I created this recipe in honor of my friend Renee, when she was in the early stages of fighting leukemia. I had just started my recipe blog at that time. The photographs of my food were nice to look at, but I was struggling with my writing skills. It was one year since I was on chemotherapy at that time and my mind was still a little bit torn up from the heavy medical treatment. Renee first started sending me nice comments about my food. She like looking at the food photographs, because it helped her to gain an appetite. Nausea from chemotherapy was something I could relate to and it does take some psyching up, just to eat some food, while on radioactive medicine. I really wanted to create an entree with a modern pretty presentation for my friend Renee. This Shirred Egg and Sole Flower recipe creation turned out nice enough to be named in honor of Renee. Renee liked the dedication and then she sent me a request for a sushi recipe. Sushi was her favorite meal. She said sushi pictures made her hungry, so I was obliged to post a sushi recipe. I had only made sushi once in my life up till that point in time, but I gave it my best shot. Renee really liked the simple sticky rice sushi article! Renee and I shared a lot of photographs. I was doing some horse racing photography at that time and Renee was a professional Equestrian Events rider. She liked my horse racing photos. She sent me a link to a narrative poetic movie about her horse named Vinnie, who had passed away. I was moved by how deep her poetry read in that tribute to her horse. Renee was once a person that was full of life, love and understanding. I became very good friends with Renee and our friendship went on through late 2011. We both wrote poetry at the same web site and we collaborated on a few poetic works. Renee was a very talented poet and her poetry is read worldwide. Renee wrote great works of lesbian poetry, love poetry and she also wrote dark poetry that expressed the difficulties of cancer and chemotherapy. I liked Renee and I cared enough to be a good friend, while she was going through the most tragic of circumstances. Towards the end of 2011 Renee was very spunky and full of life. I really had hope that she was going to beat leukemia. In September 2011, I got a message from Renee's caregiver. Renee had slipped into a blood sugar coma that was related to the latest round of chemotherapy. Renee was on life support for more than a week. I was very sad about my friend Renee's condition at that time and it still brings a tear to my eye.
Renee miraculously came out of her coma, but she had the mind of a child. Her caregiver did the best that she could. In her sleep, Renee painlessly passed away. Renee is truly missed by many people and her great poetry lives on. Even though deep inside you know that a friendship will have a tragic ending, it is better to let that friendship happen. A person who has leukemia needs all the friends that they can get. Renee and I never met in person, but our friendship and trust were strong. Renee was a great inspiration in my life and everyone she touched.
I have edited and rewritten this recipe many times. I have posted and reposted this recipe a few times. It seems like when I think of Renee, I keep the memory alive in this article. This time the article was rewritten in past tense, but the feeling was just like I heard from her yesterday. This time it was easier to remember the good times, without dwelling on the sadness.
I hope this article inspires some readers to support a cure for leukemia. I hope this article helps to inspire not letting fear stand in the way of beginning a good friendship with someone in need, during tragic circumstances.
Phyllo Flower Shell Recipe: Cut 8 or 9 phyllo dough sheets into 6" squares. About 8 or 9 squares is enough to make the flower shaped shell. Carefully brush both sides of each phyllo square with melted unsalted butter. Drape each buttered phyllo square over a 2 1/2" to 3" tall steel ring mold, that is placed on a baking pan. (A tiny empty chopped olive can be used as the mold.) When draping the squares of phyllo over the ring mold, try not to line up the edges of the sheets, so there is plenty of flower petal leaves! Bake the upside down phyllo flower cup in a 350 degree oven, till the phyllo pastry turns golden brown in color. Remove the pan from the oven. Allow the phyllo flower cup to completely cool. Do not disturb the upside down phyllo flower cup, till later in the recipe assembly. Set the pastry where it will not be bumped or damaged. The delicate phyllo pastry can easily broken or damaged.
Dill Creme Potato Recipe: Boil 1 peeled russet potato in water over high heat, till the potato becomes soft and tender. Drain the water off of the potato. Leave the potato in the pot off of the heat. Add 2 tablespoons of cream. Add 2 pats of unsalted butter. Add 1/2 tablespoon of chopped fresh dill weed. Add sea salt and white pepper. Mash and whisk the potato mixture, till it becomes very smooth, thick and creamy. Spoon the dill creme potato into a star tipped pastry bag. Keep it warm on a stove top.
Paprika Gruyere Creme Sauce Recipe: Place 1/2 cup of cream into a small sauce pot over medium heat. Add sea salt and cracked black pepper. Add 2 teaspoons of paprika. Reduce the cream, till it becomes a thin sauce consistency. Add 1 tablespoon of grated gruyere cheese, while stirring with a whisk. Stir till the sauce becomes smooth. Keep the sauce warm over very low heat.
Add a small splash of cream, if the sauce becomes to thick.
Shirred Egg and Sole Recipe: Cut a small sole filet lengthwise into a 1 1/2" to 2" wide strip. Select a ring mold that is the same width as the center of the phyllo flower pastry cup. Place the ring mold on a non stick saute pan. Brush the ring mold and pan with melted unsalted butter. Trim the filet of sole strip, so it can fit into the ring mold. The sole should stand vertically inside the ring mold and it should be pressed against the ring mold. (After baking, the sole will retain its circular shape.) Separate the white and yolk of 1 egg into separate bowl. (Do not damage the egg yolk!) Whisk the egg white till it becomes foamy. Place the non stick pan with the sole in the ring mold over medium/medium low heat. After the pan becomes hot and the sole begins to cook, place a couple small spoonfuls of the whisked egg white into the ring mold to seal the bottom edge. After a few seconds the small amount of egg white will seal the ring mold like a cup! Pour the remaining whisked egg white into the ring mold. Carefully slide the whole egg yolk into the ring mold on the egg white. Drizzle a little bit of melted unsalted butter over the egg and sole. Place the saute pan and ring mold into a 350 degree oven. Bake till the egg and sole become cooked al dente and so the yolk is still soft. (This only takes a few minutes to bake.)
Shirred Egg and Sole Flower a la Renee: Remove the saute pan with the sole shirred egg ring mold from the oven and set it aside. Use the pastry bag to pipe a 3 inch wide circle of the dill creme potato onto the center of a plate. The creme potato will be the base to set the phyllo pastry cup on. Carefully remove the phyllo flower cup from the from the ring shaped baking mold. Carefully set the baked phyllo dough flower cup on top of the dill creme potato base. Slide a thin cake spatula under the sole and shirred egg ring mold in the saute pan. Run a thin paring knife against the inside edge of the ring mold to loosen the shirred egg and sole. Carefully pull the ring mold up and remove the ring mold. Use the spatula and your fingers to move the shirred sole and egg over the center of the phyllo flower cup. Slide the shirred egg and sole into the center of the phyllo flower cup. Drizzle a little bit of the paprika gruyere creme sauce on the shirred egg and sole in the center of the phyllo flower cup. Spoon a little of the sauce on the plate around the pastry cup stack. Garnish the flower cup with scallion slivers. Garnish the plate with dill sprigs.
The sole and shirred egg has a very mild delicate flavor. The paprika gruyere creme sauce adds a very complimentary flavor to the ingredients on this entree. Dill creamy potato for breakfast is a refreshing break from greasy home fry style potatoes. The phyllo flower cup is impressively pretty!
I never cook a boring breakfast entree. Especially when the breakfast entree happens to be dedicated and named after my good friend Renee. She was and is a shining star in my life! ... Shawna
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