Poached Eggs

Tasty? Yes. Terrified to make one? Uh-huh. I could never get my poached eggs to look like the perfect smooth ones they serve at Cora's. Buy an egg poacher? That doesn't satisfy me. I'm curious - people poached eggs for centuries before the "egg poacher-scooper-hanging-thingy" was manufactured. How did they do  it?


Julia Childs suggests to poke a small hole in the shell with a pin and boil the egg for 10 seconds before cracking it into simmering water. Too risque. Another wise woman suggested vinegar and making a vortex out of the water. Been there, failed that. Now here's an idea I found, wrap your egg in microwavable plastic wrap forming a pouch and boil in water. No mess - apparently. Hmm... Finally, pour your egg in a ladle then pour hot water over it. Perhaps?


I tried the last two methods. Plastic wrap is perfect if you don't mind the wrinkles. 100% mess free. Egg does not stick to the wrap. Isn't that something nice to know? But the wrinkles would bother me if I have to serve this at a brunch with guests. Method two gave me the perfect round poached egg. Although I think it would be wise to add a drop of oil in the ladle before pouring the egg in. This method takes more patience. You can't submerge the ladel into the water until the egg has entirely set...unless the whole thing turns ugly. 


I had this for dinner last night: topped it with cheese, paprika and dill weed. I didn't have English muffins but the whole wheat bread wasn't bad. Now I can enjoy poached eggs whenever I want - poached to perfection every time.