as many of you know, I am a man with limited culinary horizons. (In fact my thread asking a way to get eggshells off boiled eggs drew some extremely unpleasant remarks.) I can't stand these tv programmes where they make rostis and coulis and the like.

However recently I have decided to get to grips with poached eggs, and to that end I bought one of those poacher tings a frying pan that you fill with hot water, a metal platform for four little black plastic cups.

You see my wife and mother always made poached eggs just cracked into boiling water and vinegar. And though they look great, basically they tasted like an egg cooked in vinegar and water - not very nice.

I think I've worked it out thus far:-

1) get the water boiling
2) olive oil into the plastic cups to stop the egg sticking
3) eggs cracked into little plastic cups
4) little plastic cups ( lets call them LCP's) onto the platform and the platform into the water

Now the questions start! If I want to have squidgy middle but solid white bit - how long do we boil for?
Also , can one flavour or season the egg? Pepper or curry powder into the LCP before cracking the egg....... Apropos this when the Squire says in Treasure Island - all I needed was to taste LJS's buttered eggs - was he onto something. Eggs poaced in butter perhaps....

Your thoughts on the subject appreciated, and give my new song for Lancashire a listen!