It was an early morning for me today, starting the day with household chores. To my amazement, I was very productive this morning, having most of the laundry and a few other things finished by 9am...I know right, weird, but in a good way. Sitting down to the table with a cup of coffee and a few poached eggs, I contemplated my schedule for the rest of the day, and how far I had come in the world of poached eggs.
My first attempt at poached eggs was around 4 years ago. I wanted to make them for my sweetheart who loves them, and who doesn't want to do nice things for the one they love? Half a dozen eggs later....a white stringy mess in my pot of water that produced zero eggs....and with my swearing I would NEVER attempt such a silly thing again as it was such a waste of eggs, I was clearly disappointed in the failure. Four years later and with a bit of practice and patience : ) I also, love poached eggs and enjoy making them at home, and actually can produce an egg instead of a white stringy mess.
There are a few techniques people swear by, some use vinegar in their water which helps to create a skin on the outside of the egg right away preventing the whites from fanning out into the water too much. You don't want to allow the water to simmer to the point where there are bubbles breaking the surface, the more movement in the water...the more the egg whites will fan out away from the yolk.
You can place the raw egg into a cup or on a spoon and lower it into the water. I just crack them and close to the surface of the water, slowly pour the raw egg into the water. I tried the other ways, but it seemed as if it was the same as the latter without having to wash an extra dirty bowl or spoon : ) Just remember to lower the egg slowly and next to the surface of the water.
I find after 1-2 minutes, if I gently swirl the water in a circular fashion above the egg that the whites fold around the yolk in a nice way, enclosing it and creating a smoother surface.
6-8 min for a hard poached egg
3-4 minutes for a soft poached egg
Serve on toast, optional additions can be bacon~ham~ hollandaise~spinach~smoked salmon...
Eggs Benedict I made last August for a birthday breakfast : )
Today I topped my toast with back bacon
I like the yolks soft, but let them cook to med-soft today
I love fresh cracked black pepper on them, yum!
So pretty : )
Something else that happened to make my day extra special was a very thoughtful nomination I received this morning for the Versatile Blogger Award. This award is given to bloggers by bloggers and is a wonderful way of saying hello, thanks and good job to those nominated. I am proud and honored to be nominated and to become part of a group of fellow bloggers who have been nominated.. Thank you so much to The Cooking Actress for my nomination. Check back here soon for my future post to see what this all means, what the rules are, who I pass this award on to and much more!
Thank you so much for stopping by and reading : )
Till next time we meet, happy cooking!
