Eggs Benedict

After finishing last nights meal, there was a load of Hollandaise Sauce left over. I decided to try my hand at poaching eggs for the first time . . . SUCCESS! And they are good. I used to hate utterly loathe eggs. They were gross, slimy, runny, stinky, just plain inedible. It was simple enough to go vegan, because I didn't care for a lot of the animal products out there. Since switching back to the dark side (laugh), I have discovered that I quite like eggs. I tried Hollandaise Sauce for the first time last night, and I've never had Eggs Benedict so I figured why the hell not? I "wasted" 2 eggs in the process because I had to use the spoon to attempt to piece the whites over the yolk to make it look pretty. They were completely edible, just not as gorgeous as I wanted them.

I perfected 2, and had an egg sitting in a cup so sad and lonely because it's yolk had decided to break in the glass. Now I know you need an intact yolk to do the poaching, but I didn't want to waste the little sucker. So I very carefully dipped my glass into the simmering water and let the white cook just barely in the cup to encapsulate the yolk, and then slid it out of the glass into the pan. Lo and behold, it was the prettiest poached egg of them all! Eggs Benedict are traditionally cooked with ham or bacon (gross and ew) but I used turkey lunch meat. OMG, how whiskey tango is that? (I think only hubby might get that last bit)

To Make Use:

• 2 English Muffin (I used wheat toast, because that's all we had!)
• 2 Eggs
• Hollandaise Sauce
• Dash of paprika (optional)
• Parsley to garnish (optional)
• Salt + Pepper
• Vinegar

If you haven't made Hollandaise Sauce before, Googling it is easy and you'll find many wonderful recipes. I used Julia Child's recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking and made it in my Vitamix, muahaha. Once your sauce is prepared, you can keep it fresh by floating a bowl of it very lukewarm or tepid water. Toast your bread and have it ready to go. I grilled two slices of turkey in a pan to brown them a bit, placed them on top of my toast, and sprinkled lightly with paprika. Next you're ready to poach your eggs. I found the easiest way is in a non-stick frying pan. You can do it in a deeper dish, and create a whirlpool by swirling the water with a spoon, and dropping the egg into the whirlpool. This will twirl the white around the yolk, did not work for me. I don't recommend this unless you're uber cool, which I apparently am not. Anyway, I have an electric stove (ugh) so I filled the skillet 2/3 of the way with water, added a dash of salt and a splash of apple cider vinegar and turned the heat to 6. Let sit and heat until it begins to simmer; do NOT boil the water, your egg with go everywhere. Bubbles on the bottom of the pan and lightly simmering water is exactly what you want.

Break an egg into a small glass or dish and when the water is ready, gently and slowly dip the glass into the water and slide the egg out. Careful you don't get a steam burn! Watch in awe as the egg begins to cook and the white lifts off the bottom of the pan gently surrounding the yolk. I cooked my eggs for about 4 minutes each, near the end of cooking I very carefully flipped the egg over to make sure the whites were fully cooked! Use a slotted spoon to remove the eggs from the pan and make sure all the water has drained off. Plate the eggs onto the meat, top with Hollandaise and a sprinkle of parsley and voila! You are finished. I enjoyed mine with a strong, piping hot cup of coffee. I bet this would be amazing with orange juice to enhance the tangy flavors of the lemon and vinegar. Also! If you don't like runny yolks, simply cook the egg longer to solidify the center =)

If you haven't tried it before, give it a whirl! If you have, please tell me about how you make Eggs Benedict =D