Poaching

Poaching is as a process by which food is gently simmered in water or other edible liquids such as wine, broth or juice. The process doesn't drain the moisture out of eggs, poultry or fish, and preserves the delicate texture of each food item. How to poach anything, especially eggs, is very difficult to agree on. Almost everyone I've asked about it has a different idea of what's best for the taste, appearance and healthfulness of the little round protein. So about a year and half ago I tried it out myself, using aspects of a few different recipes/processes.



First I tore off two pieces of plastic wrap, large enough to cover the inside of a mug. I lined the insides of two mugs with the plastic, and coated the interior of the plastic with olive oil (a chef friend of mine recommends truffle oil if you have it on hand!), salt and pepper. At the same time, I started a pan of water to simmer. Then I twisted up the plastic around the egg (pretty snug-ly), used a twist-tie to keep it secure, and placed it carefully into the water. Watch the egg carefully, you want it to become opaque on the outside, but not cook hard all the way through. Make up some toast for yourself, and you've got poached goodness. I like a little butter and a little mayonnaise on my toast and a lot of pepper on the egg.

Also!
For those of you concerned about cooking plastic wrap around the egg while in simmering water...I did a little digging on that and so far all of the discussion points to it being pretty harmless. The temperatures needed to release toxins from the plastic are apparently quite a bit higher than that of water below the boiling point. Does anyone know anything different though? I'd be interested to hear more on this topic.