Eggs Benedict

Cuisine: American

Servings: 2

Each serving is 1 English muffin, 2 slices of Canadian bacon, 2 poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce.

Notes:

• The fresher your eggs, the better they'll stay together while poaching.
• This recipe includes a more traditional method for making hollandaise, but alternative (see: easier) methods can be found on this page: Hollandaise

Ingredients (Hollandaise)

• 2 Egg yolks (save the egg whites - they freeze well)
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 8 Tablespoons of butter, cut into 1/4 tablespoon pieces
• A pinch of salt
• A pinch of cayenne pepper

Ingredients (Everything else)

• 2 English muffins
• 4 Large eggs
• 4 Slices of Canadian bacon

Directions for Hollandaise

1. Place egg yolks, water, and lemon juice to a small pot; with no heat, whisk until the mixture is smooth.
2. Add butter to mixture.
3. Place the pot on medium-low heat and continuously whisk the mixture until it thickens to the consistency of gravy. Do not stop whisking and be very thorough with scraping every surface of the pot as the eggs will curdle if allowed to rest on the pot.
4. Immediately remove from heat and add a pinch of salt and cayenne pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Directions for Poached Eggs

1. Heat a large pot with 3 to 4 inches of water until boiling, then reduce the heat until the water just barely simmers.
2. Crack 1 egg into a small bowl, cup, or ramekin that is small enough to gently lower into the pot of water.
3. Gently lower the egg into the water, tilting the container slightly to allow the egg to slowly slip into the water.
4. If your egg isn't staying together very well, you can gently coax the white to form around the yolk with a slotted spoon.
5. Working 1 egg at a time, add the remaining eggs to the water in the same way.
6. Turn off the heat to the pot and cover for 4 minutes.
7. If the whites are not set after 4 minutes, allow them to poach for an additional minute.
8. Remove the eggs from the pot using a slotted spoon. You can keep the eggs warm using a bowl of very hot tap water until you're ready to serve.

Directions for Assembly

1. Split, toast, and butter English muffins.
2. Heat Canadian bacon (can be done on the stove, in the microwave, etc.)
3. Top each English muffin half with a slice of Canadian bacon, a poached egg (blot it dry before adding the sauce), and hollandaise sauce.
4. Serve immediately.