The Insatiable Food Machine

About the food....

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 21:44:00 +0000

"Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education." ~Mark Twain

About the food...

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:41:00 +0000

"The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a star." -Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Tell me lyes...Sweet little lyes....

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 04:39:00 +0000

Here is another something to do with lye. My last post was on creating alkali noodles with lye, this one is on pretzels. My first excursion into pretzels was at our pub at the casino. I had a hauntingly good pretzel in Portland at Deschutes Brewery. (comes with cheddar cream sauce and grain mustard)I had to figure out how to make fresh pretzels for our pub and how to serve them hot. So I dove in, and my first experience was a greasy, floppy Aunt Annies mall pretzel (good while your starving at the mall, shit if you're in a restaurant). Not what I had in mind. I saw a few German recipes with lye, but was scared to use it in the restaurant. After many other failed attempts and finding Harold McGees baking soda trick (also on the alkali noodles blog) it seemed like that lye was the only answer to make a great pretzel. So we practiced and tried quite a few methods and this is what we ended up with, which is really good. The basic idea is to make a dough, bathe it in lye bath, bake and EAT. Give it a try.

baked baking soda...

Pretzel
¾ cup Warm Milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
¾ cup Light Beer (room temp)
3 tablespoons Sugar
2 tsp. Salt
2 ½ tsp. Dry Yeast
3 ½ cups Unbleached AP Flour
½ cup Bread Flour
2 ounces Butter, melted
10 cups Water
2/3 cup Baking Soda
1 large Egg Yolk with 1 tablespoon Water
Large Coarse Salt

1. Place the baking soda on a piece of foil and bake in a 250-degree toaster oven for 1 hour.
2. Combine the milk, beer, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam.
3. Add the flours and melted butter and combine using the dough hook. Mix on low speed until well for 2 minutes, just enough to combine all ingredients. Let rest for 10 minutes, then change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 6 to 7 minutes.
4. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
5.. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

6. Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in a large pot.

7. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

8. Place the pretzels into the boiling water, one at a time so they do not touch for about 45 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula or spider strainer. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the coarse salt.

9. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving

Printable Recipe

Mixing in some whole grains!

Mixed

And formed..

Into the lye-ing water

And rolled

Place into the oven

And baked!

About the food...

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 21:39:00 +0000

‘Before judging a thin man, one must get some information. Perhaps he was once fat.’ Fernand Point

About the food....

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 21:36:00 +0000

"Classical music ends with a bang, just like it begins. A meal does not typically follow this pattern, but it should." – Paul Rozin, psychologist, University of Pennsylvania.

Good point I think.

About the food...

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 04:34:00 +0000

“Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness” ~Escoffier

Oooooodles of Noodles...

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 05:30:00 +0000

Ramen is everywhere, well except here. It used to be an easy fix for something to eat, whether cooked or just eating it dry. I have had the pleasure of eating the ramen at Momofuku in New York and it was really good. Obviously better than any ramen I have ever had. I had not really ever been to a restaurant where it's focus was ramen before this. It's not that David Chang invented ramen, it's that he made ramen into something else. Something to strive for. Somethign that he brought with him from his experiences in Japan and kept true to it with his own spin. That's what we are all trying to do. To innovate, make something special from something common.
I have been meaning to post this for awhile. I made ramen with kids at Art on the Edge, their summer program that Jeni runs at St Vincent de Paul. It was a good time teaching the kids how to make "real" ramen instead of just the packaged stuff. PLus the kids like working with the dough and cutting the noodles in the roller.
The main diffference between regular noodles and ramen noodles is the high alkaline that is in the dough. It enables the dough to hold up in the hot ramen broth. It gives them a distinct yellow color and rich eggy flavor. In Japan they use an alkali salt called Kansui, but for this case I wanted to make it a little easier. The basic idea is to bake baking soda for a little while which creates a chemical reaction turning the soda into an alkali (thanks Harold McGee). It can then be substituted into recipes calling for heavier alkalis like pretzles (which I will post as well). You will still have to learn how to make a ramen broth (when you decie which style you prefer), but here's the alkali noodles to start! Here it is:

