Luxurious, Lazy and Thrifty – Poached Eggs

If you have a little vinegar, and a small pot, you can have the most glorious poached eggs. Do you need silky golden yolk slipping away from a firm white? Don’t get me started!

Poaching away. Happily.

Adorned with a stripe of salt and black pepper.

Digging in!!!

Lately, I have been thinking about lowering my fat intake by just a little bit. Having fried eggs all the time is no path to glory. So I thought I might try poaching eggs instead. Many many ugly eggs later, victims of my experiments, I realized I needed perhaps to actually learn how people do it. I got a serious bee in my bonnet after fixating on …Lisa’s… eat, drink and be a fat bastard photostream on Flickr, where she displays her first proper set of poached eggs. I was totally inspired! After a few more tries, I feel like I have it down to a science!*

Poached Eggs

• 2 eggs; (about $.16)
• water in a pot, enough to cover the eggs by 1/2″ or so – about 2 cups;
• 1 tablespoon of vinegar (the very cheapest distilled or apple cider is fine – mere pennies, if at all).

Bring the water to a boil. Shut off the heat. Wait until the bubbles stop. Add the vinegar. Crack each egg carefully and slip them in. Wait about 5 minutes, if you like them a teensy bit runny (as I do). Fish them out of the pot with a flat spatula. If you have some roasted garlic or garlic butter lying about, drop a teaspoon or two on the eggs. I like my poached eggs with some pita bread (about $.10 per pita) – costs less if you use regular bread (shown above with a toasted white roll). Lot of goodness for less than fifty cents. Enjoy!!!

*With practice, it’s totally multi-tasking friendly. For example, the other day, I started the water, made a short phone call, checked email, plopped in the eggs. I was done with the eggs at the end of the call!

Spinach Frittata. Egg in a Nest. Oven Fried Red Potatoes. Miscellaneous Breakfast Joy

When I made a spinach frittata recently, I let someone, who shall remain nameless, have a “bite.” Somehow, upon my return to the pan, hoping to enjoy the last two tablespoons, the rest of it had disappeared! The explanation: “well, it was so good…” Oh, a little flattery gets you everywhere. Who says crime doesn’t pay!

Spinach (and Bean Salad) Frittata:

• 2 eggs;
• 2 egg whites;
• 2 whopping cups of organic spinach from Costco;*
• 4 tablespoons of bean salad, drained;**
• 4 tablespoons of Kraft Parmesan grated cheese; and
• black pepper, to taste.

Feeds one very very hungry person (me). Plus one interloper. OK, so, I sliced the spinach leaves into a loose chiffonade. While the cast iron skillet heated up to a nice medium high, I beat the eggs together with the spinach, bean salad, cheese, and black pepper. Threw some vegetable oil on there. Then I put it all in the skillet. And then tried to flip it, in parts. That was pretty much it. Probably took me all of 4 or 5 minutes of prep. Might have taken 10 minutes to cook. The bean salad adds sweetness, a nice chewiness, and a great tang that stands up to the spinach nicely.

Egg in the Nest

Also made Egg in the Nest recently, with the help of this lid:

Began like so:

Ended like so:

Now you know when I say you might want to avoid using raisin bread to make Egg in the Nest…well, I lived through the hardship of over-carmelization – so you can learn from my pain…

Red Potato Oven Fries

You buy a sack of potatoes. You have the very best intentions. But how quickly can any human get through a 5lb bag (especially if rice = = primary starch)? The potatoes looked wilted and lame after waiting around with nothing to do for too darn long. I resuscitated them overnight with a dash of vinegar. Vinegar prevents the potatoes from browning. I don’t have the “before.” Just know and trust that the potatoes were less than photogenic.

After:

The next day, I drained and dried them, slathered them in olive oil and a pre-packaged Italian-style herb mix before baking them at 375F for about 1/2 hr. Easy as pie. Freezes and microwaves beautifully. Lovely to have for breakfast, especially with eggs and some fine coffee.

After roasting, then freezing:

*Links you to a 2004 industry article regarding the synergy between Costco’s membership base and the organic agriculture market.

**Since the first time I made it, I find myself making it every few weeks. This last rendition boasted some canned corn.

South Asian Foods, giving you halwa puri, yes, in Fridley, MN (blissful altar of breakfast post #3)

south asian foods, in fridley, mn

Somewhere, off of Highway 694 I believe, you can find a grocery catering to the South Asian palate. That’s right, in the middle of nowheresville, a.k.a., Fridley, Minnesota, you can find a tiny, teeny shop selling toor dal, sambal and the like. Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, and other people patronize the store.

I took a special field trip there with one of my friends, an Indian national, pining for some tolerably authentic food for breakfast. He said it was OK that it was Pakistani. On Saturday mornings you can buy an inexpensive breakfast (somewhere under $6.00 I think) – halwa puri – including rice, dal, halwa, puri, and other nice things. It takes a LOT to get me up on a Saturday morning, but my friend threatened me by saying that if we did not get there by 9:30 a.m., none would be left. So, I went. I saw. I ate. It was SO good. Smells great when you go in, too.

If you find yourself pining for a good breakfast on a Saturday morning to remind you of the old country, look no further than South Asian Foods!

(post #3 in a series of posts about BREAKFAST!)

South Asian Foods
765 53rd Ave. NE
Fridley, MN 55421
(763) 586-9800