Saturday, December 13, 2008

Poached Eggs- Not as hard as they look!

Are you looking for a new way to prepare your eggs? Hard-boiled eggs are a great core snack, but in the winter I want something warm. You can fry eggs in non-stick spray, but if you want something different, why not try poaching them?

Poaching can be tricky, and until now I've only had them at restaurants. However, a few pointers and you can do it at home too! You will need:

eggs
large pot water
vinegar (We didn't have white vinegar on hand, but brown rice vinegar worked just fine.)
pinch of salt
large slotted spoon
small soup or other small bowl

1.) Fill a large pot of water 2/3 full, and bring to a boil.

2.) Arrange all your items the counter near your pot of water. Crack an egg into the small bowl. Be careful not to break the yolk.

3.) Once your water has reached boiling, add a pinch of salt and a drizzle of vinegar. (Maybe 1-2 tbsp.)

4.) Turn your heat down so the boiling slows. You want your water just below boiling.

5.) With your spoon, stir the water along the edge of the pot until you have a good swirling vortex. Be sure the water isn't boiling-if it is just turn it down a bit more.

6.) Carefully pour your egg into the center of the pot- the swirling vortex helps keep the egg white in one piece. It may look funny at first but let it be. Cook for ~ 2 minutes and then gently scoop out with slotted spoon.

7.) Shake gently to remove excess water. If your slots are completely covered with egg (this happened to me!) gently blot with a paper towl.

Serve immediately on wheat toast! We addded grilled portabella mushrooms, avocado slices and some shredded Parmesan cheese to ours. I apologize for the lack of pictures-they disappeared too fast!

Don't be discouraged if the first few attempts end up a big shredded mess in your water. Just scoop out the offending egg, discard, and try again. It'll be worth it. :-)

Other tips:

* I used a metal tea filter to scoop up stray strands of egg whites in the water in between eggs. They don't hurt anything, but it's nice to be able to see how your egg is doing.

*Also feel free to cook the egg a bit longer if you are concerned about the runny egg yolks- it may make the egg a bit tougher but I couldn't tell the difference when I did. I even put one of the eggs back in the water when the whites didn't look quite done, despite having been over 2 minutes.

*Be sure to have any other food prepared before starting the eggs so you can give them your full attention. (I put my husband to work.) Watch the water and adjust the heat incrementally as needed to either keep the temp up (just below boiling) or to settle some sneaky bubbles.

*If you'd like to spend a few points, a pat of butter on top of the egg is MARVELOUS.

Finally, if these directions aren't working for you, you can also do what I did- just google it and look for a video demonstration. There are plenty out there.

Good luck! Enjoy!

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