Ramen Noodles
4 tablespoons baking soda
1 cup Flour, all purpose
½ cup Semolina Flour
6-7 tablespoons Water
¼ tsp. Salt

1. Pour baking soda onto a piece of foil and bake for 1-2 hours at 250 degrees.
2. Put the flours in a food processor. Place 1 teaspoon of the baked baking soda, avoiding touching it, in the water. Slowly pour in the water soda mixture. Mix for about a minute until evenly mixed but still mostly granular. Remove the dough and press it together into a mass, then knead for a minute or two. If it does not come together, knead in a little more water, a teaspoon at a time. Wrap and let rest for an hour at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator.
3. Divide the dough into two pieces. Roll one piece out until slightly thicker than the widest roller setting on a pasta machine, about 3/8 inch. Pass the strip of dough through the pasta machine at its widest setting, then repeat at successively narrower settings until the dough is about 1/16- inch thick. Fit the narrow cutters onto the pasta machine and cut the dough into noodles. Repeat with the second piece of dough.
4. Bring a pot of unsalted water to a boil. Cook the noodles until al dente, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a colander, rinse briefly with cold water, and drain. To highlight the eggy flavor of the noodles, toss with salt, vegetable oil, scallions and chili flakes to taste. (recipe inspired by H.McGee)
Printable Recipe

After mixing ingredients, knead dough lighlty.

Press into one ball.

Roll out by hand, in machine, or stretch by hand.

Cut with pasta roller

And then you have ramen.

About the food..

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 07:58:00 +0000

"By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work 12 hours a day."

-Robert Frost

Thinking of strawberry fields...

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 07:12:00 +0000

I did this dish back in late Spring when strawberries were just starting to be good. I'm not sure where I got the idea for this, but it is good. Basically you use strawberries in place of tomatoes to make marinara. The taste is something much more savory, but just as delicious. We basically made it exactly like marinara so it's pretty simple. Tomatoes aren't in season when strawberries are, so it works out pretty well. We served it with soft polenta made with mascarpone, grilled toast and fresh strawberries for contrast. It tasted nothing like dessert and had a very Italian way about it. Here's the run down.

Strawberry Marinara
  1 tablespoon Olive Oil
  1 cup Sweet Onion, chopped
  1 ½ teaspoons Garlic, minced
  ½ cup Red Wine
  2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
  3 cups Strawberries, diced
  1 tablespoon Parsley, chopped
  ½ teaspoon Oregano, minced
  1 tablespoon Basil, chopped
  1 ½ teaspoons Salt
  ½ teaspoon Pepper

1. Heat oil in a pot. Add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until translucent.
2. Add half the strawberries and cook with onions until edges start to brown.
3. Add the wine and balsamic and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes.
4. Stir in herbs, salt, and pepper. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Printable Recipe

Sauteing strawberries.

Cooking the strawberries with red wine and balsamic.

Mascarpone Polenta with Strawberry Marinara, Fresh Strawberry, and Crustini

Vote for us!

