Perfect Poached Eggs

Perfectly poached eggs with toast for breakfast 

I have always loved poached eggs. My host mum, Jane, first made them for me in Lake Forest, Illinois. Throughout America, wherever we went, we could always find perfectly poached eggs. I watched Jane once make poached eggs; she'd swirl the water furiously before popping in the egg, and I think a tiny but judicious splosh of vinegar too was added to the mix. I tried replicating her methodology once - abject failure was the result. I therefore gave up on the concept. Until, that is, of course, my friend Pippa told me it was simple to poach an eggs:

Pippa, who taught me how to poach an egg

All Pippa says you need to know is one simple secret:

Fresh, fresh eggs - perfect for poaching

Fresh, fresh eggs - the fresher, the better 

That's it, really. Oh, and a slotted spoon for hoiking the poached eggs out of the hot water:

A slotted spoon is essential equipment for poached eggs 

So, first you bring your water to the boil. Pippa never added any salt, just got it to a boil, not a simmer, but not a roiling boil either, gentle but definitely bubbly:

First, bring your water to the boil - a more rapid boil than that shown in this picture 

Then, you simply crack your eggs, and let them start poaching away. I was astonished, I thought you'd need to stir the water furiously, but no, crack and let slide is the answer:

Crack your eggs into the boiling pot of water

Don't worry about the floating egg white, don't stir the water, just ensure it is boiling away gently and leave to cook.

Leave the eggs to poach away

After a while, you can see that white is now cooking away. The kinds of bubbles you see on the surface is an indication of the kind of boil you must maintain - gentle, but steady.

Right, now is the time you can hoik your egg out and inspect it:

Take the poached egg out with a slotted spoon

We dediced it wasn't quite yet as firm as we wanted, so we let it slip again down to the bottom of the pot and took it out a bit later.

Pippa insisted on chives for decorating and taste:

Fresh poached eggs garnished with chives

And that's it - simple when you know how. A definite addition to our breakfast repertoire. Hopefully the chickens and bantams currently in our organic vegetable garden (soon to be moved since they are flattening everything) will soon be providing us with fresh eggs on a daily basis. Until then, I'll be sure to check the dates of our eggs. The ones Pippa used were five days old, so they still work - it doesn't have to be fresh on the day, but the fresher the better.