The Perfect Poached Egg

As with most new mom’s, I am working on the ever present weight battle. In this battle I have a few secret weapons that I will, if asked nicely, share. My first secret weapon is PROTEIN. No, I do not subscribe to the whole high-protein low-carb diet. I do find that making sure that I have plenty of protein throughout the day really helps curb the nasty cravings and helps to keep me from inhaling anything not nailed down by late afternoon.
Not long ago, I became totally obsessed with learning how to poach the perfect egg. After several failed attempts, (and taking Julia Childs name in vain a few times) I managed to poach the perfect egg.

There are several tricks to poaching eggs that are not widely known:

• First of all, the fresher the eggs the better. Now, if you can’t find fresh eggs don’t worry. What you need to do is warm them up before placing them in the water. What I typically do is place them in a bowl with hot tap water for a few minutes before I cook them. This brings the eggs up to room temperature quickly and allows for the whites to stay together once in the poaching water.
• Next, the poaching water needs to have some type of acid added. I use white wine vinegar, but you can also use lemon juice as well. This again helps the egg stay together once added to the water.
• Most importantly: the water. In a sauce pot, add about three inches of water and about 2 tsp. vinegar. The water needs to come up to about 190 degrees. This is just below a boil. Once you reach that temperature turn the burner down to low.
• Add the eggs one at a time by cracking the egg close to the surface of the water. Do this rather quickly so that they will all finish at the same time.
• At this point start timing the eggs. If you like your yokes runny, try about three minutes. For a medium egg, three and a half minutes and a firm yoke four minutes.
• With a slotted spoon take the eggs out and place them on a paper towel to take care of the excess water.

Now, my favorite way to eat these little beauties is on one of those new sandwich thins, toasted, with a little salt and pepper and Tabasco sauce. Delish!

Heather