Eggs Benedict

This is my all time favorite breakfast. Its another one of the seemingly easy classics that most every restaurant doesn't do right. Its the little details like how to cook the egg and the muffin that make a world of difference in taste and texture. I also made the hollandaise sauce from scratch which is easy but quite the arm workout. I was out of Canadian Bacon so I used some sliced deli turkey breast I had leftover. This feeds 2 people for under $10. Here we go.


Hollandaise

2 eggs, yolks only
2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice (or 1 teaspoon vinegar)
1 teaspoon of hot sauce (or a pinch of cayenne pepper)
1 teaspoon warm water
pinch of sugar
pinch of salt
1 stick of butter, melted in the microwave

Start a small sauce pan with 2 cups of water, bring it to a boil and turn it to simmer (low). In a metal mixing bowl add all the ingredients except the butter. Whisk the ingredients for 3 minutes or until the mixture doubles in size. Now place the metal mixing bowl over the top of the sauce pan (rest it on top) and whisk for another 2 minutes. Have someone else (a lot easier) slowly pour in the butter while you continue to whisk the mixture. Whisk for 5 minutes once the butter has been incorporated. Place in a warm area, like near the stove top, and whisk every few minutes until you use it so that it doesnt seperate.

Poached Eggs
4 cage free eggs
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Fill a medium sauce pot with water and bring to a boil. Add 1 tablespoons of white vinegar. This helps the egg white stay together. Crack the eggs into a ladle and slowly lower the ladle in to the water, wait 30 seconds and turn the ladle over. Repeat this process with all 4 eggs, place the first egg in the pot at "6 o'clock" and the second at 9 o'clock, 3rd at 12 and 4th at 3. This way you know which was the first egg you put in. 4 minutes after first egg was put in, scoop it out with a slotted spoon and place it on a flat side plate. Grab the rest of the eggs, in order and one at a time and place them on the side plate. Put a few spoons of hot water on the the plate to keep the eggs hot and moist, cover with a pot lid for a few extra minutes of holding time.

English Muffins and Meat
2 English muffins
2 tablespoons of butter

Remove the 2 muffin from the package and DO NOT split them. Bake the whole english muffins in a toaster oven or conventional oven at 350 for 10 minutes. Start a medium sauté pan with the butter. Take the muffins from the oven and open them, careful they will be hot. Place them face down in the saute pan until they get golden brown. At this point I added the turkey to the pan to get it some color and bring out the flavor, let it cook about 1 minute on each side. Turn the english muffins over and let them brown up a bit on the bottom while the meat cooks.


To plate place each side of the muffin on a plate, top that with the turkey. Place a poached egg on each muffin and top with the hollandaise. I added a bit of basil for color and because the pictures weren't as delicious looking without. SO now you know my favorite breakfast, what is yours??