department. Also, I think these eggs would really look great with a bit of a sauce or dressing with some color drizzled over – to show off the ruffles – they did get a bit lost on this salad, but it was a fun process to try.
Since this is the second time I’ve made this, and really had the same result, I’ll probably choose something different next time – to tweak each of the parts, since I like them all. (hmmmm… the next recipe in Dorie’s book – the deconstructed BLT – sounds pretty good … !)
dulceshome 
Your ruffly eggs actually look quite cute! Great post!
Thanks for posting a picture of the ruffly eggs in the 'before' stage. That's super helpful. I really liked the salad but had to play around with the dressing because I didn't have walnut oil. I ended up mixing grapeseed with a couple of drops of sesame oil. Sesame oil is strong and I thought it went surprisingly well.
Creepy eggs – ha, that's funny. Thank you for reminding me about that technique – I have never poached an egg before & it is good to know there are options, since we have to do it for the pot au feu (although The Dude claims to be a master egg poacher – maybe I should just let him take over… NAH) One the dressing side – I thought the right balance of salt & using additional spicy mustard brought the punch it needed.