Asparagus a la Parmigiana

Andrew Carmellini: Urban Italian; Day 9; Recipe 9

Well, this dish makes a pretty picture, but sadly, it's virtue stops there.  Asparagus plus egg, breadcrumbs, herbs, cheese, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar (which had no business being part of the dish) does not a good meal make.  Bacon was an optional addition- and well, it was delicious as bacon will tend to be.  But nothing really came together on the plate. It was a collection of ingredients that might compliment each other in ways, but failed to come together as a whole. Paul thinks this a new low for the recipes of this cookbook.  I'm having a hard time thinking we'll make it to recipe 14 with this book, or even recipe 10.  Thing is, I like to eat good food and not waste my time and money on this sort of malarky.