Eggs Poached in the Shell

I guess an egg poached in it's shell is a boiled egg. But, it's not eaten that way. This method of poaching eggs was first written about by Julia Child, that doyenne of French Cooking. It is indeed a French method and is the best and easiest way to poach eggs, especially if you're feeding three or four people.

If the eggs are very fresh, it's not as effective as they'll be a little more difficult to peel. However, I've not had a lot of trouble peeling our own eggs that are about 2 weeks old.

What you'll need: A timer (I use my iPhone), a pin, a bowl of ice-cold water.

Pop a saucepan of salted water on to boil. Prick the rounder, fatter end of each egg with a pin, being careful not to go too deep and break the membrane.

When water is boiling, add eggs and set timer for 6 minutes (for large eggs, 5 ½ for smaller ones).
Pop your toast down part way through.
When time is up, remove eggs with a slotted spoon to the bowl of iced water. (If you have asbestos hands, don't worry about this step.) Leave for a second or so to cool down and then gently roll and tap egg on the bench to break the shell all over.

Remove the top part of the shell, insert a teaspoon and slide it all the way around to remove remaining shell.

This photo was a bit blurry as our cat was up on the bench trying to check out what I was doing! I was pushing him away with my head as both hands were full!!

Work quickly to ensure remaining eggs don't get too cool if you're doing a few eggs at a time.

Perfect poached eggs! I forgot to heat up the Hollandaise that I had made yesterday, so I just plopped it on top. No time for asparagus, either!

The cat enjoyed licking the plate.

Megan