Starting off the day with at least a smidge of quality protein is essential. Come sun, hike, computer screen or yard work, an egg is your best starting point. When I want a variation from the easy scrambled or omelette options, I find myself toying around with poached eggs.
To poach an egg, select your freshest on hand (shop at the Markets for excellent eggs). Fill a saute pan or skillet with roughly 1 1/2 inches of water. Add a large dollop of white vinegar (try experimenting with other vinegars too), swirl it around, and a dash of salt. Heat the water to a bare simmer.
To add the eggs to the water, you can either break cold ones from the refrigerator gently into the simmering pan (no more than 4 at a time to start!), or use a metal poaching ring (a canning metal ring lid works as well, providing a place to keep the egg in the pan – the whites will tend to feather out a bit if the egg is too warm). Once the egg or eggs are in the pan, cook for a minute, always at a bare simmer, then slide a rubber spatula underneath them to loosen them from the bottom of the pan. If using a metal ring, disengage the ring after a minute or two.
Cook only 3 to 5 minutes longer, always at a bare simmer, depending on your desired firmness. I prefer a runny yolk, so I take them out sooner rather than later. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon or spatula. (Note: eggs will poach in a variety of liquids – tomato juice, broths, etc.).
And here is where the real cooking fun begins: serve with lots of things. Most recently, my favorite poached egg breakfast consists of sauteing lambs quarters, chard or any other sturdy sort of green – in butter of coarse – with salt and pepper and a dash of Worchestershire sauce, then placing the poached egg on top of a piece of toast, and topping it with some of the sauteed greens. Just yesterday I added roughly 3 large dollops of rich cream to the bunch of sauted greens, some sprinkles of flour and ground mustard, and voila – creamed greens served atop a poached egg. Bon Apetit!
