Rather than tell how I cooked everything, I'll show and tell how I put it together.
I started with a lightly toasted English muffin half (for each egg) which I topped with a few pieces of bacon that I cooked in a small (like 4 inch) skillet in about a tablespoon of butter. It was important not to get the burner too hot, as I didn't want the butter scorching.
I use turkey bacon, if you use regular bacon you make want to cook the bacon first, drain it, then put it int he butter to infuse the butter with the bacon flavor. Otherwise you would have way too much grease in your butter sauce.
After the bacon I put two thin slices of very ripe tomato to exploit the fact that bacon and tomato always go well together. I saved the rest of the tomato for later.
Next came the star attraction, the poached egg. Poaching is a method of gently cooking something in water or another liquid. It is not boiling. You
want the water just below a simmer, barely making bubbles at all. If you have a thermometer, shoot for around 190° F (about 88° C). Also, add just a little vinegar to the water, this will help hold the white together. Alton Brown uses distilled vinegar as it's merely for chemical reasons, but wine vinegar or cider vinegar work fine.Two other things about poaching. First, make sure you have enough water to cover the egg(s). Secondly, the egg(s) need to be added to the water as gently as possible. I cracked the egg into a small bowl, touched the edge of the bowl to the hot water and gently tilted to pour the raw egg in. 4 1/2 minutes is the perfect time for nicely poached eggs. Ideally you want to pull the eggs out with a slotted spoon (let them drain a few seconds) and then put them right on the plate (of tomato slices in this case). IF you're not ready for the eggs when 4 1/2 minutes is up, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and put them in a bowl of cold water to arrest their cooking. Slightly cooled perfectly cooked eggs are better than overcooked eggs.
Once I had the egg in place, I spooned the sauce over it. What sauce? Why, the sauce I made by dicing the rest of the tomato then gently simmering it in the hot bacon butter with a little bit of salt, some black pepper, some garlic powder and a big pinch of tarragon. Tarragon goes well with both butter and eggs, don't be afraid to be generous with it, but add and taste, add and taste so you don't get too much.Lastly I sprinkled some grated cheese over the whole thing and ate it. I used Cheddar, but most grate-able or crumbly cheeses would have worked nicely, from Parmesan to Munster to Feta and Cojita.
Eggs should be eaten as soon as possible after cooking. The array of flavors and textures from the delicate egg white to the warm gooey yolk and from the herbaceous butter to the two different textures of tomato, all brought together on a toasted English muffin with bacon, this was definitely a nice way to start the day. And, yes, it tasted good too.
Note: A perfectly poached egg has a delicate but firm white that is thoroughly cooked, with a yolk that is warm but runny. If runny yolks aren't your thing, then just avoid the poached egg and fry or scramble yours instead.