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 21:23:00 +0000

I entered this contest for my "dreamstaurant". I pitched the idea to a site called etundra and they were doing a contest to give $20,000 package to the winner to help start their dream restaurant. So here it is..
Name: Wood Smoke, Location: Spokane, WA
Concept: Tapas with an American spin; products no further than 500 miles away using primarily local farmers and producers; will likely import some Spanish products; bake our own breads and offer gluten free; grilled or roasted over apple wood from an orchard nearby; underground dinner club; catering and special events; house made tonics, juices, bitters and barrel aged cocktails; interior would look aged with lots of stone and wood Submission: My dream restaurant is really a four headed beast. Winning this contest would really help me put my vision together and be a part of making my dreamstaurant a reality. The idea behind it has different avenues for revenue coming off the same centralized cost of rent and kitchen labor. 1. So the main part of the business would be a flavor boutique…basically tapas with an American spin. We would base most of the cuisine on products no further than 500 miles away using primarily local farmers and producers. Of course we want to lean a little on tapas, so we will probably import some Spanish products for depth as well. How could anyone resist Iberico ham! We would bake our own breads and offer gluten free. The tapas would be grilled or roasted over apple wood from an orchard nearby. I think selling "why" this restaurant is so good and "why" you have to buy it will be some of my key marketing. We will use a lot of low key “guerilla” marketing. 2. The next part of business would be a supper club of sorts. Currently I run an underground dinner club once a month and it books out three months in advance, so I sort of have a following there. It would run 3 days a week and be in a banquet room inside the restaurant. The other days it would be filled by catering and special events for small parties. 3. The third part, we would be able to cross utilize the kitchen and do some catering which would add to the bottom line. 4. The last part would be the bar. This would feature house made tonics, juices, bitters and barrel aged cocktails. It would be definitely high on the trends for this area and we could really put out some unique cocktails that would be fun for us and our clientele. The interior vision of the restaurant would look like it had been there for a hundred years with lots of stone and wood. The tables would be simple, maybe a thick urethane on plain wood. That kind of an idea. This concept is really a win and would be a good profitable venture. I have been in the business for 16 years and an executive chef for 10. Currently, I am chef at a large casino (5 years) and know this business and know how to budget and run a business. Before the casino I ran fine dining restaurants. I realize that to be successful, you have to live by the budget, work hard and be nice to people. Food is my passion and is what I live for (and my wonderful family). Below is a video PBS shot of our traveling supper club the Wandering Table. Video: http://goo.gl/AQctR Blog: www.theinsatiablefoodmachine.com Website: www.thewanderingtable.com

You can vote every 24hours, so vote often! Link Here: Facebook Vote, Etundra Vote

About the food...

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 07:53:00 +0000

"Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food." ~Michael Pollan

About the food..

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 07:47:00 +0000

"Red meat is not bad for you. Now blue-green meat, that’s bad for you!" Chris Rock

What's up cracker?

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:48:00 +0000

I have recently learned something about baking. I always had thought that I was a crappy baker and that I just wasn't A "baker". I always thought you have to be scientifically minded. I found out it's not true. Baking is all about the recipe and following directions (with a pinch of experience). You have a good recipe, you have good baked goods. Simple as that. As a I gain experience and have turned out a lot of unedible baked things, I learn which recipes work and which ones don't. I have even got to a point where I can look at a recipe and decide if it will be shit or not (if I have baked that particular thing). So as I grow as a chef, I want to share the things I find the work. Here's one of them. It's a pretty damn good cracker. Almost shortbread style and it's really easy.

Crackers (Shortbread Style)
   2 cups Flour
   1 teaspoon Black Pepper
   1 teaspoon Granulated Garlic
   ½ teaspoon Chopped Parsley
   2 teaspoons Lemon Zest
   8 tablespoons Cold Butter
   4 tablespoons Sour Cream or Yogurt
   1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
   1 tablespoon Buttermilk or Milk
   Sea Salt (optional)

1. In a small bowl combine the flour, pepper, garlic, parsley and zest. Mix together and grate in butter into the mixture. Blend until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the sour cream, juice,buttermilk, and 2 tablespoons cold water.
2. Mix to form stiff dough. Turn out onto a floured work surface and roll into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes refrigerated. (Can sit overnight thought)
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the ball into quarters and working with one piece at a time, roll the dough out 1/16-inch thick. You can roll it by hand or use a pasta roller. Cut each piece into 16 rectangle crackers (about). Repeat with the other half. Transfer to an ungreased sheet pan and sprinkle with a little salt if desired. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden on edges.

Printable Recipe

Mixing the dough.

