Cheddar, Tomato and Poached Egg Sandwiches wtih Caper Sauce

Don't you love new recipe days???  It's so much fun to make an entire meal of new recipes!  That's what we did Saturday evening and we loved it!

Saturday was a busy day.  It started with Breakfast at the Brickyard.  One of our dear friends used to go every year with her husband.  Then, he died of cancer.  She invited us to attend with her and it's become an annual tradition.  Today's was particularly wonderful because I got to see two friends who I'd not seen for a LONG time.  Connie and I always play the over/under game at functions like this.  I grew up in Indy so consequently I know a lot of folks.  That and I'm so shy - NOT!  My number this morning was ten.  Right off the bat, I got four.  Then, it was announced that our new Congresswoman, Susan Brooks, was attending.  Cool. Hadn't seen Susan to congratulate her on her election so this was a good opportunity.  Turns out her district director was a gal I'd worked with almost thirty years ago.  And she was sitting next to Susan.  Karen and I'd just reconnected on Facebook.  Super double bonus!  Turns out I only got seven. But, it sure was fun to get those!

From the track, we ran a few errands.  Good Earth to get some essential oils to make non-toxic tub scrub, Artisano's for some Sicilian Lemon Balsamic, Nora Apothecary for George the cat's thyroid meds, a garden center for some tomato plants...  Then off to the office.  Oh, and at the garden center they had what were billed as vine-grown Indiana tomatoes.  Yeah.  Right.  Not this time of year.  Then, one of the other customers said how incredible they were.  I bought some.  Didn't have much hope but what the heck. 

We escaped the office about six and pretty much crawled home.  I had NO clue what I wanted to fix for dinner.  There'd been a recipe in Rachael Ray's magazine for radishes and cucumber that sounded good.  But, I didn't think we had a cucumber.  Radishes?  Fine.  A whole garden bed full of them.  Five different kinds.  And, I had the tomatoes.  So, I cut the end off one.  Tasted it.  EUREKA!  A real for sure ripe and wonderful tomato!!!  Then, Connie appeared at the top of the basement steps with a cucumber in hand.  Perfect.  We were in business.

About that time, Connie delivered my new favorite drink to me.  Spiced pear happiness.  He's going to have to blog about it for you all.  It's amazing.  Oh, and he used a new trick to get all of the juice out of the lemon - microwave it.  But, I'll not steal his thunder here. 

I pulled up imaging and looked for recipes I'd scanned in.  One in particular fit the bill - tomatoes stuffed with couscous and feta.  Then, I started in on the stack of cookbooks on the side of my desk.  A plethora of choices.  I narrowed it to four, then Connie narrowed it to two.  Along the way, he took out my favorite.  But, guess what?  Since I'm the chief cook, I'll put it on the menu for later this week.  LOL.  I settled on the sandwiches with tomato, cheddar, poached egg and an egg-yolk caper sauce.  Not only did it sound great, but it sounded like it wasn't loaded with fat and calories. 

What did we think?  The sandwiches were fabulous.  Everything we've had from this cookbook has been equally fabulous.  The cucumber and radish salad was super low fat and low calorie.  And, ok.  It really paled in comparison to my friend Christiane's cucumber salad.  You know, I could probably eat that two-three times a week.  And, I'm not a huge fan of cucumbers.  They're not something I crave ever.  But in that fantastic herb and feta salad, oh, my, goodness!  So, long story short, I'll make the sandwiches again.  But, probably not the salad.  Not unless it was kicked up a couple of notches...

Open-Faced Tomato, Cheddar and Poached Egg Sandwiches with Caper Vinaigrette

Ingredients

for the sandwiches:
1 garlic clove, crushed
6 - 1 1/2" thick slices sourdough bread
2 T olive oil
2 large tomatoes, sliced
6 oz cheddar , thinly sliced
6 large eggs

for the sauce:
1 large egg yolk
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 T orange juice
2 t Dijon mustard
2 T capers, drained, rinsed and dried
salt and pepper
6 T olive oil
1 T chopped fresh chives

Directions:
 In a small bowl, combine all of the dressing ingredients but the olive oil.  Set it aside.

In a small skillet, start water heating to poach the eggs.  Be sure to add a bit of vinegar to the water to help keep the egg whites together.  Add the eggs one at a time to the gently simmering water.  As they cook, spoon some of the cooking water over the eggs to assure that the whites fully cook. 

Rub the bread with the garlic clove the drizzle it with olive oil.  Either bake it for a few minutes at about 400 or broil it.  I chose to broil it since the cheese needed to be melted later anyway.  Once the bread is nicely browned (I used light English muffin halves,) remove it from the oven and top it with the sliced tomato and cheddar. 

Put the sandwiches under the broiler.  While they're broiling, whisk the olive oil into the sauce. 

Once the sandwiches are ready, remove them from the broiler and put them on plates.  Top with the poached eggs. 

Then, spoon some of the sauce around each.  Serve.

 

adapted from Wine Mondays