Julia Child's Extra Step For Perfectly Poached Eggs Was Genius

Poaching eggs is one of those things that seems like it should be easy, but it ends up being more challenging than you'd think. Most of the issue lies in the final version of the egg white; it's always disappointing to pull out a poached egg with a sloppy, frilly egg white that looks like an unmade bed. But Julia Child, who I like to think of as the patron saint of the home kitchen, had an interesting trick up her sleeve to make sure your poached eggs come out with firm, tight whites that are attractively shaped.

Child first started by using a thumbtack to poke a tiny hole on the wide side of the egg, which got any natural excess air out. But the most important part of the technique is that she always lowered the eggs in the gently boiling water, in the shell, for 10 seconds before she eventually cracked them into the water to finish cooking. What that does is tighten up the egg white a bit before it's fully cooked, ensuring a much more attractive bundle in the end when you pull it out of the water four minutes later with a slotted spoon. 

Okay, so we already know eggs Benedict is a perfect way to use poached eggs, but if you want to actually see the eggs to showcase your fine culinary skills, why not put them front and center? So, I recommend you use the eggs as a topper where they are most visible, like on something simple such as avocado toast, or on top of a salad. 

One type of salad where a poached egg is a key ingredient is a Lyonnaise salad, which features a salad of boldly flavored greens covered in a warm bacon vinaigrette and a single poached egg. Piercing the egg yolk while you're eating the salad only enhances the dressing and makes it even richer — a Lyonnaise salad just wouldn't be the same without it.

That would be my pick, because a Lyonnaise salad feels fancy but is otherwise pretty easy to make. Or you could try our breakfast salad recipe, since there's no law written that you can't eat salad for breakfast.