Poached Eggs, Creole

This is an assembly instruction rather than a full recipe: it assumes you already have poached eggs, toast and a pot of Creole sauce ready at the same moment. The whole dish stands or falls on that timing.

• The hinge: everything hot at onceHave the sauce simmering and the toast made before the eggs go into the water. Poached eggs cool and toughen within a minute or two of leaving the pan, and toast turns to a sponge under sauce if it has gone limp.
• "Prepare the eggs"The title indicates poaching. Poach in barely simmering water, 3 to 4 minutes for a set white and liquid yolk; a splash of vinegar in the water is a common aid. Lift with a slotted spoon and blot on a cloth or paper so water does not thin the sauce.
• Creole sauceThe recipe assumes a Creole sauce made separately. Such sauces are typically onion, green pepper, celery and garlic sweated in butter or fat, with tomatoes, a bay leaf and cayenne, simmered down to a thick spooning consistency. If the sauce is loose it will run off the eggs and flood the plate; reduce it until a spoon drawn through leaves a brief track.
• ToastCut a firm white bread thick, toast it dry and hard, and do not butter heavily; a solid slab holds up far better than soft sandwich bread.
• Yield and servingThe recipe gives no yield; one or two eggs on toast per person suits it as a lunch or supper dish. The half teaspoon of parsley is sprinkled "over all", i.e. over the finished dish rather than measured out per plate.
• Runny yolksA properly poached egg here is not cooked through. If you are serving anyone who should avoid undercooked egg, poach until the yolk is firm or choose another dish.