My Culinary Adventures: Poached Egg with Tomato and Fresh Basil on Toast

The other day I was looking at cooking websites to learn the basics, and "poaching" as a subject came up.  That's when I realized I don't think I have ever poached an egg.  Eggs are plentiful around here since there are always chickens and hens running around laying eggs, and well, the stores sell them too of course :)  I thought about maybe having a hen of my own but I think she would be bored and I'd need a rooster so she could have babies but that would mean enduring the crowing of all hours of the day and night and I really, really love my sleep.  Anyway, I also wanted to make use of the basil I have growing in my solar, or backyard area so I decided to try something fun for lunch.  Only thing missing is the mozzarella, but I could have gone out and bought some quesillo, which the cheese here which most closely relates to mozzarella.

Recipe


Ingredients
1 Egg
1 Slice whole wheat bread

1 Tomato, sliced
Few fresh leaves of basil

1. In a small pot, heat about 3 inches of water and some vinegar (vinegar helps the outer layer of the egg congeal faster) to the point where you can see bubbles on the bottom of the pot, but they are not rising to the top and breaking.
2. Crack the egg into a small cup.
3. Lower the cup into the water in the pot and tip it to very gently let the egg slide out.
4. Push the strands of egg that float away back towards the egg.
5. Poach egg for about 4-5 minutes depending on your preference for doneness (is that a word?).
6. The white part should be firm.  Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and let it drain on paper towels
7. Toast the bread.
8. Layer the egg first on the toast, then a slice of tomato, then the leaves of basil and add whatever else you'd like to it, salt and pepper, hot sauce, whatever :).  Alone is kind of bland.

Side note - the article I read about poaching eggs has a picture at the top of poached chicken and it reminded me with a nostalgic pang of Hainan Chicken, which I would love to attempt here but I don't think I have the means to.  We'll see!