So I am very impressed with myself when I can do something she can't. I can make up recipes based on what I have in the fridge, and I can eyeball volumes and weights quite effectively. But my favorite entirely self taught skill is poaching an egg. I don't think my mom ever poached eggs, which makes it seem even more exotic. I'd only ever had poached eggs at swanky brunches, on eggs benedict dressed up in oppulent hollandaise sauce with a mimosa. Eggs are an easy, cheap source of protien, with lots of vitamins and minerals and they're easy to have on hand. Poaching eggs, like hard boiling, doesn't need added fat, but a soft poached egg with a warm runny yolk is so much more luxurious.
I needed to figure out this poaching business. The water has to be hot enough to cook the egg white on contact without actually boiling, or the bubbling would break apart the egg. Vinegar is absolutely vital- all that acid not only increases the temperature you can get without actually boiling (due to that aforementioned boiling point elevation), but it also denatures the protiens like heat does (the same way seafood is "cooked" in acid to make ceviche). In a saucepan, I heat 2 cups of water and 1/4 cup of vinegar til boiling, then lower the temperature till bubbling just stops. I break the egg into a cup before dropping it into the water, to reduce spreading. As the edges of the white cooks, I sort of fold them over the yolk to make a nice little mound of egg white. After about 2 and a half minutes, I ease the cooked egg out of the saucepan with a slotted spatula.
I haven't totally got this down to the point where I can turn out Sunday Brunch style eggs like it's my job, but I on Sunday afternoons I like to practice by making poached egg salads. A poached egg (or two) on top of a big green salad with a vinagrette and a handfull of chopped parsley. A warm, runny egg on top of a cool crisp salad is a really luxurious, decadent lunch (and actually really really cheap).
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