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Poached Eggs IX - Mr Breakfast - The Yankee Doodle

Blog: Norfolk Single Dad
Posted by: Eddie2sox Wednesday 2nd January 2008, 9:47pm

The entertaining “Mr Breakfast” is back on the scene, following their competent mid-table result for their Scrambled Egg.

This American website is more than just lists of ingredients and methods, they add some real human warmth (with a side of humour) to the way they present their food. I like the site a lot, and would heartily recommend a visit, but will their Poached be a Patch on their Scrambled? Mr Breakfast was first up for the aforementioned challenge, and their great yet basic recipe may have scored higher if tried later in the voting.

You can find this recipe here : http://www.mrbreakfast.com/ask.asp?askid=16

The recipe was simple enough, and here are the votes of the Norwegian jury.

Ease & Effort: 3.5 - Not the easiest, not the toughest. There is a slight linguistic faff surrounding the word “skillet”, which - on average - is translated to “frying pan”. But a frying pan 3 inches deep? You’ll be pretty lucky I reckon. The biggest such Pan I have, when almost filled to the brim with water, was only 2.4 inches deep. But, then again, Mr Breakfast later says “2 to 3 inches of water”, so hopefully you’ll have something deep enough. The rest is fairly self-explanatory, written as a reply to a “possibly made up” question from a reader called Florence. Such as, on putting the egg into the water, “Now, gently…gently Florence…ease your egg….etc” Very entertaining though, well done Mr B for adding a unique style to your recipe.

Presentation: 3.5 - It didn‘t look “awful“, but it was a distance from perfect too. I’m purely guessing that the lack of “swirl” or vinegar, to help keep the egg together, accounts for the spreading of the egg. This is even acknowledged in the recipe…..”Those flowing strands of white are nothing to be worried about.” With the egg I cooked though, the finished product ended up with the yolk at one end and the white at the other, which detracted from the overall effect.

Yolk: 2.5 - Couldn‘t fault it! A cooking time for “medium“ yolk was 3 minutes, which worked very well. Especially bearing in mind the “bonus” 30 seconds that I decided on due to “The White Clause” (see below). Absolutely perfect!

White: 2.0 - Mr Breakfast must be given great credit, as he is the only person so far to suggest checking the egg white for firmness before removal from the “skillet“. Due to the spread-out nature of the egg, it was a little difficult to tell if the white was simply “cooked through but covered with water” or “not quite cooked, and watery”. On Mr B’s advice I returned the egg to the water for 30 seconds just in case, and ended up with a fantastic poached finish. Not quite the perfect shape, but perfectly cooked. Good work Mr B, you’re carving out a good reputation for yourself in England!

Scores On The Doors

Mahalo - 12.5

Vash The Stampede - 12.0

Old Bob - 11.5

Mr Breakfast - 11.5

Rick Stein - 10.5

Mrs Beeton - 9.0

Ainsley Harriott - 6.5

James Martin - 6.0

Delia Smith - 4.0

Running Order:

10 - Australian Egg Board

11 - Woolpack Wally

12 - Poached Egg Machine

TBN - Wally Webb

Your Points Of View

Following on from her comment the other day, Sister L (Nope, she’s not a nun. Not that I know of anyway) added the following, referring to Delia’s poached egg abomination (she lives in Lincolnshire. Sis, not Delia) : “Yuk! Is this the best of Norfolk? TEN minutes? At least there's time for a G & T but I'd have gone off the poached egg idea by then and be on my way to the pub for a sarnie!!” Again, WELL SAID SIS!

Send Me Your Comments!

New this time - YOUR chance to participate in the world’s best blog-based cooking/tasting eggy competition. The Welsh Rarebit thread prompted loads of comments and emails, and I wish I’d shared some of them with you. So. Email me at trix68@hotmail.co.uk or leave a comment on the blog.

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