Eggs. I love eggs. Do you love eggs? I find that most people are egg lovers or egg haters, not too many in between.
If you’re an egg lover, this one’s for you. If you’re an egg hater, maybe you should rethink why you hate eggs.
Eggs. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. I enjoy the simplicity that comes along with an egg. Fry one up for breakfast and serve it up with toast. Poach one up for lunch and serve atop a salad. Bake one inside a dinner roll and serve it for dinner. Eggs all day.
Eggs can be served a million ways a million times over and make a million people happy. There really isn’t anything about an egg that can be upsetting (unless of course you’ve cracked your yolk before you made it out of the pan and onto your plate.)
I have found that sometimes scrambled or fried eggs can become a little boring. In the midst of trying to discover new ways to serve up my eggs I have discovered the classic poached egg.
No intimidation here. Just a simple poached egg. It’s actually quite easier than most would think. Unless of course you’re cooking some up for the Queen of England, nobody is going to know if you have cooked the perfect poached egg. Plus remember one of the benefits of being the chef is you just eat your mistakes, no evidence left behind.
Nowadays the world is filled with gadgets and gizmos. Of course, you can buy yourself one of those fancy egg poaching pans that suspends your eggs in the simmering water for you. Listen, I won’t judge you if you do decide to go that route, but I will say that you have chosen to suck all of the fun out of poaching eggs. Instead of swirling them around in a simmering vortex, you get to just gaze at them from above. Yes no work is needed but I find that the creation of the food I’m about to eat always leaves me feeling more fulfilled. (I wasn’t going to say this but if the egg isn’t actually in the water wouldn’t it just be considered steaming?)
Now that I have you all riled up about poaching eggs, check out this video from Americas Test Kitchen.
This video gives you a few good pointers on how to poach an egg at home, don’t feel too overwhelmed by the fact that the chef in this video cooks eight eggs at a time. If it’s your first time no worries, start with one egg until you get the feel for it.
I personally prefer to swirl the water gently, creating a vortex in the pan, then pour the egg into the center of the vortex. I find that this helps keep the whites together, causing the egg to be well rounded and leaving less of those ghostly white stringy things behind. But if you do find yourself in the midst of a vortex just remember to breathe. It’s just an egg after all.
I like to serve my poached eggs up on a bed of homemade hash browns.
Homemade Potato Hash Browns
Kayleigh Baig
Ingredients:
4 medium Russet potatoes, shredded
1 medium onion, small diced
2 egg
¼ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup grated Parmigiano reggiano
Salt and Pepper
Oil for frying
• Take your shredded potatoes and lay them flat on a sheet pan lined with paper towel. Cover with paper towel and pat dry, soaking up moisture from the potatoes. Remove potatoes from the sheet pan and place in a medium sized bowl. Mix in the onion, flour, eggs and parmigiano reggiano until evenly combined.
• In a large heavy skillet heat oil on medium high heat. Oil should be about ¼ inch deep. Place a layer of the potato mixture in the pan. Flatten evenly covering the whole pan. Or place into separate piles and flatten like a cake. Allow to cook until golden brown, then flip and cook until golden brown on the other side. Approximately 5 minutes per side.
• Remove from pan and place on paper towels to soak up any excess oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or keep warm in oven until ready to serve.
