Week 1: Eggs - My First Poached Eggs [Cooking]

Intro from the Cooking Challenge: Alright, so to kick off the new year; EGGS! Cooking an egg is a benchmark for skill. I actually worked at a restaurant as a server (yeaaaars ago) and the first thing I was asked was "Can you fry an egg?." If you're a super basic chef, learning to cook an omlete would be a great place to start. Let Jacque show you how it's done. Want a bigger adventure? Souffles are delish and a bit of a different challenge. Now, the egg doesn't have to be the -Star- of the dish, but it should play a big role in your dish. These recipes should give you some great ideas.

I did feel a little silly posting this when I've seen so many other amazing egg creations.  But I had never poached an egg before, so I figured I'd take this opportunity to try out the technique.

I used a little rice vinegar in my almost boiling water, and also used the circular lids from Mason jars to help hold the eggs together once I poured them into the water (cracked them in a mug first, then slid them in).  It's not a great picture but they came out really tasty and I was very proud of myself!

For the actual cooking, I dropped the Mason jar rings into the water so they were lying on the bottom of the deep pan I was using, making sure that the water level wasn't too much higher than the top of the ring (so the eggs stay cozy inside while they poach).  Then I carefully / quickly poured the cracked egg into the ring.  Once they were done, I used a big slatted spoon to fish out the rings/eggs, flipped them on a plate and wiggled the eggs free from the rings.