The Fancy (But So Easy) Egg Dish Geoffrey Zakarian Makes His Son

At the 2024 Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival, we got to catch up with celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian and asked him about his go-to-egg dish for breakfast or brunch at home with his family. What were his tips for making them? Zakarian graciously answered, "Myself, I eat two dozen eggs a week. My son probably eats three. ... He loves ham. Oeuf sur plat is ham, sliced Bayonne French ham, a lot of butter, cracked eggs, steam roasted." He went to further describe his son, saying, "He's very fancy. He loves it. He cleans the plate."

Who wouldn't want to clean this plate? It's fancy indeed as the oeuf sur plat (or oeuf au plat jambon) that Zakarian makes for his beloved son sounds exquisite. If you'd like to try this dish for yourself, here's what you can do: add slices of ham to a buttered or greased heatproof dish. Get the fancy kind if you can, like Bayonne French ham as Zakarian mentioned.

Crack eggs over the ham and add some butter and perhaps some cheese, mustard, or herbs. Then, steam roast the dish. Season the top with salt and ground black pepper and some minced chives. Then serve with some bread. The bread addition reminds us of Croque Madame, an iconic French ham and cheese sandwich with a runny egg on top, and it's also one of the egg dishes from France you should know about.

Let's get back to our conversation with Zakarian, who also revealed his son's love for avocado toast. Zakarian stated, "He loves poached eggs and avocado toast, which I make all the time for him, fresh." Delicious. If talking about this dish has got you craving it for yourself, try the sourdough avocado toast recipe by Tasting Table recipe developer Jennine Rye.

First, be sure to pre-crack an egg into a small bowl; avoid breaking the yolk. Then, boil water with a little white vinegar in it. Stir the water to create a small whirlpool before gently sliding the egg into the center of the whirlpool. You want to cook the egg for just 3 minutes, right until all the white is set. Then, you can top your avocado toast with the egg. Spice lovers, feel free to drizzle chili crisp or sriracha over the egg, two ingredients that will surely enhance avocado toast.