Who doesn’t love poached eggs, with that runny yolk dripping all over what lies beneath. If you don’t love poached eggs, then you should stop reading now.
To those who to chose to continue reading, that was a wise choice. Poached eggs are a bit intimidating in that they seem very difficult to make. They definitely take some practice to get them to come out perfectly every time, but if you follow the method I’ve been using from Smitten Kitchen, which I detail here, you will end up with delicious poached eggs.
One thing that seems to be more difficult is poaching several eggs at a time. You want to ensure you have a large enough pot as to prevent the eggs from attaching to one another. I made two at a time, twice, to achieve the 4 poached eggs for this dish.
Way back in 2010, I posted a recipe for French Bread Eggs Benedict with Asparagus, and this idea was sort of a take on that, except full credit goes to the Vegetarian, who said these ingredients would go together perfectly. I decided to roast some potatoes and asparagus and top it with the poached eggs (and a touch of old bay and pepper). The result is deliciously crispy potatoes, asparagus and a velvety smooth egg with a yolk that drips over everything. In order to achieve the crispy potatoes in less baking time, I boiled the potato chunks until they were nearly cooked through. Here is how you do it:
Ingredients:
Serves 2
4 eggs – poached and set aside on a paper towel
~1/2 pound asparagus, hard bottoms removed
~1/2 pound small yellow potatoes, cut into small cubes/chunks
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
old bay
Place oven rack into lower third of oven and heat to 400.
Prepare pot of water for poaching eggs and water to boil potatoes. Cook potatoes until semi-fork tender, the point where they are edible, but not completely cooked. Strain potatoes and place in a medium bowl. Add vegetable oil, a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to coat and place on one half of a baking sheet in a single layer.
On the other half of the baking sheet, arrange asparagus in a single layer and top with olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix to coat asparagus well with oil. Place in oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of asparagus. Near to the end of the cooking time, begin poaching eggs.
When eggs are poached and set aside, remove asparagus from oven, set aside and cover. Change your oven over to broil and cook potatoes 3-4 minutes, or until they are crispy. Arrange potatoes and asparagus on two plates and top with two poached eggs.**
Top with a bit of pepper and old bay seasoning and enjoy!
** If the potatoes and asparagus take a bit longer than expected, you can reheat your poached eggs by placing them back into poaching pot for 30 seconds. You can increase heat slightly to a low boil to ensure they heat and do not cook in that time.
