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Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Poached Eggs - Daring Cooks Challenge


I remember my father making poached eggs.  I don't think that he ever consulted Julia Child before him made them.   I believe that his technique involved dumping eggs into boiling water, cutting some bread for toast, getting the paper and rescuing the egg.  I vividly remember the loose yellow egg yolk.  I was repulsed as a child.


I worked at a small restaurant down the street from where I grew up.  In the summer, they opened the attached ice cream store.  I started working there when I was 15.  In the mornings, I would get ready to open up.  If breakfast was still going on, I would help clear tables and take some orders.  I remained repulsed by yellow runny yolks, which were everywhere.  

It took me years to start eating eggs.  When I went to college, on Sundays they served pieces of large sheets of omelets.  Huge omelets, made from dozens of eggs, on the large grill.  No visible egg yolk there. 

The way cool thing to do when I was in college was to go out to breakfast at the end of the semester at the neightborhood restaurant.  A hopping deli.  With eggs of course.  I think that I started to enjoy omelets for the first time.  But I maintained my aversion to runny yolks.

December's challenge was poached eggs.  I actually was excited.  Time to see what all the fuss was about.  Every one is eating them.  People put them on top of everything.  If I could find some quail eggs, it would be fine dining!

First I checked with Julia.  My water was simmering, with a little vinegar added.  I made a swirl in the water, cracked the egg into a ramekin and gently put it into the simmering water.  When cooked, I removed it and put it into a pan of warm water to rinse the vinegar off.  I trimmed any white tendrils, no kidding...  I think that my dad skipped some steps.




I had made some English Muffins and Hollandaise Sauce.  I whipped up some delicious Eggs Benedict.  Except they weren't delicious.  They had oozy, yellow yolks. 


My husband loved them, but I felt guilty as I heard his arteries closing.  It is back to oatmeal for us.

7 comments:

  1. Oozy yellow yolks does it for me!

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  2. That last picture is excellent and your poached eggs are perfection. Well done on this challenge. Sorry to hear this was the last one but I do admire your doggedness.

    Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

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  3. Looks like you poached them perfectly, sorry to hear you didn't enjoy it!

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  4. Gorgeous!!! Definitely not an everyday breakfast but maybe every now and then. Your eggs turned out much prettier than mine.

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  5. Your eggs looked so pretty!!! At least you can say you can make poached eggs if one is ever requested from you!

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  6. Thanks for the pretty comments, unfortunately, the only egg that I find pretty is one with broken yolks, over hard. The yolk broken guarantees no runny yolk!

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  7. I'll take it. I love runny egg yolks.:)

    Now I'm wondering if I can poach quail eggs with runny yolks.:)

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