A friend of mine, who's looking to expand her cooking repertoire, mentioned recently that she wants to learn to poach eggs. Ever since I heard her say those magic words, I've really wanted some. My favorite horrible-for-me breakfast is called Eggs Ponchartrain, served at a local restaurant called The Chimes: it consists of poached eggs on top of a toasted croissant, topped with hollandaise, bacon, and fried oysters. It's SO good. And I feel kind of gross after I eat it. I dialed back the heaviness when I poached eggs tonight, keeping the croissant factor (because why wouldn't you??) and doing a sliced tomato and a mozzarella sauce on top. To keep the seafood factor, mine got some sautéed garlic shrimp on top, too. We also had roasted asparagus, because asparagus always seems happy to sit next to a poached egg.

I've poached eggs a couple of times in the past, and they're passable, even though they usually turn out rather ugly. The pot gets to be a total mess, too, with egg white bits floating everywhere. I used Emeril's procedure this time, since it's slightly intimidating to poach an egg and I feel like I need explicit directions when things are slightly intimidating. I roasted the asparagus and sautéed the shrimp first. (For the record, Papa John's garlic sauce is *excellent* for sautéing shrimp. It's also excellent in grits, mashed potatoes, and just about anything else I think to cook with it.) Then I put the croissants in the warm oven as I turned my attention to the eggs and cheese sauce. The eggs drained on a paper towel while I finished the cheese sauce and sliced the tomatoes, and everything came together pretty well. Quick, delicious. Highly recommended.

Labels: eating out, kitchen adventures, photography

• posted by erica 5/04/2010 08:02:00 PM
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