Dough ball...stiff

Hand rolled and cut.

Rolling out with pasta roller.

Le Cracker.

About the food..

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 07:42:00 +0000

“Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico and the Far East, eating only in Hard Rock Cafes and McDonalds? Or do we want to eat without fear, tearing into the local stew, the humble taqueria's mystery meat, the sincerely offered gift of a lightly grilled fish head? I know what I want. I want it all. I want to try everything once.”
― Anthony Bourdain

About the food....

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 07:45:00 +0000

"Never look back unless you are planning to go that way."-Henry David Thoreau

Dorky Duck.

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 07:34:00 +0000

This post is about duck bacon. Duck in pork form= Dork. I'm blushing it's so delicious. This is really a simple idea I got one day when I was cutting duck breast. If you look at it sliced, it looks like a little piece of bacon. So I thought, why not make it bacon. We had done prosciutto before, which is delicious so onward to the next pork preparation. I love taking these simple ideas and translating them into something that is different, but still familiar. I would say that is probably my cuisine if you could brand it that. Whenever people ask me what type of cuisine I cook, I never have an answer. It's because it is about nostalgia for me. It's about recreating ideas and sparking people. While I always try to use as much local products as possible I could really be cooking any style of food from Thai to Italian to American. But it's roots lie somewhere in comfort. Even if it's comfort food from Thailand. Bacon to me is the ultimate nostalgia. I once got kicked out of a buffet for eating too much bacon. It's possible, I've been there, done it, been shamed. It's one of the foods around the American household that is the symbol for breakfast. It makes salads delicious.
While the breast would not traditionally be made into bacon (it would be tough on other animals). It has the right amount of fat to meat ratio. It makes sense visually. I treated it just like I would pork belly. I dry cured the duck breast for 5 days, instead of the ten like I would do for pork. Rinsed the cure, then did a heavy smoke for 2 1/2 hours. Fried it up. And.....Voila. Duck Bacon.

Preparing dry cure.

Adding dry cure.

Adding weight, pressing, and curing for five days.

After five days.

Ready to cook after smoking.

Plated Duck Bacon. With butter sphere, bacon powder and french toast sticks.

About the food....

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 23:40:00 +0000

“You sit down at Katz’s and you eat the big bowl of pickles and you’re eating the pastrami sandwich, and halfway through you say to yourself, I should really wrap this up and save it for tomorrow. But the sandwich is calling you: Remember the taste you just had. So fatty. It’s what you want. It’s what you are! I’ve never gotten home from Katz’s with a doggie bag in my hand. A pastrami sandwich at Katz’s is what’s bad and good about food. It’s the sacred and the profane.”
- Mario Batali

Waffles + Chicken + Syrup = Good

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 23:36:00 +0000

This is the dish I presented at the World Food Championships in Las Vegas. I went with a safe bet, which proved to be too safe a bet. To Self: Write that down. Go with instinct and stop thinking so much. This is a dish we developed for the Sweetgrass at the casino. It's our more comfort food style restaurant. It takes the idea of waffles and chicken then combines it together. Instead of flour we use waffle mix to make the coating on the outside. The result is a sweet and salty version of fried chicken. Everybody always likes it. It's a slow pitched softball. I think it's brilliant, but it's also pretty subtle. Basically, it's a boned out, brined chicken thigh, flattened, rolled and poached. They are then soaked in buttermilk, then into a quick waffle dip, then into the fry. I served the chicken with silky potatoes and Vermont maple syrup. Most people look at it and say "huh... that's a good chicken strip" which is essentially true, but it's always funny to get that reaction. It's really that I am trying to perfect simple things which includes this chicken strip. In that simplicity though is a lot of technique with thought behind it. High quality chicken, smooth potatoes, flaky biscuits etc. It just comes with the experience of the eaters. Kind of like when you start drinking beer. Only when you drink enough bad versions, (of whatever the dish is) that you can appreciate good versions. To the general public though it's "....uh yeah, that's pretty good". Not that I mind, it's makes it all that more satisfying when someone notices the simple, perfectly cooked and moist chicken on the plate. Even if that happens to be a pretty damn good chicken strip. Here's the picts.

