Is it just me, or is there a confessional aspect to these French Fridays posts? Not the life-alteringly shocking kind, of course. More in the vein of True Food Confessions. That isn’t a reality television show yet, is it? Anyway, I find myself regularly revealing my food…quirks…in these posts.
You might have noticed in the photo at the top of this page that the eggs in this salad aren’t quite what Dorie had in mind. She describes the soft-boiled eggs called for in the recipe as having “a yolk that’s runny enough to become a second sauce.” This is where the confession part comes in – I’ve never been able to tolerate an even remotely runny yolk. When I was a little girl, my Grandmother used to say in exasperation, her Northern Irish accent in full force, “Oh that one, she likes her eggs hard as the hammers of Hell.” It took me some time to stop ordering them that way in restaurants. Okay, I still do sometimes.
It’s not that I won’t make eggs with runny yolks – I’m a great believer in making sure everyone gets their eggs the way they like them, not even entirely because I’m trying to build some reciprocity. Had I been eating with anyone who liked their eggs that way, you might never have seen this particular confession, but my partner is not a fan of runny yolks, either. That might be my fault, though I’d prefer to characterize it as influence.
Once the matter of the yolks is set aside, I loved everything about this salad – greens and asparagus spears dressed in a Dijon-walnut oil vinaigrette, the aforementioned eggs re-warmed in bacon fat and broken open (or in my version sliced) over top, with crisp bacon and toasted walnuts to finish it. With so many textures and flavours working together in this salad, I don’t think it suffered at all from missing its second sauce.
You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Bacon, Egg and Asparagus Salad
One Wet Foot 
Your salad looks great! And if you never tried the soft yolks – you can’t miss anything! It’s perfect the way it is. 🙂
Thanks, Allison! I was thinking this would be a perfect brunch dish, with made-t0-order eggs. That way someone would be sure to have it the way Dorie intended.
Your salad looks wonderful! I really enjoyed this salad…including the runny yolks! I am sure this salad will be on our table all summer long. Nice post!
It really does have a summery feel to it, doesn’t it? I’m glad you enjoyed it as it was meant to be!
Beautiful salad! I had to laugh about your grandma’s comment about how you like your eggs. Too cute! And I have to agree. There is a certain confessional quality to the FFwD posts. 🙂
Yes, my grandmother was famous for saying things like that. 🙂
I’m glad someone else is feeling the confessional quality, too!
Your salad looks lovely! And I love the backstory on your egg preferences 🙂
Thanks, it was really good – I made extra eggs, bacon and dressing, so am going to attempt a leftover version today.
I love telling that story – I’ve never heard anyone else use that phrase.
Nope – I am right with you on the runny yollk. The only way I like them is with toast – and that’s it…
But, despite that one little twist, this was a very lovely salad. So springy.
At least you tried them the way they were meant to be – I was not able to do it.
I loved this salad – it’s an anticipation of all the summer salads to come!
I love it when you ask for your eggs to be “hard as the hammers of hell”!
That’s right – you’ve actually witnessed me doing this!
Your salad looks delicious, even without runny yolks. I like the confessional food quirk aspect of the FFwD posts. It’s inspiring that we’ve all learned that Dorie’s recipes are easy to tailor for personal preferences.
Thanks, Betsy! I love reading about everyone’s quirks and especially the memories some of the recipes have evoked for people. I especially love all the variations members have come up with – Dorie’s recipes really are versatile enough to deal with preferences, allergies and pantry contents.
I’ve read several grandma memories in these posts…including mine. Must be something in the air. Yours made me laugh…thanks…laughing is always good. Your salad is beautiful and your pics are always great. I’m with you on those egg yolks. Never gave it a second thought. My family was just proud of me that I did not cook them so long that they turned green, which is how I like them…cooked to death. Anyway, always enjoy what you have to say.
Great photos. Your salad looks yummy. My six year old would love your salad, too.
Yes, there is definitely a confessional aspect. It seems you and I weren’t the only ones who didn’t care for runny yolks. P.S. Thanks for catching my spelling error! I don’t want people to think I’m doing shady things in my kitchen. LOL. Your salad looks great. Hard boiled is definitely the way to go!
Teresa you crack me up! Egg yolk issues aside, this is one amazing salad with or without the runny yolk. I realized that I am in the runny yolk camp through this post and I don’t know what that is really saying about me??? I wonder if it has anything to do with my Astrological sign or the color of my eyes, there probably hasn’t been much research done on this…..I’m glad you enjoyed the salad, we did too, especially that runny egg, lol!
No shame in the egg preference! I’m sure it tasted great! It made me laugh that you order them that way to this day. The stuff we keep from childhood! It makes me nervous for my kids!
I love the idea of a food confessions reality show! I love runny eggs, but wasn’t a fan of this salad. Ate it all, but won’t make again.
Your salad looks lovely!
Teresa – Thank you for your kind comments. It’s funny how so many FFwD members have commented on the runny yolks 😉 I didn’t really find that the yolk contributed that much to the salad, so I’m sure your hard-as-hammers-boiled eggs were lovely!
This recipe is delicious no matter how you boil up your egg. Great picture.
You did a great job with this challenge. I’m relatively new to your blog and while I don’t often comment, I always enjoy my visits here. You’ve created a lovely spot for your readers to enjoy. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
I always love to read stories about food as you have written. I’m firm believer to make the dish your own! Looks great!
This morning I woke up realizing that this salad is probably the best approximation the French have to a Cobb salad… or would it be the other way around? Regardless, I’m sure the fully cooked egg was still a great offset to the asparagus and bacon.
I just have to remember that phrase: “Hard as a the hammers from Hell!” I actually prefer runny yolks, but so many don’t. I am sure the salad is just as delicious with a hard boiled egg. Your salad looks beautiful!
You are “spot on” about the confessional aspect. I had never realized goat cheese drew such a line in the sand until we used that one for a recipe a while back. The runny yolk club similarly has no partial members. Nana is a card carrying member and I am not interested in joining 🙂 I will be making this one for my runny yolk loving guys this weekend but for myself – it will be eggs harder than the hammers of hell. My – I can’t thank you enough for that phrase – it is hilarious !!!
Your salad looks great even if the yolks aren’t runny :). Lots of division with the FFWDers on the yolk issue!
No runny egg? Oh man, that is the best part:-) It still looks gorgeous, and well of course delicious!
I love when posts include personal stories! I’m sure at some random time in the future i’ll be using that quote “hard as the hammers of Hell” – great!
I hope I never get to experience the hammers of Hell, but yes, your eggs are my kind of eggs. I didn’t mind missing the second sauce either! That’s my True Food Confession for today ;-).
I think this salad would have been lovely, however the egg was cooked. I lost a good part of my yolk because I broke the egg when shelling it, but it was still fab. Good for you for standing up for your tastes!
It’s been fun to see who likes their eggs runny and who likes them “hard as the hammers of hell”. At least eggs are very easy adapt to preference. Reading all these posts has made me want to make this salad again soon!