Eggs Benedict

Ingredients:

Canadian Bacon (2 slices per serving) It’s OK to substitute ham

English Muffins (1 per serving, sliced and toasted)

Poached eggs - I actually make steamed eggs.

Hollandaise Sauce (I fake it because the real thing is so difficult to get right.)

The following should make enough sauce for 6 - 8 servings.

2-3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup approximately, cream or half and half

2 egg yolks

teaspoon lemon juice

salt to taste

Set up eggs first.

Spray egg cups with vegetable oil spray, or brush on vegetable oil - peanut oil, whatever you prefer. I brush on soft butter. Crack eggs into the cups, fill the base with water.

• Lightly fry the Canadian Bacon just enough to heat it through. It is already cooked. Turn off burner. Warm some plates in the oven.

• Meanwhile, start toasting the muffins and turn on the burner under the egg poacher. When the water boils in the base of the poacher, turn it to low while you finish the sauce. Watch the eggs as you prepare the sauce. When the egg whites start to look set turn off the heat. If they are done, get them out of the pan entirely or they will continue cooking and may overcook. You want the whites set and the yolks to be creamy.

Now about the Hollandaise Sauce:

• Melt butter in heavy sauce pan, add flour, cook until bubbly. Add cream/half and half, whisking until thick.

If using half and half, add slowly so the sauce doesn’t get too thin. Whisk or stir until it starts to boil, immediately take off heat, add lemon juice, salt, taste, adjust seasoning. Wait for sauce to cool a little before adding the egg yolks (this is mostly about color, so if your sauce is kind of thin, just use one) Remember if the egg yolks cook fast the sauce will get lumpy. Cook on med/low for maybe 4-5 minutes after adding the egg yolks stirring constantly. Do not let it boil.

If you need to wait a bit, it's best to reheat this sauce rather than leave it on a hot burner.

• Butter the toasted muffins. Set them on the warm plates. Lay on the Canadian Bacon. Run a dull knife around the eggs and unmold onto the Canadian Bacon. Ladle on the Sauce.

Note: Real poached eggs are eggs which are cracked into boiling, salted, acidulated water (vinegar). Gently simmered for about 3 minutes, and lifted out of the water with a slotted spoon, blotted dry with a paper towel. I’ve tried this a number of times and all I get is a mess and the egg white somehow always laminates permanently to the pan. It works best with very fresh eggs and a non-stick saucepan. It is the official right method.

-Kate