Radishes and eggs make me think of every event at Jewish temple with a spread of sliced, watery, generic radishes and hard-boiled eggs. Even at my Jewish day school, we often had hard-boiled eggs and radishes for lunch. So that flavor profile has really stuck with me, maybe even haunted me. This version treats everything with a little more care, for something that’s deeply satisfying. Poaching the radishes helps mellow their spicy bite and gives them an almost meaty tenderness. I’m a big supporter of soft-boiling eggs always, letting the jammy yolk be the center of richness. And finally, a few spoonfuls of roe add a perfect salty brine to balance it all out.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 pound red breakfast radishes, stems removed, halved or quartered depending on size
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock, store-bought or homemade
2 large eggs, boiled for 6 minutes and cooled
2 ounces smoked trout roe
Flaky sea salt, to garnish
Instructions:
Toss the radishes with the kosher salt in a large bowl. Set aside to “cure” for up to 1 hour at room temperature.
Bring the butter and stock to a simmer in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the radishes to the pan in a single even layer. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the radishes begin to turn translucent. Spoon the radishes from the pan onto a serving platter or into a large bowl.
Peel and quarter the soft-boiled eggs. Garnish with the quartered eggs and dollops of smoked trout roe. Finish with a sprinkle of flaky salt.
From Second Generation by Jeremy Salamon with Casey Elsass. Copyright © 2024 by Jeremy Salamon. Reprinted by permission of Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
