As I have mentioned in other posts, I like to play tennis and this year I was persuaded into playing tennis league.  My team was amazing!  A bunch of  fun, hard working, good looking, classy ladies.  As a team, we had a lot of talent, enthusiasm, great leadership, commitment, dedication, wonderful sense of humor and most of all, a big appetite (for winning as well as for good food).  After many months of training and sacrifice, we made it to the sectionals, but lost on the semi-finals.  All I will say on my part is that the whole experience was very enriching as well as humbling… On the bright side, I gained more than I put in, because besides learning about strategy, teamwork and gaining self confidence, I made wonderful new friendships and got a chance to spend time with old ones.  I learned about perseverance, passion, patience and believe it or not, how to really poach an egg (ok, poaching tennis balls as well, ja, ja!).  You see, the husband of one of my team mates, personal chef Carlos Mier, taught me his technique to poach an egg to perfection.  I confess that for a long time I made them in one of those egg poachers gadgets that you put in the middle of a skillet over simmering water and the results were just… okay. After his explanation, I gave it a try at home and voila!…  I made the lightest and most beautiful restaurant-style poached eggs ever!!!  Like in tennis and everything in life, it takes practice, but in no time you too can be making these delicate eggs! Here, I share with you some tips so that you can make them at home. Thank you Kako!

Procedure to make Poached Eggs

1.  Bring 6 cups of water to a simmer (medium until bubbles start to form in the bottom and sides of pan) in a medium sauce pan. Do not bring to an active boil. The deeper the better, so 4-6 inches deep of water.

2.  Add 1 tbsp. of white vinegar for every pint (2 cups).

3.  Crack an egg into a greased ladle (I use an olive oil sprayer) and dip slowly into sauce pan where you will see that the egg white will start to cook and change color. Once this starts to happen, carefully let some hot water into the ladle and tilt it rapidly to drop whole egg into water-vinegar mixture.

4. Let cook for about 2-3 minutes if you want the egg yolk to still be soft and runny. Remove from saucepan with a slotted spoon to let water drain.  Serve over toast, vegetables, potatoes, rice or as Eggs Benedict.