April 16th, Eggs Benedict Day

Eggs Benedict is poached eggs over ham and buttered toasted English muffin, topped with Hollandaise sauce. You can substitute the ham with Canadian bacon or regular bacon.

Yield: Makes 4 one-egg one-muffin servings of eggs Benedict.

Ingredients
 8 pieces of bacon or 4 pieces of Canadian bacon or ham
 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, for garnish
 4 eggs
 2 teaspoons white or rice vinegar
 2 English muffins
 Butter

Blender Hollandaise
 10 Tbsp unsalted butter
 3 egg yolks
 1 Tbsp lemon juice
 1/2 teaspoon salt
 Dash of cayenne or Tabasco

Method

1 Start with the bacon. Heat a large skillet on medium low heat. Add the strips of bacon or the slices of Canadian bacon. Slowly fry, turning occasionally, until the bacon is browned on both sides, and if using strip bacon, much of the fat is rendered out (about 10 minutes). Use tongs or a fork to remove the bacon from the pan, set on a paper towel to absorb the excess fat. Don't pour the bacon fat left in the pan down the drain! Either sop it up with paper towels when it has cooled a bit, or pour it into a jar to be used later.

2 While the bacon is cooking, bring a large saucepan two-thirds-filled with water to a boil, and then add the vinegar. Bring the water to a boil again, and then lower the heat to a bare simmer.

3 Make the blender hollandaise. To make blender hollandaise, melt 10 Tbsp unsalted butter. Put 3 egg yolks, a tablespoon of lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt in a blender, and blend on medium to medium high speed for 20-30 seconds, until eggs lighten in color. Turn blender down to lowest setting, slowly dribble in the hot melted butter, while continuing to blend. Taste for salt and acidity and add more salt or lemon juice to taste. Transfer it to a container you can use for pouring and set it on a warm – but not hot – place on or near the stovetop.

4 Poach the eggs. Essentially, working one egg at a time you crack an egg into a small bowl and slip it into the barely simmering water. Once it begins to solidify, you can slip in another egg, until you have all four cooking. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let sit for 4 minutes. (Remember which egg went in first, you'll want to take it out first.) When it comes time to remove the eggs, gently lift out with a slotted spoon. Note that the timing is a little variable on the eggs, depending on the size of your pan, how much water, how many eggs, and how runny you like them. You might have to experiment a little with your set-up to figure out what you need to do to get the eggs exactly the way you like them.

5 As soon as all the eggs are in the poaching water, begin toasting your English muffins. If you can’t get all the muffins toasted by the time the eggs are ready, gently remove the eggs from the poaching water and set in a bowl.

6 To assemble the Eggs Benedict, butter one side of an English muffin. Top with two slices of bacon or 1 slice of Canadian bacon. You can trim the bacon to fit the muffin if you’d like. Put a poached egg on top of the bacon, and then pour some hollandaise over. Sprinkle some parsley over it all and serve at once.