Classic Egg’s Benedict

I don’t do a lot of breakfast dishes on GOC and I’m not sure why. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I don’t cook breakfast that often? My kids love they’re cereal or scrambled eggs and I only make pancakes on the weekends so perhaps that has something to do with it. Lately however, I’ve been on this egg’s benedict kick. I’ve eaten them almost every morning for past week or so and I even purchased some Canadian bacon to do it the right way.  One of the main components of the dish, Hollandaise sauce, can be scary to make for some. You’ll see recipes out there telling you to use clarified butter or how you need to carefully and quickly whisk the sauce over a water bath. I’m here to tell you that this is not the case. You can do those things of course and make a perfect hollandaise the way that fancy chefs do it, or you can do the easy, only have a few minutes, mom way. With a blender. I have three different versions of Egg’s Benedict this week for you. This recipe is for the classic and will be the basic recipe that the other two are based off of.

What You Need:

Hollandaise:

2 egg yolks
1 tbs lemon juice
1 stick butter
salt and pepper

For Each Person:

1 English muffin, toasted
2 pieces of Canadian bacon, heated through
2 poached eggs (I cheat and use a store bought egg poaching pan)
2 tbs Hollandaise sauce
chopped parsley (optional)

What To Do:

To make the sauce, heat the butter over medium heat in a small sauce pan until it’s completely melted and bubbly. In a blender, add the egg yolks, lemon juice and some salt and pepper. With the lid on the blender, turn it to high to start blending the yolks. If you have a pour spout on your blenders lid, then use that. Otherwise remove the lid to the blender and in a very slow steady stream, add in the melted butter. The trick is to keep most of the white frothy stuff in your pan. Don’t worry if you get it some or all of it in your sauce. It really won’t have much affect on the taste. The important part is to make sure you’re adding the butter in slow and steady. Turn the blender off and marvel at your beautiful, thick, golden hollandaise sauce.  Here’s two quick tips: If you sauce thickens up while your making the rest of the breakfast, just blend in a tablespoon or two of very hot tap water. This will help to remelt the butter.  If you have leftover sauce, keep it in the fridge, in an airtight container. To reheat it, pop it in the microwave for 5 seconds. Give it a stir and pop it back in for another 5 seconds. Continue doing this until the butter has melted and becomes a sauce again. It’s important to only use 5 second intervals. If you put it in the microwave and just let it go, you’ll actually end up with scrambled eggs. You can also reheat the sauce by setting it over hot water and stirring it while it warms. The point is to do the re-warming gently.

To assemble your eggs benedict place your English muffin halves on a plate. Top them with the Canadian bacon, then the poached eggs and finally top each egg with 1 tbs of the sauce. Sprinkle some parsley over the top. Not only does it make it look pretty, but I really like the flavor it gives to the entire dish. Eggs benedict can be heavy and the parsley gives it a freshness to cut through all that.