Hands in the air if you know how to make poached eggs? Mine! Mine are way up there!
After years of failed YouTube tutorials and being too stubborn to buy a plastic cup to properly make a poached egg, I, Kelly Prince-Wright, have finally done it. I’ve finally made poached eggs. Cue the applause.
The thing is, I might have, kind of, sort of, had a bit of help from the geniuses at Avenue Cookery School.
Which is how I found myself, on a particularly sunny Sunday morning last week on my way to Wandsworth for a #BoozyBloggersBrunch. I’ve never had cooking lessons before. Well, not since the home economics days of high school. It’s been awhile. I didn’t have much of an expectation for what our day would entail. I’ve been so busy traveling and focused on other things, that when the day arrived, I just turned up.
That’s part of the fun though, isn’t it? Just turning up.
I was greeted with a bright, shiny clean kitchen. The aroma of fresh coffee and baked pastries immediately wafted into my senses. And a Bloody Mary placed firmly in my hand. If this is what cooking is all about, sign. me. up.
We mixed and mingled a little bit before the main event began. An introduction to the team had us meet the Avenue Cookery School one by one. It’s an independent, family run place. Heading up our class was Chef Richard, who charismatically and enthusiastically talked his way through what we’d be learning to make. A few questions thrown out to the group already had me worried. I knew absolutely nothing.
I was here with proper food bloggers. The kind who cook regularly. Who already know how to poach an egg. Who have actual kitchen utensils at home. This is when I knew with every fiber of my being that I was not a food blogger. So it’s a good thing that lifestyle blogger really fits the bill for me. But as ever, I’m always up for a challenge.
Richard took us through making sourdough bread, hollandaise sauce and finally, Eggs Benedict. From watching his tutorial, and listening to instructions, I was pretty confident I could nail this.
And then we got started. I paired up with the lovely Jess from Enjoy the Adventure. Poor thing. I’d like to point out that her skills are far better than mine and the subsequent failures are 100% on me.
We made sourdough bread without a hitch. Gaining confidence, I was ready to try making the hollandaise sauce.
Hollandaise sauce recipe:
- 2 egg yolks (you can save eggs whites for all sorts of things by the way, so you don’t need to throw them out. You can even leave them in the fridge for around 2 months)
- 2 caps of white wine vinegar (we used Chardonnay vinegar)
- 100g unsalted butter, cubed
- sea salt… a bunch of sea salt
What could go wrong?
It’s a little more complicated than I thought. There’s a fine trick to making hollandaise sauce. After separating the yolks and egg whites, you add them into a big glass bowl. Add the caps of vinegar. And place it over the stovetop on top of a double boiler and whisk it continuously until it starts thickening. Add the cubes of butter. And add them quickly.
It’s whisking it so furiously that it all melts together without solidifying over the stovetop that’s the trick. Naturally, I was at the helm of the saucepan and bowl when it started solidifying. A quick shout to Richard saved the sauce. Fun tip? If you ever really mess up hollandaise, you might be able to save it by adding another egg and vinegar.
We were lucky ours was rescued. And was easily five shades a brighter orange than everyone else’s. Oops!
Moving onto the poached eggs portion of the show. Fresh eggs are the best to work with. We were taught by Richard to bring a medium saucepan to a slight boil. Stir it until you have a nice whirlpool going. Avoid any bubbles in this whirlpool though, if the water is actively boiling when you put the egg in, it’s going to end up as one big mess.
Before adding the egg into the water, crack the egg open on a plate and then siphon it into a little round cup. Then you delicately add the cup and egg into the water, gently tipping the egg into the centre of the whirlpool. In my case, then you just use a lot of wishful thinking that it’s going to turn out OK.
My first attempt? A little sloppy. Richard obviously had to come over and help. However, on round two, I did it! I made a nice looking poached egg.
Beyond impressed with myself, I might have showed off my final efforts a little too much.
And finally, we built the full Eggs Benedict, I chose to add smoked salmon and avocado to a Warburtons English Muffin. I also may have stolen a few pieces of crispy bacon to put on the side.
And then? We tucked in!
Avenue Cookery School have a whole host of cooking classes available, which you can check out on their website. Everything from very basic learning skills to specifics, like sushi making, Thai and tapas, even through to full week long courses. I was definitely a super big fan our their Sunday brunch club. I mean, who doesn’t love brunch?!
After successfully making my way through the Avenue Cookery Sunday cooking class, I can see how it could be kind of addicting to learn more. I’ve actually picked up a cookbook in my flat that’s been collecting dust for the first time in, well… it’s been awhile.
Kelly xox
PS. I was invited as a guest of Avenue Cookery School, but all thoughts, opinions and learning to cook are my own.