Winter is really on it's way...
You know it's a sign of the season change when we run out of eggs. It always takes me by suprise, there are months and months of trying to squeeze another carton of eggs into the stack in the pantry and sending folks off with them...
"Please, take eighteen and not a dozen, we've got plenty"
Although I have to admit I've gotten slightly less generous than the first year or two we had chickens... not realizing the abrupt drop and experiencing substantial flock mortality episodes will do that to you. Still, it's always a bit of a suprise.
This year I have gotten so used to my breakfast preference that it's become a bit of a ritual. Three poached eggs and two pieces of toasted sprouted bread. Every morning. Sometimes two - the third is if I'm eating after Sebastian has had his breakfast because I'll have to share bites with him. When I eat that for breakfast, I make significantly fewer stupid food choices later in the day. But now we'll have to find alternatives to our 7-8 egg a day habit.
Poached eggs are a bit of a miracle to me. I have never liked the crispy edges and oft-rubbery whites of a fried egg. I loate a broken, flattened cooked-through yolk. A proper yolk, in my opinion, needs to be rich orangey yellow and just cooked enough to be warm and thick - oozing across my toast when broken like tasty lava. I am not sure anymore what led me to pick up my broken-down copy of Fanny Farmer to poach an egg - I've always expected to need an "egg poacher" to do it. Turns out I didn't. It was more complicated than cracking an egg into a pan, but like most things, over time it's become simple to me. Now I can make my eggs, my toast, and my coffee and get them all to the table at the same time -- another miracle, really.
First simmer and inch or so of water in a covered saute pan. Add a splash of vinegar to the water, more if you like the taste of vinegar in your eggs (I do). Once the water is simmering and just a little bubbly, crack a room temperature (important!) egg into a small bowl or saucer. Slip the egg slowly into the simmering water. Repeat for as many eggs as you want being careful not to crowd the pan. Once they begin to set you can cover the pan or just spoon the simmering water over the yolks. When the whites are cooked and the yolks are set on the outside they are done. I test the yolk with my fingertip to make sure it's thickened, but you can use the rounded part of a spoon basin. Then dip the eggs out of the water with a slotted spoon and deposit them onto a clean dishtowel. This is important. For a long time, I just drained them as best I could in the spoon and deposited them onto my toast: cue soggy toast. Once they've drained for a minute, tranfer to you plate, add fancy salt and pepper, toast triangles and gobble it all up before your toddler does.
This morning, though, I had to make due with a little leftover chicken (ours) and stuffing... and gravy. Mmmmm. Gravy.