Some time ago I wanted to make Jeff eggs benedict. It's basically his favourite eating out breakfast, and I wanted to make it at home for him. The hollandaise is important to him. It's richness and flavor seem to be intricate parts for him in breakfast. So I decided, I can do this-- and went to make him eggs benedict just to find that my english muffins had gotten moldy.
Sigh.
So I promised I'd make it up to him at the end of his run. So I did. We woke up, and we made Eggs Benedict. Jeff made hashbrowns to go with it, but they were the frozen kind and turned out a little weak. We're going to work on those in the future.
I'll admit, I had some problems in making this. I accidentally had turned my oven to 400, not 200, and so my muffins and ham came out a bit crispy. Tasty still, but crispy. The eggs came out good, though, and the hollandaise? Well, Jeff loved it.
At first I was like, this is no good! But when the flavours combined, I realized, man, it was good. Really? Had I ever just -tried- hollandaise on my finger that wasn't from a packet when I was a kid growing up? No! How was I to know if it was right or wrong until I tasted the melding flavors.
I admit, I cajuned mine up a little. I also added some black pepper (we don't have white at Jeff's house). For me, cajun goes on everything. It's sooo tasty. Now, next time, the only thing I need to do different is to... well... not overcook the ham and muffin.
Eggs Benedict
3 english muffin halves
3 eggs
3 slices of ham
a dash of garlic powder
hollandaise sauce
Butter the english muffins and heat in the oven at 200 while preparing the rest of the meal. Prepare the ham slices by cooking them in a skillet with a dash of garlic powder for each slice. Place them on top of the english muffins to keep them warm.
Meanwhile, prepare the hollandaise sauce and keep warm.
To poach the eggs, boil water in a pot or pan, and place eggs in a shallow cup. Cover pot with lid, and allow to cook until the whites are hard and the yellows are still soft-- I didn't time this, I just looked at it a lot.
Hollandaise sauce
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
3 largeegg yolks
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
a few dashes of each cajun seasoning and smoked paprika
Cut the butter into chunks and allow it to soften during this process.
In a double boiler heating over (not in) hot water, place the egg yolks and lemon juice. Whisk until they begin to thicken. Once this happens, remove from heat and add the chunks of butter, one or two at a time, whisking until completely melted in. Occasionally, to keep warm, place over the double boiler, with the heat turned off.
Once completely combined, add in the salt and spices, beating until it's thick. Either serve immediately, or put in a thermos bathed in hot, but not boiling hot water until ready to serve.
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