"poaching" news and stories

Sure scrambled or sunny-side-up eggs are easier, but don't let poached eggs scare you -- you don't need special equipment or a culinary degree to make a perfect pair.

Last night, I taught my friend Shay how to poach chicken breasts. She's going through a tough time at work, is coming down with the newest cold on the market, and couldn't bear the idea of cooking for herself. Food is harder for her than it is for most, as she's got some food allergies that preclude simply calling out for some Egg Drop soup from the local Chinese place. But she can eat chicken and so we poached.

We brought a pot of water to a boil and added salt, pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, a bit of olive oil and a few herbs from the small patch in the yard (if you don't have any fresh herbs, that's okay. A cracked clove of garlic is also be a nice addition to the poaching liquid). When the water was rolling, we dropped the chicken breasts in. I looked at her and said, "Now we wait about ten minutes." She said with surprise, "That's it?" I replied, "Yep, that's it."

There is so much you can do with some poached chicken. You can shred it and, with the addition of a little mayo and spices, turn it into a simple chicken salad. You can cool it down, slice it, and eat it on toast. You can dice it, flavor up the poaching liquid a bit, add it back and have a simple little soup. Or, as my mom likes to you, you can also boil up a potato and eat it with the chicken, salting each bite as you go. The thing to remember about poached chicken is that once you've got the water boiling, most of the work is already done. After a long day, when all you need is a comforting, protein-packed meal before you tumble into bed, remember poached chicken.

Many an egg has been discarded after an unsuccessful poaching attempt. The eggs cook, but even after following every trick you've heard about adding vinegar, swirling the water around and using various cups to drop the egg in exactly the right place, eggs still manage to come out looking less than perfect. Using an egg poacher will help you get cleaner shape, with no tendrils of egg white snaking off into the water, but using a Flower Shaped Egg Poacher will get you a more interesting one. Made of nonstick metal, the poacher will release the eggs onto your plate as easily as it cooks them. It may not make a traditionally-shaped poached egg, but will add an interesting touch to your breakfast plating.

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Chef Kazuki "Kaz" Yamamoto is on the cutting edge of cuisine. And by "cutting edge," what I mean is that he cooks rare, occasionally immoral, and sometimes outright illegal, foods for those who are willing to pay for them. Based out of Arizona, he travels to homes of rich and/or famous clients and plies them with previously untasted delicacies from his traveling "restaurant, known as "Le Menu". Because his client list includes government officials and gastronomes alike, Yamamoto says he has had few problems in the past obtaining locations, including restaurants, to hold his dinners. When Stephen Lemons, the Phoenix New Times food critic joined in a dinner, he sampled foods such as Saguaro cactus salad, made from the legally protected succulent; tenderloin of Bichon Frise, endangered pygmy owl, roasted and eaten whole, with entrails and bones intact; and nigiri-style seal sushi.

Other items that Yamamoto is famed for include chimpanzee stew (protected), grilled intestines of brown bear (poached from Yosemite), rhino genitals, gila monster, giraffe tongue, monkey tartare and a dozen variations on penguin meat.

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