Give me a rubber spatula and I will confidently scramble you soft, foldy delicious eggs til the cows come home. Poached eggs are a slightly different story, and I am yet to truly master the art of the perfectly poached egg. I've come close, and the results are generally edible. Competent, I most certainly am but impatient? Probably just a little.
Perfect with asparagus (roasted, or course) I went with poached eggs for brunch this morning. I used the magic trick of a tablespoon of white vinegar, but I was careless in my placement of each egg into the simmering water. I've heard that lowering them gently into the water on a giant spoon keeps the yolk nicely encased in the white in those crucial initial phases of poaching, but my sloppy uncoordinated use of a ramekin meant mine swiftly looked like this (an undesirable outcome, believe me):
With some temperature adjustment and some water skimming, they came together alright. I always swore by the slotted spoon for perfect poached egg removal; from spoon to teatowel to plate to avoid soggy toast. But I have a friend who recently alerted me to the superior merits of using the humble potato masher. I have to say these were probably not the best poached eggs to try on, given their slightly disconnected nature, but the potato masher trick was a winner.
Definitely not my finest work, but delicious nonetheless. Served with roasted asparagus, and buttered vogels toast, and cracked pepper and salt, I also gave them a tiny wee drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a garnish trick I stole from a recent trip to Martinborough. The only thing missing was coffee. And a nice glass of juice. And the paper. And sunshine streaming in. And maybe a brunch companion. Ah well. I gave it a good go. Happy Saturday everyone!
simmering water is too hot - try just before simmering next time and you should be ok!
ReplyDeletethats a pretty egg....
ReplyDeletean easy way to do a cheats poached egg is to do an uber soft boiled egg, leave it in for 5 minutes... and you'll get something similar to a poached egg... kind of like the soft gooey egg you get in ramen.
That looks beautiful in any case :-)
ReplyDeleteOn poached eggs - I shake in some salt, make a whirlpool with a chopstick, and crack an egg into the whirlpool. If I can be bothered, I crack the egg(s) into a ramekin first before pouring it in. Usually works well, and emerges without the taste of vinegar.
I've tried all sorts of different methods and found this works for me best - crack eggs into ramekins first, vinegar in my water, bring water to rapid boil and lower to med-low simmer, pour each ramekin slowly into the water and then quickly turn the heat right down to the very lowest. Then I use a slotted spoon and very very gently nudge the eggs (and whites) a little to help the whites form around the yolk better. Also, I find that using a pot or a deep pan (like a wok) with lots of water is makes poaching the eggs easier than in shallow water. I do use vinegar in my water and never find my eggs vinegary. I don't go overboard with the vinegar and refrain from using malt vinegar.
ReplyDeleteYou have me inspired. Incredibly so. I think I'm possibly the most terrible egg cooker (?)... however asparagus- I am loving them this season! I can't stop using them in everything. But I've never thought to have them on beautiful vogels with such eggs...I'm going to take on the mission. In my currently-cold Aro St flat (typical student complaint right?)...it will be done :)
ReplyDeleteStyley brunch! I found an egg poaching trick that's been working for me lately; similar to the comment above - bring water with a splash of white vinegar to a simmer. Break the egg onto a saucer and slide it into the pan, cover the pan and turn the heat off. Leave it for about 3 minutes I think :)
ReplyDeletethank you for all the egg poaching tips! good stuff.
ReplyDeleteand all the time in the world...happy to hear your cold student flat was brightened with vogels, eggs and asparagus :)