Eggs Benedict (Day 156)

Can you tell I'm done with school?  I love breakfast food.  I love making breakfast for my family!  I love sending Randy to work with a good, hearty, warm breakfast in his belly.  I don't even mind the clean-up afterward.  This is how I spend my summer vacations... making breakfasts.  (Remind me to tell you about the time I made apple fritters cooked in bacon fat!--Yeah, it's that wanna-be-Southern-cooking-girl thing, again.)  Eggs Benedict (apparently named after a guy in search for a hang-over cure) is a delicious breakfast!  It can be kind of intimidating, however.  There's a lot going on in this dish and it sort of needs to happen at once if you want to serve a warm breakfast.  So let me attempt to break it down and simplify it for you.  First, let's gather all of our supplies:

1. Food processor for Hollandaise sauce

2. Small saucepan with simmering water for the eggs

3. Skillet for the Canadian bacon

Now that we have the majority of our equipment, let's talk about ingredients.  Eggs Benedict includes:

1. English muffins (toasted)

2. Eggs (poached)

3. Bacon or Canadian bacon ("warmed" or slightly grilled)

Then there's the Hollandaise sauce.  I'll walk you through that, as well, then type the recipe at the end of this post.  But first, let's toast those English muffins and grill the bacon so we're ready for the eggs and sauce.

For the Hollandaise sauce, melt 2 sticks of butter.

In the bowl of a food processor, drop 3 egg yolks and the juices of 2 lemons.

Whip together until well combined.

Drizzle in the melted butter, and add a dash of salt and cayenne pepper.  Process again.

Set the sauce aside and poach 4 eggs.  To poach an egg, gently crack it into lightly bubbling (simmering) water.  Don't play with the egg too much!  You may need a slotted spoon to help roll the egg and keep it together, but you don't want to irritate the egg while it's cooking or it may fall apart.  You also don't want the water too hot, or the egg will fall apart also.  Let it cook for about 2 or 2 1/2 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and place on the bacon.

Here's what happens when the egg starts to fall apart--you can kind of see the yolk, which is not good!

That's better.

See the difference?

Now THAT is a nice-looking poached egg!  It's just missing the sauce!

After pouring the sauce on top, sprinkle with paprika.  Enjoy!

Eggs Benedict (reader-friendly recipe)

2 English muffins, halved, toasted, and buttered

4 pieces of Canadian bacon, warmed

4 eggs, poached

3 egg yolks

juice of 2 lemons

2 sticks of butter, melted

dash of salt

dash of cayenne

dash of paprika

In the bowl of a food processor, process the egg yolks and lemon juice until well-combined.  Drizzle in the melted butter, and add the salt and cayenne and whip again.  Set the sauce aside.

Poach each egg separately by gently dropping in slightly bubbling water and cooking for 2 minutes.  Assemble by layering half of an English muffin, the Canadian bacon, an egg, and some Hollandaise sauce.  Sprinkle with paprika and serve.

There's the stuff!  Delish!