Elliott Rodgers

Three things I love are cooking, gadgets and poached eggs. Cooking a decent poached egg can sometimes be a challenge and over the years I’ve tried many, many methods from the whirlpoool in boiling water, the clingfilm egg parcel and of course a dedicated poached egg pan. My current kitchen is tiny, with limited cupboard space so a pan just for poached eggs is a bit of a luxury.. the whirlpool in boiling water method was more of a whirlwont method and the clingfilm egg parcel just ended up with a weird golf ball like boiled/poached egg hybrid (they also roll off the toast and make a B-I-G mess on the floor).

Thanks to Ruthy, an Ambuangel Paramedic rather than a chef, posting on Facebook I discovered the simply brilliant poached egg pouch (Amazon) the solution to beautiful fluffy runny poached eggs, it’s also worth getting their best friend the pod lifter (Amazon) which makes it well… easier to lift them out of the boiling water.

Some tricks I have found when using them which may help…

• They need oiling, getting one of those little oil spray bottles makes this very easy.
• If you put the lid on the pan once the pods are in simmering water sometimes you get a tiny splash of water on top of the egg – a steady hand can pour this off when using the lifter or by gently pressing a kitchen towel on top of the poached egg once it is cooked.
• If you are feeling especially decedant you can add a thin slice of cheese on top and melt the cheese under a grill. A thin slice of salami, ham or cooked bacon between the cheese and the egg is also tasty.
• A sprinkle of fresh herbs in the poach after oiling makes a colourful and tasty extra.
• If you are one of those who love Marmite, poached eggs on Marmite toast is simply gorgeous.

When I next cook some of them I’ll add some photos..

I never thought I would utter the words – wow, that’s one sexy stove! Now I like cooking, friends like me cooking for them but well a cooker is, well you know, a cooker…. right?

Wrong?! Meet The William.

This hob is as sexy in a cooking kind of way as a three hour Nigella Special.

If this is what these guys have done to the hob – I can’t wait to see what they are going to do to the oven.

One tiny problem when you can buy one might be getting my pocket money to stretch that far!

Oh and a quick nod and hat tip to the Techi blog where I saw it first.