Eggs Benedict and Excuses

My dad was a drill sergeant, and always used to say to me "Whats the effective range of an excuse?" with the proper answer being "0 meters drill sergeant", so I'll keep this short. Our house got infested with fleas, it was bad and I took this weekend as the chance to get rid of them once and for all. It'll be a while yet til I know if it worked, but it took up a good chunk of my weekend picking all the stuff up, cleaning my house and then waiting outside of it while the bombs did their work, but enough of that! I wasn't able to get to everything I wanted to do this weekend, but I do at least have one recipe for you! I wanted to revisit breakfast and try some new things. My husband loves eggs benedict, and I have never made them before, so I decided to try to do that. I made my own Hollandaise sauce, and honestly? I wasn't a huge fan. It took forever to make and I wasn't impressed with the flavors I got from it. I included the recipe here but really I'd suggest you just do the sauce from a pack, much easier and I enjoy it more myself. I promise next week I'll have a full post, and will hopefully make up for this mess!

Eggs Benedict

Poached Eggs:

• 4 quarts water
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 8 large eggs

Put 4 (6-ounce) custard cups in a 6-quart pot. Add 4 quarts of water or enough to cover the cups by at least 1/4-inch. Add the vinegar and salt to the water and put the pan over high heat. Heat just until the water begins to boil and the cups clatter against the bottom of the pan, 20 to 25 minutes. Adjust the heat to keep it simmering and steaming without the rolling boil. Break the eggs, 1 at a time, into another custard cup or ladle. Pour the eggs slowly into each of the cups, timing them about 10 seconds apart. Cook for 5 minutes each. Serve immediately or remove eggs from cups and transfer to an ice bath to stop cooking. Refrigerate for up to 6 hours in the ice bath. To reheat, bring water to a simmer, turn off the heat and add the eggs. Wait 1 to 2 minutes or until warmed through. You can do it without the cups, but they help keep the eggs in place and help prevent the eggs ripping open.

Hollandaise Sauce:

• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne, divided
• 3 to 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice strained, divided
• 8 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar

Whisk together the egg yolks, water, salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the cayenne in a small saucepan for 1 minute. Put the saucier over low heat and whisk vigorously, moving the pan on and off the heat every 10 to 15 seconds, for approximately 3 minutes. Add 1 piece of butter at a time, every 30 seconds, while continually whisking and moving the pot on and off the heat. Once half of the butter, or 8 pieces, have been added, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Add the remaining 8 pieces of butter, 1 at a time, every 30 seconds, while continuing to move the pot on and off the heat. After the last piece of butter has been added, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, and the sugar and whisk for 1 to 2 minutes. Taste and add more lemon juice, as desired. Move immediately to a short, wide-mouthed thermos to hold for up to 2 hours. Reheat over low heat for 45 seconds.

To assemble: 

• English muffins
• Poached eggs
• Hollandaise sauce
• Ham or Canadian bacon

Toast the english muffins or place under the broiler until brown and a lil crispy. Fry up the ham or bacon until warmed through and browned a bit. Layer starting with the english muffin, ham, egg and then top with the hollandaise sauce and enjoy! We love these in our house, hopefully you like them too!