Eggs Benedict is a very popular recipe in the United States for breakfast. At the "home" level they cannot compete with pancakes or cereals, but cafes, hotels and restaurants never stop including them in their menus.
It is therefore a recipe that is consumed a lot but always outside the home. This is because despite its simplicity it requires some patience to prepare the hollandaise sauce and poach the egg, tasks that in the morning rush seem doubly difficult.
There are many theories regarding the origin of this recipe, but the most plausible is that its origin was the breakfast requested by a client of a New York hotel with a hangover and therefore, merely casual, random and even shocking for the cook who received the request. , something that also happened with the origin of potato chips or tarte tatin.
There are several recipes for eggs benedict but always structured in four "layers":
- The base, which is usually bagels or muffins
- Fried bacon, ham or smoked salmon are placed on the bread
- A poached egg is placed on the bacon
- The whole is then watered with hollandaise sauce
INGREDIENTS (4 servings)
- 2 bagels, divided in half (4 slices)
- 4 cuts of smoked salmon
- 4 eggs
For the hollandaise sauce:
- 3 eggs
- 250 grams (9 oz) of butter
- 2 tablespoons of cold water
- Juice of half a lemon
- Salt
- Cayenne pepper (optional)
First of all we make the hollandaise sauce as follows:
First we are going to clarify the butter. To do this, we heat it in a saucepan over very low heat until it melts. We move away from the fire and let it rest. Next, we remove the foam that has formed on the surface, reserve the semi-transparent liquefied part in a separate container (which we separate by simple decantation) and discard the white part that has remained at the bottom (the serum).
In another saucepan, add the two tablespoons of cold water and the three egg yolks (just the yolks) to the bain-marie. We beat with the rods until they mount, approximately twice their volume.
Now, without stopping beating, we will gradually incorporate the clarified butter, tying it very carefully. It shouldn't be too hot, with the recommended maximum temperature being around 70 degrees (158 F). When the sauce is well blended and creamy, add the lemon juice and a little pepper, if desired.
For the poached eggs:
Poached eggs are achieved by coagulating the white while the yolk remains liquid and therefore can be "wet" as in the case of fried eggs.
To make poached eggs we use a ladle of the kind used to serve the soup. We break the shell of the egg and pour the contents into the ladle so that the white covers the yolk. Add a pinch of salt and if you want to make it spicy, a little tabasco sauce, pepper, hot chili, chili etc.
Meanwhile, we have boiled a saucepan with water and a copious stream of vinegar. The vinegar will help to curdle the egg white more quickly.
We place the ladle with the egg in the boiling water. It is best to place the metal of the ladle touching the boiling water but not allowing the water to spurt inside. When the white begins to take on a whitish color, it can be completely submerged. Rest assured, the vinegar will ensure that the egg does not "dilute" in the water.
When the white has turned white, take out and reserve. The yolk will still be liquid unless you have kept it for more than 2 or 3 minutes.
Now we are going to assemble the plate. First, we can briefly pass the bagel halves through the pan so that they heat up and lightly toast. On top of each of them we place the salmon and the poached eggs, to then bathe with a ladle of hollandaise sauce.
If you try them once they will catch you forever.