Vegetarian Gourmand

Poached eggs aren’t something I have tried to make very often. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever tried to make them before. I only had them for the first time I can remember last year, when I had my first (vegetarian) Eggs Benedict at a diner in Vancouver. I did enjoy them, but they don’t often cross my mind in the mornings as a perfect breakfast food – until now.

Yesterday, I decided to give it a try. I had the general gist of it, I knew keeping them together was a challenge, and somewhere along the way learned there should be some vinegar in the water. Likely on a cooking TV show, I watched someone swirl the water to keep the egg whites together.
So to the internet I went to get more details, cooking times, any extra tips. I found a Gordon Ramsay recipe, which along with using a teaspoon of vinegar to hold the eggs together; it also describes creating a ‘vortex’ by spinning the water really quickly in a circle. So off I go for my first attempt at poached eggs.
The first egg yoke broke before it even hit the water, however I wasn’t deterred as my boyfriend prefers the egg yokes cooked, I could pretend this was intentional. With my vortex spinning, I poured the egg from the bowl I previously cracked it into (which caused the yoke to break), and into this vortex. Immediately, the egg split into many small little strings and lost all resemblance of an egg. I thought about taking a picture, but it wasn’t very pretty.

Round 2
Two more eggs later, with one yoke broken in the first bowl again, (it had an uneven bottom causing this problem, I should have learned the first time – cracking an egg into a bowl was supposed to allow for a smooth entrance into the boiling water in order to keep in from breaking), I slid the eggs into the not quite simmering water, and watched them break apart and then cook together. I did notice when I went to break them apart and serve them, the one egg was still soft and yoke-y inside – at least until I broke it and the yoke flew around in the water. Points for effort.

Day 2
Today I was serious about the poached eggs. We had new eggs, which is supposed to help, and I decided to disregard this whole vortex idea. I gently broke the eggs into two, gentle looking bowls, slid them into still, but gently simmering boiling water – far enough apart so they didn’t collide, and watched and waited. After 3-4 minutes, I removed them from the water, and had perfect poached eggs for breakfast. The highlight was breaking into the egg and seeing I managed not to over cook the yoke! Served with avocado on toast, and a spicy creamy dip, I was ecstatic over all I’d accomplished so early in the day. Maybe next time I’ll attempt hollandaise sauce. One thing at a time.

Recipe – for each serving – Ingredients: 1 tsp vinegar 1 egg 1 piece of bread, toasted ½ avocado Creamy & spicy harissa sauce (equal parts mayonaise & sour cream, with as much harissa sauce as you can take) 1. Bring a pot with at least 4 inches of water and to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer and add the vinegar 2. Toast the bread 3. Slip the egg into the simmering water – gently to avoid breaking the yoke 4. Allow egg to cook about 3 minutes – more or less depending on how runny you want the yoke. 5. Mush or slice the avocado onto the bread, using a slotted spoon, lay the egg on top. Season with salt and pepper. 6. Drizzle the creamy harissa sauce over top.