Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Things I'd Like to Learn: How to Poach an Egg

I'm not a terrible cook nor am I a wonderful cook, I'm averagely somewhere in-between. When I cook for my friends who don't cook, they're wildly impressed. When I cook for or with my friends who can cook, they are never disappointed. And I'm pretty proud of how far my cooking skills have come. Growing up, pretty much everything in our kitchen came out of a box or a can that was often found on the dented/near expiration discount shelves in the back of Star Market. As a kid, I thought cooking was anything you heated on the stove or in the oven instead of a microwave.

I've figured out how to chop fresh vegetables, though they're never particularly uniform or pretty. I've learned that pouring oil into a scalding hot skillet is a terrible idea. And I'm damn proud of my chocolate cranberry cookies, which have won over co-workers coast-to-coast.

When it comes to the incredible, edible egg I can handle myself pretty well. I can scramble eggs (I'm also quite proud of my goat cheese, oyster mushroom & green onion scramble), fry eggs so that the yolk stays mostly runny, make awkwardly shaped omelettes, and even make a fritta.

But I can't make my favorite type of egg: Poached.

I tried once and wound up with a boiling pot of stringy whites with a glop of yellow. I made myself feel better by going out to brunch and ordering a benedict, full well knowing I couldn't replicate the soft yolky perfection on my my plate. Now I'm ready to try again. I'd go as far as to say that it's my New Year's resolution.

I am going to learn to poach a perfect egg this weekend. With Alton Brown as my guide, I will learn and then use my powers to make the best darn smoked salmon Benedict that I've ever tasted.  Wish me luck.


1 comment:

  1. More than welcome to ask for my help if you need it =p

    ReplyDelete