Treating Mom to Breakfast
If you’d like to treat mom to a fancy breakfast this Mother’s Day, why not make Eggs Benedict? The classic dish is a stack with a toasted English muffin, slice of ham or Canadian bacon, and a poached egg topped with a velvety Hollandaise sauce. Some folks shy away from making a homemade hollandaise sauce, but my recipe for blender hollandaise is easy and foolproof!
Folks disagree on the source of the original recipe for Eggs Benedict and for whom the dish was named. But I think we can all agree that it’s the perfect recipe for Mother’s Day because the name “Benedict” is derived from “benedictus” which means “blessed” – and anyone lucky enough to have a loving mother in their lives truly is blessed. So I call this recipe “Eggs Benedictus.”
If your mom is classic, make the traditional recipe. If she like to try different things, make the variation with Matcha Hollandaise – then curl up together and read Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham! As explained below, in order to make sure that all elements of the dish are ready at the same time and served warm, you partially cook each, then reheat just before serving.
“Eggs Benedictus”
3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Red Tabasco Sauce
½ cup butter
Salt and pepper
1 English muffin, halved
4 pieces Canadian bacon
2 jumbo eggs
2 tablespoons white vinegar
Chopped chives, for serving
1½ teaspoons Matcha – Japanese powdered green tea, optional
Blender Hollandaise: In a blender, combine 3 large egg yolks, fresh lemon juice and 2 shakes of Tabasco red pepper sauce. Melt the ½ cup butter, and set aside to keep warm while preparing the rest.
Toast the English muffin halves until partially cooked, but not yet brown. Keep them in the toaster to stay warm.
Heat the Canadian bacon – either in a pan or in the microwave – cover and set aside to keep warm.
Poach the eggs: In a small saucepan, bring 2 inches of water to a simmer. Add ½ teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons white vinegar (to help set the eggs).
Crack each egg into a separate ramekin or small cup. Gently drop each egg into the simmering water then cover the pan. Let the eggs poach for 5 minutes.
While the eggs are poaching, finish the hollandaise sauce. With the blender running slowly and the top plug removed, slowly pour in the melted butter. Be very careful because the sauce will splatter (you might want to keep a kitchen towel nearby). If you are making Matcha Hollandaise, blend the matcha powder into the egg yolks before adding the melted butter.
Finish toasting the English muffins, and reheat the ham, if necessary.
To serve, place an English muffin half on a plate, top with a couple slices of Canadian bacon. With a slotted spoon, carefully remove a poached egg from the water, and stack on top of the Canadian bacon. Spoon a good helping of hollandaise sauce on the egg and top with chopped chives, and salt and pepper to taste.
Matcha is a powdered green tea that is becoming increasingly popular. Its herbaceous flavor and beautiful color adds an interesting touch to many recipes – add it to everything from creamy salad dressings to white chocolate fudge! My favorite is Matcha Jobetsugi, available from Harney & Sons Fine Teas in Millerton NY (www.harney.com).