Saturday, January 16, 2010

The poached and the soft boiled:

I've been awash by the pursuit of making soft boiled eggs. I like delicately piercing them with a small wire to release the air in them before boiling, and was pleased that my carefully timed 6 minutes this morning resulted in just the right amount of runniness in the yolk. Oh, egg yolk. Please pass the salt and pepper. A bowl of yoghurt with red current preserves on the side, a pot of yunnan at hand.

And tonight's lentil serenade was as much about the rendered pancetta, toasted spices, brown chicken stock, lentils du puy and caramelized onions as it was a vehicle for a poached egg, yolk barely contained by a thin skin surrounded by soft whites. My mistake of too much vinegar in the poaching water turned out to be a blessing in disguise- the overall effect of the finished plate would have not been complete without that hint of bright acidity. Next time I'll poach them with a bit of sherry vinegar.