Poached Egg on Toast with Avocado & Tomato

Elizabeth — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Good Morning Breakfast Hub! It’s Elizabeth from Not Everything I Make is Pretty, I hope you’re having a great Thursday morning so far. I’m (seriously) excited about this weeks post, it’s a surprisingly easy homemade recipe that will definitely impress your breakfast guests.

I finally overcame one of my cooking fears!

I poached an egg.

I was pretty sure they were going to be undercooked, fall apart into a stringy mess or I’d end up with a pot of soggy egg water (is that even possible?). I’m not sure why I was so scared but a poached egg was intimidating to me. I set to work on research, to learn from other homecook’s do’s and don’ts. Theres a lot of differing opinions out there so I compiled what I thought would be my best shot at a successful egg poaching. It worked for me, I hope you give it a try and let us know what works for you

(and maybe what didn’t).

Serves 4

4 Eggs

1 1/2 tsp Vinegar*

4 Slices of Toast

2 Avocados

2 Tomatoes

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

*I used Apple Cider Vinegar, because it’s what I had, not because I prefer it, maybe another one is better but it worked well for me.

First, heat a pot with a few inches of water in it, I used a 3.5 quart saucepan. Add vinegar to the water. This helps tighten up the egg.

You don’t want boiling water. You don’t want simmering water. You want very hot water at the point right before it simmers. Bubbles, not boiling.

Break an egg into a small dish. It is easier to slide the egg in from a dish and you can focus one hand on the next step and not worry about using both hands to crack your egg. Unless you’re awesome at cracking an egg one handed (when I try to crack eggs with one hand I end up with shells in my eggs).

Make a whirlpool with your spoon. Slide the egg into the middle of the whirlpool with your other hand.

This is my favorite part from a set of instructions I found on Smitten Kitchen:

Don’t freak out. (I almost did.)

It’s going to look a little chaotic in there for a moment. You’ll probably have a little white fly off that you had wanted to keep attached to the egg. Breathe. It’s okay. It will still work out.

I poached my eggs for 4 minutes, trying to leave them alone as much as I could but gently nudging them off the bottom of the pot if it looks like they were going to stick.

Slide the egg onto a plate and dab a paper towel to collect the excess water. I skimmed the floating and sometimes foaming white bits off in between each egg and allowed the water a little time to heat back up to the perfect bubble point.

The egg great with a little drizzle with Olive Oil and sprinkle with Salt & Pepper.

Or serve it on toast with slices of Avocado & Tomato. I used my Dutch Oven French Bread but you’ll want to pick a nice sturdy bread that can hold up to these softer ingredients and gooey egg yolk.

There it is, my culinary fear conquered and quite deliciously I might add.

Happy Cooking!

The post Poached Egg on Toast with Avocado & Tomato appeared first on The Breakfast Hub.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Elizabeth — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Chocolate what?! But it’s not green.

The Zucchini makes this breakfast treat deliciously moist and the Ganache is a gooey ribbon of goodness. I need to find a way to Ganache the middle (as I turn it into a verb) but maybe that would make it more cake like. But do you want to know the best part, if the chocolate bread and chocolate ganache isn’t enough….

With three whole zucchini in the batter you can tell everyone, including yourself, it’s (almost) healthy!

For the Batter
4 Large Eggs
1-1/2 Cup Butter
1-1/2 Cup Sugar
3 Cups Zucchini, Finely Grated
3 Cups Flour
1-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Salt
2 oz. Unsweetened Chocolate, Melted

In a bowl, beat the Eggs until creamy and light yellow, about 3 minutes.

Add the Butter and Sugar, beat another 2 minutes.

Fold in Melted Chocolate and then Zucchini.

Add Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Cinnamon, and Salt. Beat for 1-minute until just combined.

Pour batter into a greased and floured Bread Pan, fill to 3/4*.

Bake on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven for about 65 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning out and serve with Chocolate Glaze.

*If you have extra batter, pour it into ramekins and make little mini breads. These cook in 35-40 minutes. Be sure to save Chocolate Ganache for these little sweet treats.

For the Gananche
3/4 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips
3 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Light Corn Syrup
1/4 tsp VanillaCombine Chocolate Chips, Butter, and Corn Syrup. Heat in microwave, stirring every 15 seconds, until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add Vanilla.

Spread warm glaze over top of cake, letting it drizzle down the sides.

Happy Baking!

[yumprint-recipe id=’6′]

The post Chocolate Zucchini Bread appeared first on The Breakfast Hub.

bread Archives - The Breakfast Hub

Poached Egg on Toast with Avocado & Tomato

Chocolate Zucchini Bread