Eggs Benedict

Who would say no to poached eggs on crispy toasted ciabatta and dredged with a creamy hollandaise sauce? No one, that’s who. It’s such a classic weekend breakfast dish but is a treat that most people will only indulge in at restaurants because, let’s face it, it has a rather intimidating cheffy name. In actual fact, making your own is pretty simple and the brownie points you’ll earn for surprising your husband or wife with this on a Saturday morning will be worth it. It will also save you on an expensive breakfast which is quite affordable when made at home. If you’re brave enough, the French insist on making proper hollandaise with your wrist and a whisk but if you’re anything like me and simply want to get down to the eating part, a blender is the way to go.

For the hollandaise:

2 egg yolks

1 1/2T good-quality white vinegar

250g unsalted butter, melted and warm

white pepper, to taste

lemon juice, to taste

Place the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl and whisk in the vinegar.
Cover the bottom of the bowl with a dish cloth and set it over a pan of gently simmering water (the bottom of the bowl shouldn’t touch the water) and whisk in the butter a little at a time until all the butter has been added and the sauce is thick. The bowl should never be too hot to touch.
For the quick way: place the egg yolks and vinegar in a blender and blend until combined. Gradually add the hot butter in a steady stream with the motor running until thick and glossy.
Season with salt, white pepper and lemon juice to taste.

TIPS If the sauce is a little thick, simply thin it with a little warm water. If not serving immediately, cover the surface of the sauce with cling wrap and place in a warm place or over a bowl of warm water for not more than an hour or two.

For the benedict:

4 fresh eggs, poached

4 slices ciabatta, toasted

4 slices of smoked salmon, trout, ham

marinated artichokes or steamed spinach

Place the warm eggs on the toasted ciabatta along with the salmon and artichokes or spinach.

Season well before spooning the hollandaise sauce over. If you like, you can even place it under a hot grill for a few seconds for the hollandaise to caramelize.

How to poach an egg

Not many people can say that there is one thing that they are blindingly brilliant at, but honestly, all trumpet-blowing aside, I am the Princess of egg-poaching. I can only credit this to the many gruelling hours I spent on the breakfast shift of a 120 seater restaurant. When you have one hand babying 30 poached eggs in 6 separate saucepans of simmering water and the other furiously whisking a 12 egg hollandaise you learn pretty quickly how to master the art without landing up with… um egg on your face!


So here it is, step-by-step: the secret to perfect poached eggs!

Step 1: Bring a saucepan of water to a gentle simmer and add about 1T white vinegar. Crack a fresh, room temperature egg into a small bowl or ramekin.

Step 2: Swirl the water with a spoon to create a whirlpool and slowly drop the egg into the centre of the whirlpool. Leave for a few seconds before gently lifting the egg to make sure it isn’t stuck on the bottom of the saucepan. Allow the egg to poach, making sure the water doesn’t boil, to the desired stage.

Step 3: Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and place briefly on a clean tea towel. The egg is now ready to be served.

TIMING: Soft yolk 2-3 minutes
               Firm-set yolk 3-4 minutes

 A FEW TIPS 

• Don’t allow the water to boil as this might cause the delicate egg to break
• The vinegar helps the eggs to coagulate quickly in the water and stops them falling apart
• If you are poaching more than one egg, it is a good idea to have 2 saucepans of water on the stove: use the above method to poach the egg until soft yolk stage then gently transfer it into the other saucepan for the remaining cooking time whilst you poach another egg in the first. In professional kitchens, the eggs are poached to soft yolk stage beforehand then plunged into ice water and stored. To serve they are simply droppped into hot, salted water to heat

Happy poaching!

Photography by Richard Aaron