Perfectly Poached Eggs

As many of you guys know, we recently had a bunch of our Scottish/English/Welsh friends over to New York for a week of fun.  There was sightseeing, there was drinking, and most interestingly there was the shocking realisation that these boys knew nothing about eggs.  One fateful trip to IHOP and the boys were overwhelmed by the endless choices of eggs that lay before them. They literally sat there staring blankly at the waitress - clueless as to what many of the delicious eggy options even were!

Now I have lived in Scotland for 4 years and I have had many a Scottish breakfast otherwise known as a fry up.  A typical Scottish fry up consists of scrambled eggs, hash browns, a potato scone, bacon, sausage, a grilled egg, grilled mushrooms, and haggis and black pudding.  Needless to say its a little on the heavy side.  Since Kyle and I are both trying to watch what we eat we've been avoiding the fry up lately.  Empowered by the experience of learning that there are other ways to make eggs Kyle turned to me the other day and made a simple request.  Can I try a poached egg?

I'm not a runny yoke person, I've an over hard with the yoke broken kind of gal, so poached eggs aren't something I had ever considered making.  Plus the idea is quite scary - how on earth are you supposed to drop an egg into a pot of boiling water and expect it to somehow hold together?  Some quick internet research from my absolute favorite food blog www.smittenkitchen.com and I felt brave enough to try it.  In her tips she advises to only use a couple of inches of water in the pan, add a splash of vinegar, and to add the egg when the water is just about to simmer but not quite boiling yet.

The verdict?  A perfectly poached egg and a happy husband!

Poached Eggs (technique stolen from Deb at SmittenKitchen)


1.  Head a pot with a few inches of water in it
2.  Add a splash of vinegar (I used malt vinegar since its what I had within reach)
3.  Heat the water until bubbles start to form under the surface but before it starts to really simmer or boil
4.  Break your egg into a separate dish (it makes it easier to pour into the pan)
5.  Make a whirlpool in the water using a spatula (I found a spoon worked quite well)
6.  Slide the egg into the whirlpool.  NOW DONT PANIC! It will look like a hot mess in there for a second, but the force of the whirlpool will pull all the whites back over the yolk to form a pretty circle of egg.  If there are still some loose strands just gently use your spoon/spatula to encourage them back into the main egg mass.
7.  Cook the egg until the whites have set about 3-4 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon!!

Enjoy with buttered bread - or in this case english muffins!