....is a Poached Egg on Toast with Avocado & Tomato

Good Morning Breakfast Hub! It's Elizabeth from Not Everything I Make is Pretty, I hope you're having a great Thursday morning so far. I'm (seriously) excited about this weeks post, it's a surprisingly easy homemade recipe that will definitely impress your breakfast guests.

I finally overcame one of my cooking fears! 

I poached an egg.

I was pretty sure they were going to be undercooked, fall apart into a stringy mess or I'd end up with a pot of soggy egg water (is that even possible?). I'm not sure why I was so scared but a poached egg was intimidating to me. I set to work on research, to learn from other homecook's do's and don'ts. Theres a lot of differing opinions out there so I compiled what I thought would be my best shot at a successful egg poaching. It worked for me, I hope you give it a try and let us know what works  for you 

(and maybe what didn't).

Serves 4

4 Eggs

1 1/2 tsp Vinegar*

4 Slices of Toast

2 Avocados

2 Tomatoes

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

*I used Apple Cider Vinegar, because it's what I had, not because I prefer it, maybe another one is better but it worked well for me.

First, heat a pot with a few inches of water in it, I used a 3.5 quart saucepan. Add vinegar to the water. This helps tighten up the egg.

You don’t want boiling water. You don’t want simmering water. You want very hot water at the point right before it simmers. Bubbles, not boiling.

Break an egg into a small dish. It is easier to slide the egg in from a dish and you can focus one hand on the next step and not worry about using both hands to crack your egg. Unless you're awesome at cracking an egg one handed (when I try to crack eggs with one hand I end up with shells in my eggs).

Make a whirlpool with your spoon. Slide the egg into the middle of the whirlpool with your other hand.

This is my favorite part from a set of instructions I found on Smitten Kitchen:
Don’t freak out. (I almost did.)

It's going to look a little chaotic in there for a moment. You’ll probably have a little white fly off that you had wanted to keep attached to the egg. Breathe. It’s okay. It will still work out.

I poached my eggs for 4 minutes, trying to leave them alone as much as I could but gently nudging them off the bottom of the pot if it looks like they were going to stick.

Slide the egg onto a plate and dab a paper towel to collect the excess water. I skimmed the floating and sometimes foaming white bits off in between each egg and allowed the water a little time to heat back up to the perfect bubble point.

The egg great with a little drizzle with Olive Oil and sprinkle with Salt & Pepper. 

Or serve it on toast with slices of Avocado & Tomato. I used my Dutch Oven French Bread but you'll want to pick a nice sturdy bread that can hold up to these softer ingredients and gooey egg yolk.

There it is, my culinary fear conquered and quite deliciously I might add.

Happy Cooking!