The Best Milk-Poached Eggs on Warm Ricotta-ish Toast

 

½ gallon whole milk

2 slices milk bread or sourdough, sliced Sunday-thick

2 eggs

½ C. white vinegar

Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

 

Fill a stockpot with the milk and set it over a medium-low heat. Stir frequently as it heats, scraping at the bottom of the pan. Watch carefully and lower the temperature to avoid that annoying thing where milk foams up and runs over the top and sides of the pan, forever making your burner smell strange. Meanwhile, toast the bread slices until golden. Hold a large slotted spoon over the sink. Crack each egg into the spoon and let the tsp. or so of old watery, runny whites drip away from the firmer, intact whites. Discard the watery runny bits that dripped away. Transfer the eggs to the bowl and cover in the vinegar. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, until the translucent part of the egg whites has become opaque and ghostly. When the milk reaches a simmer (about 18 5 °F if you’re into temps), get ready to poach. You want the milk to be steaming with little bubbles gathering around the sides. If you’re a beginner, I recommend poaching one egg at a time, so you can use the whirlpool method to eliminate wisps. Create a gentle vortex of water in the pot by dipping in the slotted spoon and confidently swirling it in the shape of a black hole once, twice, three times (you don’t want to go overboard, because too much movement will actually draw your whites into a wispy tail), then transfer an egg into the center of the vortex with the slotted spoon. If you’re a pro, disregard and simply transfer each egg very gently into one side of the hot milk. (Reserve the soaking vinegar.)  Let poach for about 3 minutes, until the whites are consistently set and the egg has bobbed to the surface; since the milk isn’t transparent, you’ll have to gently airlift it using the perforated spoon and give it a poke with your pointer finger. It should feel consistently set but still fully gelatinous in the center. Sprinkle the poached eggs with salt and black pepper and set aside for a sec. Meanwhile, cut the heat on the milk and add a few T. of the reserved soaking vinegar. Let sit for about 1 minute, untouched—curds should form, separating the contents into a cottage cheese-like mixture and a cloudy solution. (If they don’t, add more vinegar and repeat.) Let sit for a few minutes, then pour this mixture through a fine-mesh sieve lined with a clean kitchen towel set over the sink. Use a spatula to press the curds to release excess liquid. Spread each piece of toast with warm ricotta, top with a poached egg, drizzle with olive oil, season with more salt and pepper, and serve.