Eggs Benedict
Eggs Benedict — A sure-fire way to sweeten up my husband on a Saturday morning. I make these for him about once or twice a year, usually when I’ve got something on my honey-do list that is particularly distasteful. He thinks they are SOOOO good, but I think they are SOOOO going to give him heart failure in later life.
In case you don’t know, Eggs Benedict is a split English muffin, each side topped with a slice of Canadian bacon, a poached egg, and Hollandaise sauce.
Of course, if you have a Perkin’s Restaurant or any other good breakfast-specialty restaurant in your neighborhood, you can go have a sit-down breakfast and simply order them.
Or, if you’re like me, and love the challenge of making from scratch that which most folks would only dream of making at home, you will follow the extremely lengthy directions below:
Eggs Benedict
makes one serving
English Muffins — make these yourself (click the link to see my recipe) or go buy a box. I think you can guess my personal opinion on buying them.
2 eggs
2 slices of Canadian bacon or lean ham
Hollandaise Sauce — consisting of…
1 egg yolk
1 t. lemon juice
2 1/2 T. firm butter
Slit the English muffin, toast it, and set aside. That’s the easiest part. 
Next, I get out everything I need for the Hollandaise and have it ready. For this you need very gentle heat, so I use a double boiler or a small pan inside a larger pan with water in the bottom of the larger pan.
In another pan, heat some water to poach the eggs. Hubby usually does this part, but I think I know how — the water should come to a gentle boil, then be turned down so that it’s just barely under a boil. Place two canning rings into the almost-gently-boiling water. (No, I have not gone crazy, just do it!) Now, crack the eggs, one at a time of course, and drop them into the canning rings. This will help keep them from spreading out and floating all over the place and give them a nice uniform, circular shape approximately the same size as your English muffin. (See, I am a genius - well, Pat is a genius!) The eggs only take a couple of minutes to cook this way, you want them nice and soft.
Meanwhile… (I’ve never figured out if you should do the eggs first or the sauce first, it seems like they should both be done right before you are ready to eat) In the top part of your double boiler, which should be set at about medium to low heat - so the water will steam and just warm up the top, whisk the egg yolk and the lemon juice. Stirring constantly, add half of the butter and keep stirring until it is completely melted. Add the other half of the butter and repeat. Keep stirring. The egg must cook slowly and absorb the melting butter at the same time. Most people think Hollandaise Sauce is too tricky to try at home but I have actually never failed at this. Have the ingredients handy and don’t walk away while preparing it. When the butter is incorporated and the sauce is thickened, remove from heat.
Assemble your Eggs Benedict like this: Toasted English Muffin, topped with Canadian Bacon, then poached eggs, and the Hollandaise Sauce poured over all.
Enjoy! Make someone else clean up, then take the rest of the day off!
November 15th, 2007