327 Market

Every once in a while the sunny-side-up eggs I routinely cook turn out perfectly. Its like a perfect cosmic alignment. The skillet is hot enough (but not so hot that the butter smokes), the eggs are fresh (yeah Aptos!) and the timing is perfect. As with sex, an ill-timed flip or a premature removal is death.

This morning I had the patience to wait till the butter was bubbling, with a hint of browning. I had to stand, letting little drops of egg white fall, until it sounded just right. If the skillet isn't the correct temperature, then they will stick when you try to take them out (and then you have to scrub the skillet, and its a pain, cuz you can't use soap on it without destroying the seasoning that you have been working on for the past 2 years). Its zen, you must allow the skillet to give up the eggs without a fight. I covered the eggs, because the best things happen in the cover of darkness. The cover allows the mucous on the top to cook, by raising the air temperature. Runny eggs are evil and must be avoided at all costs. On the other hand, a liquid yolk is heavenly. So you must be vigilant-- cook the white enough, but not enough to solidify the yolk.

I opted for over easy this morning, because I was using the wok cover and it doesn't work as well as the stock pot cover. They slid off the clean skillet like quick silver onto my waiting plate. I topped them with a little mole.