Poached Eggs or rather the thought of poaching eggs strikes fear in the hearts of even the most accomplished cooks. If you’ve ever dropped an egg into a pot of simmering water, you know why. Too many variables. I’ve read recipes calling for the water to be simmering, hard simmering, shivering, barely moving, steaming and even soft boiling. Should the eggs be at room temperature or straight out of the fridge? Do I add vinegar to the water or risk a runny egg white to avoid vinegary eggs. In the world of cookery, there’s no standard for poaching eggs. Until now…
Before I spill my latest find, let me back up a little…
Ralph and I love Saturday morning breakfast. With him on the road, we rarely see each other through the week. Breakfast is a solitary bowl of cereal eaten while I surf the net checking my social media. Saturday morning is completely different. We’ve made it an event, for years, by going out to eat everywhere from our neighbourhood greasy spoon to all of the cafes and bistros that have hopped on the brunch train. It’s fantastic! To keep our tradition alive and fun, while we’re at the farm, I usually serve up something special for our weekend breakfasts. We need a lot of energy to help with all the work we do here!
This morning I served my newest version of Poached Eggs so I could share it with you today. The rain kept Ralph in the kitchen, this morning, while I cooked and photographed our breakfast. He rarely comments when I’m working on a post but today he couldn’t resist.
“That’s a weird combination. Eggs, bacon, onions, peppers, tomatoes and cheese.”, he said peering into my skillet of tomato sauce topped with four raw eggs.
Instead of whipping some sauce at his head, I simply said, ‘Sounds like an omelet to me.”
Maybe the miff in my voice stopped him from arguing or he was too hungry to risk not being fed, whatever it was, he sat quietly reading his newspaper while I poached his eggs.
It wasn’t the ingredients that were throwing him. It was the way I was using the ingredients. There’s nothing Ralph likes better than a plate full of crispy bacon, two soft poached eggs, a broiled tomato and buttery toast. I just reorganized things!
Substituting ‘simmering, shivering, soft boiling’ water with a lovely simmering thick tomato sauce removes all angst from poaching your eggs. As soon as the white is white the eggs are cooked. If you like a firmer yolk leave them a little longer!
If you’re looking for something different to serve your mom for Mother’s Day brunch, these eggs are the bomb!
Poached Eggs for a Chef
Serves 2
4 large eggs
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 small sweet bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 slices bacon, sliced into 1” strips
1-14 oz can diced plum tomatoes in puree
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 slices Ciabatta bread, halved and toasted
½ cup white old cheddar, shredded
THE STEPS:
- Place a large skillet over medium high heat
- Add olive oil to warm
- Add bacon and fry until fat is rendered and bacon has started to brown
- Add garlic, onion, and peppers to bacon and cook until soft
- Add tomatoes and basil to skillet and bring to a boil
- Reduce heat and simmer until sauce has thickened slightly
- Break eggs into sauce then cover pan and cook until yolk reaches your favourite stage.
- While eggs are poaching, toast the ciabatta bread.
- Place toast on a serving plate and spoon eggs with lots of sauce over top.
- Sprinkle with grated cheddar and serve.
THE LOVE: Don’t be afraid of poach eggs. It’s a lovely way to cook eggs and super easy. Use a knife to make a clean break in the egg shell. Separate the shell and gently drop the egg into the sauce. With this recipe the egg poaches on top of the sauce with the help of a pot cover. The white is cooked when it looks cooked. Make sure there’s no clear runny white visible.
one year ago: spaghetti with fiddle-heads and shrimp
two years ago: fish tacos
three years ago: raspberry cobbler
Thanks for reading.
