My Favorite Breakfast

I love poached eggs on toast. It is my absolutely favorite comfort food for breakfast. Grr. That does not express the depth of of my adoration of poached eggs. How about this: I LOVE POACHED EGGS.

When I was a kid, I used to stay overnight at my grandmother's house and she would make me poached eggs for breakfast. She had this special multi-piece egg-poaching pan that poached two eggs at a time. (You boil water in the bottom part of the pan and then carefully crack the eggs into the top of the pan -- a metal insert with two half-moon reservoirs -- then cover.)

After my grandmother died, I inherited that contraption, and let me tell ya, it was a pain in the ass to clean! And, for the record, I hate "fussy" kitchen tools and appliances. I'm a multi-tasker, I expect my kitchen tools and appliances to be able to multitask too!

Fortunately, my husband was a short-order cook for a summer, and he taught me how to poach eggs the old-school way. No fancy tools -- just a pan of boiling water, a glug of white vinegar and a pinch of salt. After you get the water to boil, you lower the heat and then crack the eggs carefully into the bath. Bring the heat back up slowly and simmer for about a minute and a half. I usually set the toast in the broiler (See? Multitasking!) before I drop the eggs into the water (yes, I use my oven's broiler to toast bread!), so my toast is ready to lay those babies on. Finish with salt and freshly ground pepper, and voilà the best breakfast comfort food. Ever.