 |
| Diego Velasquez Old Woman Poaching Eggs |
If you happen to drop by Dodge Nature Preschool, buy some fresh farm eggs right in our living room.
When you get your eggs home, figure out how many you want to cook (keep in mind that one finely poached egg often leads to another).
Take your eggs out of the refrigerator and let them come to room temp on the counter (it is okay if you can't wait, go ahead and use them cold).
Crack each egg into a saucer or small plate. This is how they will wait to be poached.
Next get out a bigger saucepan (the heavier the better) and fill it with tap water.
Pour a couple spoonfuls of white vinegar into the saucepan of water (or slosh in an approximate amount right from the bottle).
Bring the saucepan of water/vinegar to boil, then turn the temp down so it is just simmering (on my stove this is the "medium" setting).
Now you are ready. But first, get a bigger spoon and put it to the side for a minute. Now take your first egg laying on the saucer and gently slide it off the saucer into the water. Do this with all the eggs, sort of finding them their own space in the pan.
Pick up the spoon and gently start sort of ladling the hot water over the eggs in the pan. This seems to kind of speed things up and sort of organizes the egg white in a prettier way. Keep doing this in a leisurely way and watch.
Toast and butter your English muffins while you are doing this (toast a full muffin for each egg, as you'll want to soak up the yolk with the bread).
Over the next few minutes, the eggs will grow increasingly opaque and, if you poke them very gently, they will seem more together. The eggs should be floating a bit and not attached to the pan.
Experiment with timing. You'll eventually figure out how "done" you like these eggs. Pull them out with a slotted spoon (or the spoon you've been using) and let them dry off a bit on a plate then transfer them to your muffin.
*salt & pepper
*homemade hollandaise is a good accompaniment (I've had good success with the Fanny Farmer recipe)
*parsley is really good with poached eggs
*homemade or store bought mayo mixed with Thai Sriracha sauce and a bit of lemon juice is really spicy and great with the eggs when smeared on your muffins.
