A poached egg is an egg that has been broken, gently slid into boiling water, and gently cooked. The egg should have a runny yolk, while the white stays attached to the egg and is thoroughly cooked. It takes skill to cook poached eggs that retain their shape and look appetizing. Poached eggs are often added to other dishes.

INFORMATION BELOW COMPILED FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS

POACHED EGGS
If the eggs are fresh, they will look most inviting, but the way of breaking and boiling them must be most carefully attended to, and care should be taken not to boil too many together. If the yolks separate from the white, it may be presumed that the egg is not fresh, but it may be eatable, for the same thing may happen through awkwardness in poaching.

When ready to poach eggs, take the required number to the stove. Use a shallow frying pan partly filled with boiling water. The water must be boiling hot, but not actually bubbling. We should endeavor to have the eggs look as white as possible. In order to insure this, to every pint of water, allow one tablespoon of vinegar. 

Break an egg into a saucer, slide it quickly into the water, and then another and another. Pull the pan to the side of the stove, where the water cannot possibly boil. With a tablespoon, baste the water over the yolks of the eggs if they happen to be exposed. They must be entirely covered with a thin veil of the white.

When they are set fairly firm, take them out with an egg-slice, using the left hand and trim them with the right. Poached eggs often look best when the yolk reposes in a sort of pillow-case of white.

A tin or aluminum egg poacher is very convenient. When using rings, butter the rings, fill each compartment with an egg, and dip into the boiling water. These are inexpensive and economical, as no part of the egg is wasted.

POACHED EGGS ON FRIED TOMATOES
Cut solid tomatoes into slices a quarter of an inch thick. Dust them with salt and pepper and dip them in egg beaten with a tablespoon of water. Roll them thickly with bread crumbs, dip them again in the egg, dust again with bread crumbs, and fry in deep, hot fat. Drain on brown paper and dish them on a heated platter. Put a poached egg in the center of each slice, dust with salt and pepper, put a tablespoonful of tomato sauce over each egg and send at once to the table.

CREAMED POACHED EGGS
Put a quart of hot water, a tablespoon of vinegar and a teaspoon of salt into a frying pan. Break each egg separately into a saucer. Slip the egg carefully into the hot water, simmer three or four minutes until the white is set. Then with a skimmer, lift them out into a hot dish. Empty the pan of its contents and put in half a cup of cream or rich milk. If milk, add a large spoonful of butter. Pepper and salt to taste, and thicken with a very little cornstarch. Let it boil up once, and turn it over the dish of poached eggs. It is a better plan to warm the cream in butter in a separate dish, that the eggs may not have to stand. Mushrooms, asparagus tips, minced parsley, minced cold boiled ham, cauliflower, green corn, oysters, sausage or dried beef may be added to any cream sauce and served over poached eggs.

POACHED EGGS IN MILK
Eggs are thought by some to be much more tasty when poached in milk rather than in water. Set a pan on the range containing a pint of milk, then beat six eggs well. When the milk is very nearly boiling, put in one teaspoon salt and one-half tablespoon butter, then add the eggs. Stir steadily until it thickens, which will be in a minute or two. Set it off before it becomes very thick, and continue to stir it a minute more.

Have ready in a warm dish two slices of toasted bread spread with butter, and pour the egg over them. It should be a little thicker than boiled custard. This is an ample breakfast for six or seven persons.

EGGS BENEDICT
Split and toast the required number of English muffins. Have ready poached eggs and some very thin rounds of broiled ham, one of each for each half muffin. Dip the edges of the toasted muffins in boiling, salted water, and spread lightly with butter. Set a slice of hot ham above the toast and the poached egg above the ham and pour Hollandaise sauce over the whole.

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
For six eggs, beat half a cup of butter to a cream. Then beat in, one at a time, the yolks of four eggs, with a dash of salt and of pepper. Add half a cup of boiling water and two tablespoons of lemon juice. Cook over hot water, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens.

EGGS CORTLAND
Mince sufficient cold chicken to make one-half cup. Make a half pint of cream sauce, add the minced chicken, one-half teaspoon salt, and a dash of red pepper. Toast a sufficient quantity of bread, put it on a heated platter, and pour over a small quantity of the minced chicken and cream sauce. Put on each a poached egg, cover with the remaining sauce, dust with parsley and serve with a garnish of green peas.

RICE WITH POACHED EGGS
Steam rice in a shallow dish. When done, make depressions for the required number of eggs. Break one into each hollow, set the dish in a steamer for two minutes or till whites are set. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and send to the table. 

Creamed potatoes may be substituted for rice sometimes.

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How Do You Like to Cook Eggs? Please Leave a Comment Below.

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VINTAGE COOKING from the 1800s ~ EGGS
by Angela A Johnson

How did people cook and store eggs without electricity?
This book tells how to determine freshness, how to cook, and how to preserve eggs.

Recipes include Fried, Poached, Baked, and Boiled Eggs, Omelets, Soufflés, Egg Balls, Custards, Puddings, Dressing, Sauces, Creams, Drinks, and more…..

Available from these online Retailers:

Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Barnes&Noble, Scribd, 24 Symbols,  Playster, Angues & Robertson, Mondadori Store, and more

Also available as  Regular Print and Large Print on Amazon.

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