We're in the middle of Week 13 of the 52 week challenge, and I really need to catch up on my challenge posts since I'm still back on Week 7! The theme for Week 7 of the 52 week challenge was poaching. I have always wanted to learn how to poach eggs, and thought I would try to make the most of this challenge by poaching both eggs and chicken for the first time.
First, poached eggs. The plan was to make a poached eggs and polenta dish (post forthcoming). I found lots of different methods for poaching eggs in my research, but the two that I thought were most feasible for me to try were from Simply Recipes and Smitten Kitchen. I decided to try both, making 2 eggs using each method.
Clockwise from top right: eggs ready to be poached, poaching process, imperfect finished products
First I followed Simply Recipes, dropped the egg into the hot water and used a spoon to try to keep the egg whites with the yolk. That didn't work all that well for me. The whites didn't stay anywhere near the yolk and just disintegrated all over the water. The Smitten Kitchen method that I tried second seemed more promising since you create a "whirlpool" and then drop the egg into the middle of it. That technique did work better for me (even though I made different rookie mistakes with those eggs, like forgetting the vinegar and letting them cook too long). Lesson learned: next time use the Smitten Kitchen method, remember the vinegar and don't overcook the eggs. Another thing I learned from the egg poaching experiment: I like eggs more than I thought I did.
Second, poached chicken. It's the perfect way to cook chicken when you are going to use it in a recipe that requires already-cooked chicken but doesn't need browning or additional flavors in the cooking process. I decided to make a pasta salad using the chicken (post on this also forthcoming).
Left to right: uncooked chicken, chicken mid-poaching, chicken finished
First, poached eggs. The plan was to make a poached eggs and polenta dish (post forthcoming). I found lots of different methods for poaching eggs in my research, but the two that I thought were most feasible for me to try were from Simply Recipes and Smitten Kitchen. I decided to try both, making 2 eggs using each method.
Clockwise from top right: eggs ready to be poached, poaching process, imperfect finished products
First I followed Simply Recipes, dropped the egg into the hot water and used a spoon to try to keep the egg whites with the yolk. That didn't work all that well for me. The whites didn't stay anywhere near the yolk and just disintegrated all over the water. The Smitten Kitchen method that I tried second seemed more promising since you create a "whirlpool" and then drop the egg into the middle of it. That technique did work better for me (even though I made different rookie mistakes with those eggs, like forgetting the vinegar and letting them cook too long). Lesson learned: next time use the Smitten Kitchen method, remember the vinegar and don't overcook the eggs. Another thing I learned from the egg poaching experiment: I like eggs more than I thought I did.
Second, poached chicken. It's the perfect way to cook chicken when you are going to use it in a recipe that requires already-cooked chicken but doesn't need browning or additional flavors in the cooking process. I decided to make a pasta salad using the chicken (post on this also forthcoming).
Left to right: uncooked chicken, chicken mid-poaching, chicken finished
I followed this guide from the Kitchn and it was really easy, although perhaps I should have been a little more attentive as I did let the chicken overcook a little bit. Basically you put the chicken in a pot with some salt and pepper, cover it with cool water by about an inch, bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, let the chicken simmer for about 8 minutes, and then check the temperature. When it reaches 165 degrees in the thickest part, it's done. I started checking the chicken around 8 or 9 minutes, and it was definitely done. Unfortunately it was overdone and when I tried to use forks to pull it apart, thinking it would shred like chicken does when it comes out of a slow cooker, it was too tough and I lost some of the chicken to the floor. Although it was a little overdone, it worked perfectly fine in the salad recipe that I used it in, and you could barely even tell that it cooked a bit too long.
I'm really glad that I learned how to poach eggs and chicken and I'm determined to get a perfectly poached egg done at some point. I like that this challenge means I get to learn new techniques that are useful!
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