Recipe: Easy-Approach to Eggs Sardou

I’m not a fan of ordinary: not in music, not in art, not in ideas, and certainly not in food. Life’s too short for bland.

Perhaps that’s why I favor the extraordinary flavor of Eggs Sardou.

With its creation credited to the long-standing Antoine’s Restaurant, which holds the distinction of being the oldest family-run restaurant in the United States (serving New Orleans restaurant-goers since 1840), Eggs Sardou is a fine, somewhat seductive example of French-Creole cuisine.

Currently featured on Antoine’s Sunday “Jazz” Brunch menu as Oeufs Sardou (selling for $17.25), I can assure you recreating this delightful dish at home is easier than you might think and makes a sophisticated addition to any breakfast, brunch, or atypical dinner.

The following recipe is an adaptation of Eggs Sardou, which, as described by Sharon Tyler Herbst in her book The New Food Lover’s Companion, traditionally features poached eggs layered with artichoke hearts, ham, anchovies, truffles and Hollandaise sauce.

Popular variations include this recipe, inspired by The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook (circa 1999), in which the ham, anchovies and truffles are omitted in favor of creamed spinach, thereby becoming more of a cross between Eggs Sardou & Eggs Florentine.

Traditional or crossed, serving Eggs Sardou is anything but ordinary.

I hope you’ll try this easy-approach version at home. If you find it as appealing as I do, it won’t be long before you’re experimenting with the more traditional version of this dish as well.

Easy-Approach Variation of Eggs Sardou

(inspired by Antoine’s Restaurant and The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook, 1999)

• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 teaspoons butter, melted
• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
• 1 (8 ounce) carton sour cream
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1 can artichoke bottoms (approximately 12-14 per can), drained
• 12 poached eggs, kept warm until use (for more info on how to poach eggs, click here)
• Hollandaise sauce (homemade or packaged, click here for more info)
• Paprika

To Prepare the Creamed Spinach Base

Melt butter in large, deep skillet. Add green onions and garlic, saute until fragrant, not browned. Stir in spinach plus next 6 ingredients. Cook over low heat until heated through, taking care not to boil.

To Prepare the Artichoke Hearts

Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper and place artichoke hearts, bottoms down, on baking pan. Bake in a 325 degree F oven until heated through, approximately 12 minutes. Cover & keep warm.

To Serve

Serve Eggs Sardou warm in a medium-sized casserole dish, on a serving plate, or in individually-plated portions.

Using a slotted spoon, spoon creamed spinach mixture (draining if necessary) onto serving plate/dish. Top with artichoke bottoms. Arrange poached egg atop each artichoke bottom, allowing 2-3 artichoke bottoms/poached eggs per serving. Spoon Hollandaise sauce over each egg. Sprinkle with paprika.

Serve immediately.

Yields approximately 4-6 servings.

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Tagged as: Antoine's Sunday Brunch, Eggs Sardou, Eggs Sardou recipe, French-Creole recipes