Poached Egg, Spicy Sausage and Grits with Porcini Mushroom and Wine Reduction - Daring Cooks

I love weekend meals. For the simple fact that you can make even a simple meal special with a little bit of thought and not a lot of elaboration! :) This last week has been a very packed one. With the weekend looking even busier, I woke up Saturday morning with thoughts of a simple, soul-touching meal.

Then I remembered that I had yet to make my Daring Cooks entry. Fortunately, it was one that I could tackle last minute and yet work into my plans for the day. Poaching eggs is tricky but doable and I had done it before. In fact, my last post included one.

Jenn and Jill have challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg. They chose Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.



My real challenge this time was to figure out how to take it to the next level. I have to say, I love hollandaise but I really had no plans for using up all those egg whites that making the sauce would generate. Besides, it didn't quite fit my easy but hearty lunch idea.

So, I fell back to one of my favorites; Grits! I mean, how much more soul can one want??! :D, especially with generous additions of goat cheese. To balance its creaminess, I layered spicy sausages and then topped it with a poached egg. To make it more fun, I made a porcini mushroom, wine and stock reduction that lent a smooth finish to the dish.

I love breaking the delicate white of a poached egg and watching the yolk gracefully oozing out onto the grits. And, of the flavors! of the creamy yolk with the lighter grits cut by the sharp spice of the sausage. It was the perfect lunch on a Saturday afternoon that was to be followed by much hectic chaos! :)