Blanched asparagus – poached egg – fresh smoked salmon
Believe it or not, for many years poached eggs were just getting me every time. They were busting, or just generally not great ... It was really only once I started looking after chickens that I started to get the hang of making them. I think even as a chef I'd been taught to create a vortex in the water then pop the egg into the middle, but if you're cooking for lots of people, that's a pain. So this new way guarantees a perfectly poached pouch of egg every time. The exciting thing is that by simply tying the egg up in cling film with a few herbs you can flavour the eggs and have confidence they're going to cook all right.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
What these numbers assume — 10 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Smoked Salmon | 100g cooked | 208 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Asparagus | 6 spears (90g) | 27 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Celery | 1 stalk (40g) | 6 |
| Tarragon | 1 tsp dried (0.5g) | 2 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 knobs of butter
- 2 lemons
- olive oil
- dried chilli flakes
- 1 head of celery, plus inner yellow leaves
- a few sprigs of fresh tarragon
- 4 large free-range eggs
- 500 g asparagus, woody ends snapped off
- 8 slices of smoked salmon (roughly 240g)