I was at a loss when I sat down to write this post. Quite frankly, with up to 500 words to fill, and the simplicity of a coddled egg, adding enough text to balance an overload of images seemed to be a challenge. All that came to mind was a brief and insincere exploration of the convenience of this method, Scared of poaching eggs? Try coddling! Simple, convenient and quick! worthy of the back of a can or “recipe idea” pamphlets for various products.
And so, when stuck, one turns to examples.
I started at the Sophisticated Gourmet, whose recounting of his soul-searching morning before baking an apple loaf cake almost brought me to tears and made me ready to write a heart-rending narrative of my coddled, first-world problem-filled life, allegorically comparing the gentle cooking and soft yolk of a coddled egg to my spoiled upbringing and current state as flimsy and likely easy to kill. Suitably impressed, I subsequently showed the Sophisticated Gourmet’s emotional narrative to my mother, who then provided me with an apt word—affectation.
(I’ll be honest–being sentimental, I still really enjoy this blog.)
I turned to the Wild Yeast Blog, where her impeccably crafted posts provided a blunt contrasted in focusing solely on technical detail.
I looked at the local Dinner with Julie next where the openings of her posts were personable and easily demonstrated her experience. Smitten Kitchen often started humorously, and a touch of anecdote and a bit of description composed Desserts for Breakfast.
Superfluous or technical, I thoroughly enjoyed all of these food blog preambles, and in particular, the smooth transition to the recipe. I found myself looking back at what I had originally considered—approaching the benefits of coddled eggs, but scrapping the mechanical manner I had adopted.
So yes, the coddled egg: I love eggs fried so that they are browned and crisp, boiled so that the whites are bouncy and firm, or poached such that they are just set—really, I love eggs any way as long as the yolks remain runny. Lately I have been coddling eggs—gently cooking them in water.
Most of the joy I derive from coddled eggs is how much easier it is to clean than when making poached eggs—you can also make do with a much smaller pot. The most important thing in cooking, after all, is to minimize the number of dishes you wash afterwards.
I began cooking them on a small rack to stop the ramekins from rattling against the bottom of the pot (mostly due to a somewhat unrelated paranoia derived from the last time I shattered a very hot glass pan which then melted patches of our floor). But apart from this irrational fear, making eggs is fairly effortless–just do remember to check to ensure the yolk doesn’t overcook.
Coddled Eggs
Start a pot of water boiling, the level high enough to go partway up the ramekin
Put some sort of flavouring on the bottom of the ramekin: cheese, herbs, cream, cooked vegetable, etc. Crack in an egg.
Set the ramekin in the water, lowering the temperature in order to maintain a low simmer, until the white is set and the yolk is whatever consistency you prefer—this is usually around five minutes for a soft yolk.
And really, anything works!
