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Poached Eggs in Bread Baskets
These are very good looking and easily prepared. Cut rather thick slices of bread, scooping out the center with spoon or fork. Toast bread a nice golden brown on all sides. Drop carefully poached egg into the cavity. Serve with bacon strips, garnish with watercress.
A short set of directions that assumes you already know how to poach an egg and toast bread; the useful detail is in the proportions and the timing of the two components.
- Choosing the breadThe recipe asks only for "rather thick" slices; something on the order of an inch, cut from an unsliced sandwich loaf or a firm white pan loaf, is what this needs. Standard packaged sliced bread is too thin to hollow out and will collapse under the egg.
- Hollowing the slicePress a spoon or a small glass into the center and pull out the crumb, leaving a thin floor and a rim all round. A single slice makes a shallow basket; two slices pressed together hold a large egg more securely.
- Toasting on all sidesA broiler or a dry skillet gives more even color than a toaster for a hollowed slice. Brushing the cut surfaces with melted butter before toasting helps the walls crisp and keeps the poaching liquid from soaking through.
- PoachingBarely simmering water with a spoonful of vinegar, about 3 minutes for a soft yolk in a large egg. Lift the egg out with a slotted spoon and blot it on a towel before it goes into the toast; carried-over water will soften the basket.
- Order of workThe toast waits worse than the eggs, so toast at the last moment. If the eggs are poached ahead, slip them into cool water and reheat them briefly rather than leaving them to sit in warm water, where they will keep cooking.
- YieldOne basket per person for a breakfast with bacon, two if the eggs are the whole of the meal.
- The watercressIt is a garnish here, not a salad, and it wilts fast against hot toast. Set it on the plate beside the basket rather than under it.