Don Silvers

After cooking for nearly 65 years I came across a menu in a restaurant with a dish on it that made me say to myself, "You're not so smart, why didn't you think of this."

I have an extensive cookbook collection dating from the 1850's to current day and with all of those recipes as well as my ability to pair foods and put together menus based on what was available to me at the time, I had never put this obvious and delicious combination together. Even though I had probably made a couple of thousand egg benedicts in my life, it never occurred to me to change it from a meat dish to a vegetarian dish, but here it was. I had to try it.

It was half of an English muffin with a coating of butter on it then layered with tomatoes and heated for a moment. Next was a layer of caramelized onions followed by sliced avocado and then two perfectly beautiful poached eggs, the whites firm and the yolks runny with an absolute delicious hollandaise sauce over the eggs. The hollandaise sauce was also swirled on the plate so you could dip your eggs in it. It was a beautiful dish and so simple. I was quite bummed out that I hadn't thought of the dish myself......so enjoy!

Where was I? The L&M Restaurant at 2118 First Street in Livermore, CA 925 447-5535. The owner is a very nice Asian man named Chi.