This is the chicken after being brined, pounded out, rolled in plastic wrap and poached until 140 degrees. It was then soaked in buttermilk, dipped into waffle flour and fried.

These were mini biscuits I served with the chicken. Recipe is on the blog.

Yeah that's right, I am cooking in a parking lot. I believe there is actually a dry puke spot next to my table...

This is the finished plate. I served it with kale dressing in coleslaw vinaigrette, potato puree, Vermont maple syrup. Really simple dish, but it tasted so damn good. In contrast, the dish that won was an apricot puff pastry with whipped cream? Let's just say the judging was not done by professionals and the category was a little broad.

About the food....

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 03:27:00 +0000

"Things like marble and brass in restaurants are culinary crutches. It’s about gnawing on the bone. Appetite is not driven by linens or paintings on the walls. It’s about the company you’re with and the food you’re eating." – Fergus Henderson St. John Bar and Restaurant, London.

About the food...

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 03:25:00 +0000

"I don't think about whether people will remember me or not. I've been an okay person. I've learned a lot. I've taught people a thing or two. That's what's important." -Julia Child

The stinking rose.

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 03:45:00 +0000

They are so beautiful....(tear)

So this is a revisit of garlic confit. I was reminded of how good it was and want to make sure that I see it more often. The basic idea is to let the vegetable sit in a light cure, cook it in oil very slowly, then brown and serve. You end up with the most sweet and soft garlic you've ever tasted. It removes all of the bitterness and leaves only the sweet pungent garlic flavor. I also wanted to show my technique for peeling garlic. I didn't learn this until after culinary school. Either I missed it or no one showed me, but it's a cool technique anyways.

Here's the recipe:

Garlic Confit1 head of Garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon Salt
1/2 tablespoon Sugar
2 each cloves whole (the spice)

1. Toss garlic cloves with sugar, salt and cloves. Let sit refrigerated for 24 hours.
2. Rinse cure from garlic and dry cloves on a paper towel.
3. Place oil into a small pot and turn heat to low. Add garlic and let cook for 4 hours with almost no heat. Do not let the heat get over 185 degrees. It will start to cook the garlic to fast.
4. When finished cooking remove from heat and let sit at room temperature until cooled. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Printed Recipe

After lightly curing garlic, place into it's own fat (vegetable oil)

Bring to a light simmer, then turn down heat as low as it will go.

After cooking, let cool at room temperature. Enjoy.

Now...onto the peeling, which is needed for garlic confit!

Hulk smash with palm...

Huuulk smaaashhhh....

Twist clove gently to remove skin.

twisting..

Boom shak-alaka...clean peeled garlic.

Yeah I know I have a smashed thumb...I can see that.

About the food....

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 03:23:00 +0000

"Success is the sum of a lot of small things correctly done." Fernand Point

Ducking confit!!

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 03:41:00 +0000

You're despicable!

Confit. Oh how I love the confit.... vegetables, poultry, and pork, salty and sweet.... and crispy. This is one preparation that I can't get enough of. Traditionally used as a preservation method for meats, now used primarily for deliciousness. Confit is the idea of taking something, vege or protein, curing it with salt and sugar, then slow cooking it in fats, usually it's own fat. The end result if you haven't had the pleasure is a very dense and moist morsel. It is French on nature, but can be applied to many other styles. The basic idea is to cure the meat in sugar, salt, and aromatics for 24 hours. Then you rinse the meat, dry it and place it into rendered fat. Preferably it's own fat (duck, pork, canola). It is then cooked for 2-6 hours at a very low temperature until for tender. At that point it can be placed into a jar and preserved for several months....OR you eat it. Here's the recipe:

