Eggs Benedict

One of my husband’s favorite things about vacationing is ordering eggs Benedict from room service. I finally attempted it on my own and it was successful. The Tabasco in the hollandaise sauce makes this a fun and unique way to prepare it. 

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks (from regular, large eggs) for Hollandaise Sauce + 4 eggs to poach

1-1/2 teaspoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt

dash Tabasco sauce (optional) or Cayenne pepper – I used Tabasco

5 tablespoons or 1/3 cup unsalted butter or clarified butter, melted just until hot (omit salt if using salted butter) 

2 Sourdough or plain English muffin

4 pieces of Canadian bacon or Carl Budding slices of ham

Directions:

Boil water in a sauce pan. Use enough water to cover the eggs.

With a spoon, begin stirring the boiling water in a large, circular motion. When the tornado’s really twisting, crack in an egg. Or two. Or three. The reason for the swirling is so the egg will wrap around itself as it cook, keeping it together. Cook for about 2 ½ to 3 minutes.

Lay the cooked eggs on a plate. If your muffin’s and sauce are not ready, you can put the eggs back in the hot water for a few seconds before your serve them. If you do this, use a spoon with holes in it to remove each egg. Dab the egg onto a cloth or paper towel to get the access water off.

In a flat pan heat up your ham a little before placing it on the muffins.

*Optional: In a small pan, cook the yolk a little to help make the hollandaise sauce a little thicker.

Place egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and Tabasco in a blender. Blend 20-30 seconds, until the mixture begins to lighten in color. With the blender running (on the lowest speed, if your blender has more than one speed), slowly drizzle the melted butter into the egg mixture. Blend for a couple more seconds, just until the butter is incorporated. If the sauce is too thick, add a spoonful of warm water and blend briefly. Serve immediately, or hold the sauce in a warm spot (like the stove top) for no more than an hour. Stir before serving.
Toast your English muffin’s until lightly brown on top.

Place the English muffins on the plate, face up. Spread a little butter on each muffin.

Next, place a slice of hot Canadian bacon on each half. Vegetarian variation: you can omit the Canadian bacon altogether or you can wilt fresh spinach and place it on the muffins for Eggs Florentine, which is divine in its own right. Place the egg on top of the bacon and then top with a generous helping of Hollandaise sauce.

Sprinkle a little salt, pepper, and paprika on the top and it’s ready to be served!

Note: 

To ensure that everything is hot at the time when it’s ready to serve plunge the poached eggs back into the hot water just before serving, and make the Hollandaise at the very last minute.

Adapted from Simply Recipes and the Pioneer Woman Posted by Ree on June 29 2009
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/10/eggs_benedict/