The Art of a Poached Egg

In May of this year I talked about my obsession with the simple poached egg. My problem is I can't make them very well.  I've watched videos of famous chefs and not so famous chefs gently dropping the egg into simmering/swirling vinegar laced water. I found myself truly lacking in water swirling and egg dropping skills. (It kind of like trying to pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time.) Last month "Bon Appetit Magazine" came up with a clever way of microwaving an egg in a glass container - poof a poach egg requiring no skill. I was a failure at this as well. It was either undercooked or overcooked. While visiting my daughter Katie, in Charleston, SC, I discovered a new tool that is fool proof. Katie took me to a store called Charleston Cooks. (This store sells all kinds of high end kitchen tools, barware, cookware and gourmet food. ) There I found a Poach Pod. This is a flexible silicone cooking tool for poaching eggs, baking and molding. It floats in water during cooking. I paid $12.00 for two - amazon.com has them for a bit less.

To use them you spray each pod with cooking spray and drop the egg into the pod. You then drop them gently into a pan with 1 to 1-1/2 inchs of simmering water.

Cover the pan for about four minutes and you have a perfectly cooked runny poached egg. Now lift the pod out of the water and the egg will slide right out of the pod.

This beautiful egg became part of my breakfast this morning. I made a bowl of creamy grits and topped them with sauteed swiss chard, from my garden and then added the poached egg. This is goodness at its best!

Life is good - enjoy!