DUCK CONFIT2 Duck Legs
2 oz. Kosher Salt
2 oz. Granulated Sugar
4 whole Cloves
6 black Peppercorns
2 Juniper Berries
3 garlic cloves (crushed)
2 bay leaves
4 c. Duck Fat

In a small non reactive container (big enough to fit the duck), combine salt, sugar, cloves, peppercorns, juniper berries, garlic and bay leaves lightly crushed.
Press duck legs, flesh-side down, into half the mixture. Sprinkle remaining salt mixture onto fat side. Store 12-24 hours, covered and refrigerated
Remove legs from container, rinse off under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Place in a deep pot large enough to hold legs in one layer and pour in melted duck fat. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, reduce heat to very low and cook until meat actually pulls away from drumsticks and is fork tender. DO NOT let the fat get hotter than 200 degrees. Cook for 4-6 hours.
Remove duck from heat and allow confit to cool in its fat. Store, completely covered in fat, refrigerated, for up to 6 months or use immediately.

Printable Recipe

it puts the cure on its skin...

And curing....

Slow cooking for ya...

Ready to be crispified in the oven.

About the food...

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 03:21:00 +0000

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it.”

Thomas Jefferson

Little baby clouds dropped onto breakfast...

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Hegsted) — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 03:45:00 +0000

This post is about the under utilized, under appreciated, under eaten, and under cooked poached egg. I love poached eggs. I am not sure why I don't order it more often. Probably because they are usually poorly done. In fact I have seen cooks microwave them in water. Don't get me wrong, the microwave is virtuous, but not for cooking eggs. Eggs need the subtle touch of hand model to be cooked beautifully. Low and slow is best.
It's the first thing I teach to breakfast cooks. Breakfast cooks always bitch about the scratches on their non stick pans or how the Teflon has worn off or whatever other mumbo jumbo BS about why their eggs are turning out like crap. Keep the heat low, use a little oil and...hold your breath...you don't need non stick pans. In fact omelets were invented 600 years ago and non stick pans have been only around for a little more than half a century. How did they cook their eggs?....off subject tangent. Pass this on to all the angry breakfast cooks of the world (trust me, they are angry).
I perfected the poached egg myself when I was getting slaughtered at my restaurant during breakfast. Eggs Benedict was our specialty, so I figured it out pretty quickly how to do it consistently. Theory is one thing, doing it is another. It is something that definitely takes practice and patience. This should really be a right of passage for chefs.

Here's the idea. Start with simmering water, not boiling. You'll need about 4" of salted water with a little vinegar or lemon juice (1/2 tsp. per cup water). The vinegar helps coagulate the egg keeping it together easier. The fresher the eggs, the better the end result will be as far as shape. Also I like to pull the eggs out of the fridge and let them sit for 30 minutes. This helps take the chill of for even cooking and again better shape to the finished egg. Crack the eggs into a small cup, two per cup. Drop the lip of the cup into the hot water and gently let the eggs slide out. Let the eggs cook for about thirty seconds, then give the water a little swirl. Not cook for an additional 2-2 1/2 minutes depending on how you runny you like your yolks. I like my yolks pretty runny so I'll cook 4 eggs for a total of 2 minutes 30 seconds (includes the first drop in time) depending on there size. Since more eggs will absorb more heat from the water, they will take longer to cook, so for large batches always include an extra "test" egg. Always remove eggs with a slotted spoon. Poached eggs can be refrigerated in ice water for up to 8 hours, then reheated in hot water. Do not re-boil. If you want a really incredible, edible egg, we have tossed them in seasoned flour after cooking and cooling. Then deep fried them. Crispy, silky and delicious.

Place eggs into a small bowl and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Slowly pour eggs into simmering acidulated water.

Let sit for thirty seconds, then give the water a small swirl.

Gently removed by the hand model, dried lightly on a paper towel and served gently

Little clouds from heaven landed on my hash...oh so delicious.