Bi-coastal no more!

Hilary and I are no longer separated by a continent. Now we share a kitchen, but that is no reason not to continue the adventure.

My latest food obsession is breakfast-related: sautéed leeks with eggs. This morning I sliced up a whole leek (bulb and some of the green part), locally grown of course, and threw it in a pan with some olive oil. The fragrance of cooking leeks, onion-y but greener, is intoxicating. Once the leeks softened and began to brown, I made two little nests in the middle and cracked 2 eggs into them. Then I turned the heat down to medium and threw a lid on the pan, leaving the eggs to poach in the leeks themselves.

I was inspired by a recipe in "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," writer Barbara Kingsolver's record of a year of eating only locally produced food on her farm in Appalachia. I like the simplicity of only using one pan, a practicality that underlines the elegance of the dish. Don't overcook the eggs! While the whites cook into the leeks around them and hold everything together, there is something satisfying about breaking the yolks with your fork, making a delicious and simple sauce.

Yum.