Eggs Benedict

Sometimes food is love (Have I said this before?  Probably).  Over the course of many family Sunday brunches, I learned to make eggs Benedict from my mother, and just recently I made it as an off-to-college sendoff for a friend.  I am not sure I would have had the courage to try and then master it if I had not watched her so many times.  I have always wanted to make it with crab cakes but haven’t gotten to that yet.

• 4 English muffins*, split, buttered and toasted
• 8 slices of ham, Canadian bacon or smoked salmon
• 8 large eggs, poached
• 1 recipe Hollandaise sauce (see previous post)
• 1 bunch asparagus, steamed or grilled (optional)

*Note:  I find that Thomas’ English muffins are too tough to use in this recipe – it’s nearly impossible to cut through them even with a sharp knife.  I prefer Bay’s or Pepperidge Farm, or Portugese sweetbread muffins.

This is really more of a process than a recipe – the trick is to have everything fresh and hot when you assemble the plates.  We usually make this for a crowd and I enlist someone to help keep the assembly line moving – the best way is to have one person devoted just to poaching the eggs.

If it’s summertime, I grill the ham and asparagus ahead of time and keep them warm in the oven or under foil. Warm the sauce.

In a large pasta pot, heat water to a rolling boil – add a splash of white vinegar to help the eggs hold together during poaching.  If you have an egg poaching pan, make sure the cuts are buttered a bit to keep the eggs from sticking (even if it’s a non-stick pan).  If you are new to egg poaching, or even if you’re not, it’s helpful to crack the eggs into a ramekin first and then placing them in the poacher/water.  Poach the eggs two at a time – keeping them away from each other in the water.  It’s hard to instruct how long to cook them – it depends on how you like your eggs and how hot the water is – it’s just something you learn through trial and error – after the first minute or so just keep lifting the eggs out periodically until you think they are done.

Meanwhile, butter the English muffins and put them on a broiling pan and heat them under the broiler until lightly brown.

Assemble the Benedict:  muffin, meat, asparagus (if using), egg, sauce.

Serve with more asparagus, hashed browns or roasted potatoes, fruit salad and Bloody Marys.  And coffee.  Lots of coffee.

Hollandaise Sauce

Around here, this is known as Holiday Sauce because we only make it when we are celebrating something, usually Eggs Benedict.

• 3 egg yolks
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ½  pound butter, melted
• 1 ½ Tablespoons boiling water
• Dash of Cayenne pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1 thin sliver of shallot (optional)

Doubles nicely.

The shallot is something my mother always added – if you add a teaspoon of fresh tarragon you will have a Bearnaise sauce.  If using unsalted butter be sure to adjust the seasoning carefully.

Put the egg yolks in a food processor with the shallot if you are using it.  Turn the processor on – keep it on as you add all of the ingredients.  Only turn it off when you are ready to taste and correct the seasoning.   Make sure the onion is shredded before slowly adding the boiling water (if you just dump it in the eggs may scramble and you will have to start over).

 Add the melted butter in a very thing stream.  Add the lemon juice, Cayenne, and salt.  Taste and correct the seasonings.

Keep warm over a double boiler (very low heat) until ready to use.

Make ahead:  Transfer to a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap pressed to the surface.  Refrigerate until about an hour before you expect to use it, and then reheat either over a double boiler or in the microwave.  If you use the microwave, heat the sauce for 1-2 minutes on medium low (power level 4) – stir it vigorously and keep heating it a for short times at low power until it’s properly warm.  If you go too fast and it curdles you are sunk, so be patient.