For this Christmas season, surprise your guests and loved ones with this classic special breakfast dish. I'll walk you through the steps necessary to pull off this fantastic meal - your people will love you.
THINGS YOU'LL NEED:
- 1 dozen FRESH Eggs
- 1/2 pound unsalted butter
- lemon juice and/or white wine vinegar
- salt and pepper
- parsley and paprika (optional)
- peameal or regular bacon
- 1 pkg English muffins
- whisk
- teaspoon
- heat resistant glass bowl
- pot for boiling water
- second pot or pan for melting butter
- frying pan
Let's start off by making the hollandaise.
Select a pot of water with a glass bowl that fits right over it (this will act as your double boiler). Make sure the water is not touching the glass. Bring the water to just under a rolling boil (medium-low depending on stove, under 100°C). Adjust heat until its steamy but not bubbling. place butter in the second pot or pan on low to slowly melt butter.
Grab four eggs and separate the yolks, setting the egg whites aside. Take the yolks and place them in the glass over the hot water pot. Add about 1 teaspoon lemon juice to the eggs, and start whisking. The egg mix should double in volume...if needed, add drops of white wine vinegar until you achieve 2x volume.
Continue to whisk while slowly drizzling in melted butter, until you are able to double the volume once again. Be mindful that you may not need to use all the butter. Once the mix has reached the consistency of gravy, remove from heat. Stir in salt and paprika as needed (if you have salty bacon, or simply desire low sodium then use less salt here!)
Okay, this was the hardest part of the meal. Now set bowl of Hollandaise in microwave or fill a thermos to keep it warm.
Fry the bacon while you bring the pot of water to a boil again. You will be poaching eggs in this pot now. Once the pot of water is boiling, drop the heat until it is barely bubbling.
Set aside the cooked bacon on paper towel to drain.
The trick to good poached eggs is moderate (not too high) temperature and fresh eggs. Gently take an egg and crack it very carefully over the water; it is important here not to break the yolk or the shape of the egg white. Watch the egg cook until the egg whites turn all-white, from here you can decide if you want your egg poached soft (+30 seconds) or hard (+2 minutes). Gently remove from water with a slotted spoon and plate to dry. repeat with other eggs.
Now all you need to is toast your english muffin (optional)
Plate everything starting with the English muffin, then the bacon, then the poached egg, and finally hollandaise sauce. Adorn with garnish of parsley, pepper or paprika, as desired.
It is important to have patience with this dish, as there are many variables that can affect the results such as egg size, the strength of the acid in your lemon and vinegar, or how salty or spicy you prefer your food to name a few. There isn't really a foolproof science to calculate the perfect ratios for hollandaise, which is why there are so many recipes. But trust that if you take your time and have plenty of patience, you will prevail!
I like to have my eggs benedict with a side of homefry potatoes, or lightly salted heirloom tomatoes. Whatever you serve them with, I am sure they will be a hit!
Happy holidays and Bon Appetit!