Sunday, March 31, 2013

Eggs Benedict

I was feeling adventurous today, so I decided to tackle one of my favorite breakfast foods, eggs benedict.  I actually wanted to do florentine, but my mom had the spinach and decided not to come over for breakfast this morning, so here it is, simplified.  And, actually, I was stressed out enough without worrying about the spinach.  

I feel like making eggs benedict was sort of like making caramel for the first time.  Once you get a feel for it, it's pretty simple and straight forward, but the first time through, the unknown can be intimidating!

So, I made this for one, but the sauce makes enough for two or three, so if you are making it for two or more, just make more eggs, meat, and english muffins. 

You will need for the Hollandaise sauce:

2 egg yolks
a pinch of salt
1 Tbsp water
4 Tbsp softened butter
1 Tsp lemon juice
1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

For the rest of the dish you will need:

1 toasted English muffin per person
2 slices of pork roll (I prefer this over Canadian bacon, but it's your call)
butter, if you are using Canadian bacon- none if you use pork roll
2 eggs per person 
1 Tbsp white vinegar per two eggs
Salt
Fresh chopped parsley for garnish



I cooked the components, one at a time.  I was worried about timing, but having done it once, I feel like there were things I could do next time to coordinate the timing better.  I'm going to blog what I did, and let you be the judge about timing.  I started with the sauce, because I was most worried about it.  Before I began, I had everything else ready to go; the english muffin was split and sitting in the toaster ready to be toasted, the pork roll was cut and ready to be heated through in the pan, and the water and vinegar were in the pot, ready to be heated up.  


Start the sauce by separating two eggs, and add them, the Tbsp of water, and a pinch of salt to a small sauce pan.  Heat them over REALLY low, gentle heat and start whisking. 







Keep whisking until your sauce gets foamy and thickens up. If it starts to curdle, don't panic, just take it off the heat and keep whisking. 



Once it is thick and foamy, like the picture to the right, take it off the heat, and whisk in the butter a few tablespoons at a time. 

Once that is all incorporated, add in the lemon juice and set it aside.  I made the mistake of putting my sauce on really low heat until I was done everything else and it thickened up more than I wanted.  I would suggest just leaving it be, or maybe putting it in a bowl over a pot of steamy water so it stays warm gently.  If you let it get too thick, like I did, I thinned it out with a little water and a little more lemon juice and did a lot of whisking.  It was still delicious!






So, now get your water (about an inch deep) and vinegar boiling for the poached eggs. Once it is bowling, lower the heat back to a gentle simmer. Crack one egg at a time into a small bowl, and carefully slide them into the water.  Don't crowd the pot, just do two at a time.  Let them cook gently for about 3-4 minutes.  It's not a very pretty process, but it works.  Sorry I didn't get a picture of it!  

Once you drop your eggs, go ahead and heat your meat through in a frying pan.  Use butter if you are using Canadian bacon because it's low in fat, pork roll has plenty of it's own, and doesn't need it.  Give them about a minute or 2 on each side and then turn off the heat.  You can also toast your English muffin at this point. Use a slotted spoon to remove your eggs.

Once your whites are white, you can go ahead and plate.  Start with the muffin, then layer the meat, then your poached eggs, top with the Hollandaise sauce, and garnish with a little cayenne pepper and chopped parsley. 

1 comment:

  1. Why would you EVER be stressed out? You NAILED it! Yum!
    :) Beth

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