Emily

Perfect Poached Eggs

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Poached Eggs Polenta Kale Walnut Pesto
Poached Eggs with Polenta and Kale Walnut Pesto

Maybe it’s just me, but for years I was completely intimidated by the idea of poaching eggs. I could make them pretty much any other way but poaching… um, no.  I  attempted it a few times and ended up with watery egg drop soup. Gag.

The thing is, I really like poached eggs and I didn’t want to have go out for brunch every time I craved them. So I read a bunch of cookbooks (this was pre-internet, you iPhone babies), practiced a few techniques and now… perfect poached eggs, every time.

I’m telling you, it’s easy peasy as long as you do a few things. One, don’t use boiling, bubbling water. A gentle simmer is the way to go here. Two, crack each egg into a little cup or ramekin first. Makes it so much easier to plop in the water. Three, swirl. I’ll explain that one later.

I’ve paired these poached eggs with Creamy, Soft Polenta and Kale and Walnut Pesto. Best breakfast ever?

What you’ll need:

A deep, wide skillet (something like this)
Ramekins or little cups for your eggs
A wooden spoon
A slotted spoon
Paper towels

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Egg poaching process

Egg poaching process

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Kale and Walnut Pesto

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Kale and Walnut Pesto
Ingredients for Kale and Walnut Pesto
 
Today we’re making kale and walnut pesto (inspired by The Hop’s Kale and Almond Pesto), to go with our Sausage with Creamy Polenta and Kale Walnut Pesto. Even if kale is not your favorite thing, this is a good way to try it because it’s so good for you, but also deliciously cheesy/nutty.  It would definitely be great on pasta or on anything that basil pesto is good with.
 
We would claim to have used nuts from our black walnut tree, but as the linked article admits, they’re impossible to harvest efficiently!
 
Oh, and here’s our recipe for creamy polenta.

Creamy, Soft Polenta

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Creamy Polenta
This polenta is meant to have a soft, porridge-like consistency. We used it for Sausage with Creamy Polenta and Kale Walnut Pesto but it would be great with any kind of stew, as a substitute for mashed potatoes or noodles.
 
What you’re looking for is course, stone-ground, long-cooking polenta. Of course, you could use instant instead but it won’t taste quite the same.
 

Brunch at The Hop. Finally.

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The HopI’m embarrassed to admit it but Matt and I have lived in Beacon for over a year and we just made it to The Hop for the first time. It’s shameful, I know. If you haven’t heard of it,  it’s kind of a craft beer mecca, half store, half gastro-pub. They have a tiny bar with a great selection of seasonal beers on tap as well as 5 (only five!) tables where you can sit, drink and eat. Needless to say, those tables fill up fast. Coming from over-crowded Brooklyn, every time we thought about going, I pictured us standing around, stomachs gurgling, glaring at people in order to frighten them into giving up their table. You know, I seriously think I might have PTSD from years of  Williamsburg Sunday brunch plans.

This was a typical weekend event from about 1995-2002 (can you see my eye twitching as I write this?), you would wake up Sunday morning, a little hungover but quite peckish. You’d call a few friends, “Hey, come meet me at Teddy’s for brunch”, you’d say. “Sure”, they’d say. “It’s 2pm and I’m still in bed but I can be there in 2o minutes”.  You’d imagine sitting at a sunny, window-side table, the steam from your coffee wafting up delicately. Bloody Marys magically refilling themselves as you munch on the perfect poached eggs. In reality, you end up back home 8 hours later, still hungry but now with a limp and a bruise you’re not sure how you got. Twitch, twitch.

Anyway, we finally gathered up our courage and headed over to The Hop last Sunday… and immediately got the last table. Damn, I love it up here. Of course I’d been reading about this place for months so I knew I was going to get the lamb sausage with polenta, poached egg and and kale pesto. Ermahgerd, sogud.

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Sausage with Creamy Polenta and Kale Walnut Pesto

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Sausage with Creamy Polenta and Kale Walnut PestoInspired by The Hop’s amazing dish (theirs has lamb sausage, kale almond pesto and poached eggs), here is our simplified recipe. Use whatever sausage you like  (turkey, pork, lamb or chicken would all work well) or add some drilled tofu for a veggie version. The only sausage I wouldn’t try is seafood since it’s delicate flavor would probably be overwhelmed by the cheesy polenta and the kale. 

I’ve posted separate recipes for the polenta and the pesto, so for this, all you need to do is brown the sausages and serve.

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The. Best. Mojito.

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Does the world need another mojito recipe? Yes. Yes it does, because this one has a little something extra that, in my tipsy, slightly slurred opinion, takes it to the next level of yumminess. And no, I’m not suggesting you buy an expensive, impossible-to-find rum. Or scour the earth for special ice made from Himalayan … Read more