(gail, look away) I poached an egg!

Let me preface this by admitting that I am not a big egg fan. I simply don't care much for them as a breakfast solo act. Not my thing. But you see, Australians on the whole are big breakfast fans. It's not uncommon to find all day breakfast at many restaurants, and forget eating anything other than brunch on a Sunday. The star: Eggs. Without fail.

Whilst lamenting this phenomenon to a friend, she turned to face me, shock written all over her face, stunned to realize that I hadn't even tried Eggs Benedict. "Eggs Benedict is absolutely delicious, my absolute favorite...not at all egg-y. Poached eggs aren't like other eggs."

Hmm...

But trying said poached eggs in a restaurant would cost upwards of $15 for something that, let's face it, I'm fully prepared not to like. Poaching an egg at home is rumored to be seriously overcomplicated, thus an abundance of silicone molds and other plastic poaching assistants in the kitchen shops. I'm not too intrigued by those either. Enter my latest favorite cookbook, Heidi Swanson's super natural every day. In the back, she has a two-page discussion of egg poaching technique and promises that her method results in a perfectly poached egg every time. Bold claim! I had to try it, if only for the fun of the kitchen chemistry experiment...and voila!

Wow. I poached an egg. A beautifully, perfectly poached egg on the very first try.

While I will come clean and admit I did not finish it (there is still a texture threshold to be crossed here), I may just have to try Eggs Benedict next...

**my wonderful friend gail once explained her vegetarian (now vegan) lifestyle to me. even when she wasn't vegan, she couldn't even consider eating eggs because "that's just gross." so, sorry, gail. I think you will appreciate the kitchen chemistry, though. it's pretty magical, making that perfect little egg parcel.