There are a few ways to poach an egg and each person has their favourite method of doing so. I’m not a fan of poaching eggs in a water bath with added vinegar and have always preferred using a dedicated egg poacher instead. My old poaching pan seemed to take forever when poaching eggs and was ditched when I came across these silicone poaching pods. Perfect for poaching eggs, these pods are easy to use and I never seem to have a problem turning out the eggs once cooked. Also, the eggs cook faster than my old poaching pan.

Using poaching pods requires a pot with a lid and I use my wide shallow sauté pan for this purpose, which snugly fits six pods. To prevent the eggs from sticking I always rub the insides of the pods with some vegetable oil or butter.  When the eggs are cooked, a large slotted spoon is helpful when removing the pods from the boiling water, but having acquired asbestos fingers over the years, I grab the edges of the silicone pods and lift them out. Sometimes a small amount of water collects on top of the poached eggs which I tip out before removing the eggs from the pods. Running the blunt side of a dinner knife around the edge of the egg helps loosen it from the pod and with a little nudge, the egg slides out easily.

If poaching pods and poaching equipment are not for you the eggs can always be poached using the water bath method, pop over to Simple Recipes blog to see how. Sometimes I like to posh the poached eggs up a little and serve them with lightly sautéed cherry tomatoes and then add a little gourmet touch at the table and sprinkle over some home-made vanilla sea salt (very easy to make) to season the finished dish

Poached Eggs with Sautéed Cherry Tomatoes and Vanilla Sea Salt

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons of olive oil
• 12 cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 1 spring onion (green part only), finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 4 slices of toasted bread of your choice
• home-made vanilla sea salt or sea salt, to season when serving

How to make: Add a few inches of water plus a 1/4 teaspoon salt into a suitable saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and bring the water to a boil. Meanwhile, rub the inside of each pod with some vegetable oil or butter and crack an egg into each pod. Turn the heat down so the water comes to a simmer and carefully place the poaching pods into the water, cover with a lid and poach the eggs for about 3 to 4 minutes or until done to your liking.

While the eggs are poaching; heat some olive oil in small sauté pan, add the cherry tomatoes, spring onion and balsamic vinegar. Cook over a gentle heat for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes have softened a little. Turn off the heat, reserve until needed.

Lift the cooked eggs from the saucepan and remove the eggs from the pods. Serve immediately with warm toast and top with sautéd cherry tomatoes. Season the finished dish with vanilla sea salt or sea salt.

Do you use silicone poaching pods? Have you found any other uses for these poaching pods?