Interesting Eggs

For years I've kind of not really liked eggs. They're just so... eggy. I especially can't stand chalky egg yolks but I also can't understand why someone would want to eat a very loose cooked egg, eww! They need to have that perfect creamy just set center and I've finally learned how to achieve this. (I'll let you in on my secret in just a minute.) So now all of a sudden I'm really digging eggs and want to enjoy them all the time, in all shapes and forms; omelettes, oeufs en cocotte, poached etc. The boyfriend and I have also started playing around with more interesting ways of preparing eggs other than just boring boiled or fried. (You see that crazy complex set up we got up there in the first photo?!)

So my perfectly cooked egg with that magical just set creamy egg yolk with maybe just a touch of looseness recipe first. This works with regular large eggs (no crazy extra large or teeny tinys.) Poke a tiny hole with the tip of a sharp knife on the fatter rounder side of the egg. Bring a pot of water to the boil and with the help of a spoon lower your eggs with the tiny poked holes into the water slowly so they don't crack. (If they crack, you're screwed.) Cook for exactly 9 minutes! When 9 minutes is up rinse with cold water and enjoy. I eat them with Swedish smoked caviar for breakfast. Yum!

What's that craziness up in the first picture then? Poached eggs with flavorings! Such a genius idea I've learned from watching far too many cooking shows. Using plastic wrap you can make little packages with a raw egg, a pinch of salt/pepper, and any other flavorings you might like. (We added a drop or two of white truffle oil and some chopped parsley.) Just tie your little darling egg packages with string and hold them away from the bottom of a pot of boiling water (the plastic may melt if it gets too hot.) We used a chopstick to hold our packages up but you could just hold them for hand too. Neat huh? We poached ours for about 5 minutes. I'm actually not so opposed to some looseness if they are to be eaten with a salad, as we did above. Sitting on top of a salad they more resemble balls of fresh mozzarella than eggs, which is rather cute.

A little tip would be to cool the poached eggs for a while so they maintain their shape better when you peel off the plastic. I was a bit to eager and ripped mine to pieces.