I’ve done shad roe before on this blog here, but if you can find it fresh somewhere, buying a couple of lobes (two lobes per each female shad fish) during the season, which is ending about now, is worthwhile.  And I don’t mind serving it up again!

The watercress and the shad roe really, really complement each other!  And both are quintessentially SPRING!

This is a really simple and quick recipe, which I consider a breakfast recipe.  The lobes are typically sold as a pair — so this serves two, which for me, meant two consecutive breakfasts.

A shad roe lobe, raw. 

I do prefer to eat them for breakfast, but don’t let my preferences limit you.  They’d make a great item for dinner, perhaps with a side salad or a dish of oven (or grill) roasted veggies.  Or, f you find shad fillets, you could serve those on the side (note, they’ll be a bit on the bony side, but they still taste good).

They’re best not over cooked — perhaps served “medium rare” —  notice the inner creaminess of the roe in the photo.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time:  6 minutes
Rest time:   not needed
Serves:  1 lobe and one chicken egg per person.

 Shad Roe with Watercress and Chicken Egg

• 1 lobe of shad roe per person
• 1 chicken egg per person
• a handful of watercress per person, broken up into bite sized bits.
• a little cooking oil or butter (I used butter)
• salt and cracked pepper to taste

Separate lobes from each other gently.   You want to avoid rupturing the lobes before they are cooked.

Get the oil or butter hot in your skillet, about medium heat.

Add the shad roe.  It is helpful to use a splatter guard — some of the eggs will rupture and pop… and splatter a little.

At three minutes or when the lower side is turning brownish, flip.

Cook another three minutes also with the splatter guard.  Do not overcook — a nice creamy texture over a dried, less-tasteful texture, is desired.  Refer to the photo above.

For a sunny side up egg, or an over-easy egg, add the whole egg when you flip the roe.

Remove roe from skillet and slice as shown above.  Either also remove the egg, or flip the egg to cook while you plate the watercress and roe.

For a hard-cooked fried egg, add it while the roe cooks on the first side, and flip when you flip the roe in the skillet.

You can add salt and pepper to the egg and roe when you plate, or when you are cooking.  (I didn’t add salt, my personal preference.)  I plated the cress to the side, added some slices of roe, then the egg, and then the rest of the shad roe.

PS:  Yesterday I saw shad roe at my local health food store — those lobes were teensy, at least HALF the size of what I’ve photographed above!   If that’s  all you can find, you may want to have two per person.

This recipe is linked to at the awesome Fiesta Friday Link Party.  Co-hosts this week are Kaila @ GF Life 24/7 and Laurena @ Life Diet Health.