The Perfectly Poached Egg

After my last post about the Spinach and Bacon Salad with a Poached Egg on top, I had a couple of people ask me, how do you make that perfectly poached egg? You guys, poaching an egg is easier than getting into your jeans after the holidays.

So here's how I do it: 
You will need the following: a pan of simmering water, some vinegar, a whisk, a slotted spoon and an egg. (FYI ~ cold eggs poach up better than room temp eggs.)

Get your pan of water at a high simmer (almost boiling), add some regular vinegar or white wine vinegar. You don't need much, maybe a teaspoon. Crack your egg(s) into a small bowl or ramekin. (If I'm going for the super model of poached eggs, I crack it into a fine mesh strainer and let the watery white drain through, before placing it in the ramekin. Draining that off makes for more perfect edges, but I'm not always an overachiever in the egg department...)
     Use the whisk to get the water swirling like crazy and then carefully slide the egg(s) into the swirling water.

Leave them babies alone until the swirling stops.  If you get some whites or white foam floating to the surface go ahead and skim it off.

I don't move it (them) around to much, at least for the first couple of minutes. When I see they are pretty well set, I lift the egg(s) and gauge the doneness by touching it. Just poke it or pinch it gently with your finger. (Because I only have two hands I couldn't lift the egg out of the water, poke it and take a picture at the same time, so just trust me on this.)
     I like mine with the whites set firm and the yolks soft. I find it's usually easier to under poach an egg than over poach it, so I let it simmer until the white feels nice and tight and the yolk has a nice feel to it; kind of like poking your finger at yogurt or pudding. You should feel some give, but it should still feel soft, (don't poke too hard or you'll break it) about 4-5 minutes total time.

When poached to a perfect doneness the egg(s) are actually quite easy to handle without breaking. The picture below is just after it came out of the water. Keeping it real, I didn't trim any funky edges (because there weren't any) or photo shop it all perfectly round looking.

The pokey-pinch test

Eggs have got to have a little salt and pepper, so here it is all pretty.

And the real test...cut into it. 

The whites are set firm, the yolk is runny, just like I like it.

There you have it! I will tell you that practice makes perfect and a poached egg can be a delicious low calorie addition to many dishes, such as the salad above. At 70 calories it can replace a creamy dressing, which comes in at about 120+ for just 2 tablespoons worth.
      A poached egg is also a great topper on a burger and again comes in at about half the calories of a slice of cheese. Wait....that's bullshit! I like my burger with bacon and peanut butter on it.
     But if your jeans are tight from all the holiday treats, back away from the peanut brittle and Russel Stover's Chocolates and poach up an egg.

Here is a picture of a beautifully poached quails egg. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these little babies and they are only 14 calories each. If you can get your hands on some of these, try them out. Use the same method to poach, but don't attempt to crack them like a regular egg. Use a serrated knife to slice the big end off.

Poached Quails Egg with Bacon-Maple-Bourbon Jam on Toasted Sourdough

 

GET POACHING!!!!

Out With the Sweets, In With the Salads

UGGGGHHHHH! Feel the bloat? Thankfully the holidays are finally behind us and if you are anything like me, you have spent the past couple of months over eating and generally pigging out on sweets, booze and all of the other over indulgences that the season brings.
     We left the tundra of Wyoming on Christmas day, in our bus and came to Texas to spend the month at our friends place. I like to think of this little get-away as "research," since my February cooking class is going to be Street Tacos. Texas is the land of the taco and we spent a week in San Antonio, eating a lot of tacos. For research sake...and I'm taking one for the team here, by eating all these tacos.

One of my trial taco creations: Flank Steak, Creamed Cilantro Corn and Lime Creme Fraiche

My research assistant, Karen, and I even signed up for an authentic Mexican cooking class, hoping to score some good ideas and recipes. The night before the class we decided to map the address from our San Antonio hotel, so we would know where to go. Well it turns out we didn't read the fine print and it was a real authentic Mexican cooking class because it was seventeen hours away from San Antonio. As in OLD MEXICO. My Mercedes (which, by the way is pimped out with a real bumper, four good tires, rear view mirrors, running boards and a hood ornament) was not a ride that I wanted to take deep into the heart of Mexico. I envisioned it would come back looking like this, only with less paint. Same could be said about us.

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We had to scrap the class and forfeit our pesos. But hey....we remembered the Alamo! Been there, got the T-shirt.

So for now I've sworn off fried food (unless its bacon) and anything else that leaves a trail of grease running down my arm (unless its bacon), meaning I'll be filling us up on some lovely salads, like these (with bacon).
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I do love a perfectly poached egg and they aren't just for breakfast anymore. In case you hadn't noticed, poached eggs are showing up on everything from salads to burgers and I'm on that bandwagon. When you cut into that egg and the yolk runs over the salad greens it adds another dimension to the salad. Almost like it's another salad dressing. 

This is what a perfectly poached egg looks like! Autographed photos available upon request.

Last night I made us a spinach salad with bacon, blue cheese and tossed in an apple cider and Dijon vinaigrette and then topped it with a poached egg. With plenty of protein in this salad it was a satisfying meal. You can find the recipe under the "Soups and Salads" tab or in the "Recipe Index."

I've also been busy making a few changes to this Blog. The new tab, called "Recipe Index" now takes you to an alphabetical listing of recipes, which are direct links to a printable version.
     Plus, if you go directly to a tab, let's say "Seafood", you now will see a photo of the dish with the name, and by clicking on that link it will again take you to a printable version. I'm hoping that this will make it easier to find recipes. If you run across any snags, please let me know and I'll try to fix them.
  The little page on the far right, titled "Yesterdays Sauce" is pretty much useless, other than to list recipes (which are under the "Recipe Index" tab) so it's just filling up space. I'll probably make it go away.

Anyhow, try out this salad when you are ready to step away from all the holiday treats.


PRINT RECIPE: Spinach Salad with Bacon, Poached Egg and Dijon Vinaigrette


Move over my Bobby Flay.....taco recipes coming up next!

Tuna-Avocado Taco

Shredded Beef in Green Chile, topped with Mango Salsa and Cojita Cheese