I don't know about you folks in the working world, but sundays suck for college students...a lot. It marks the end of your amazingly fun weekend that you wish would never end and brutally reminds you of all the homework you haven't yet started. And mondays always proceed it.
BUT! Now there is something to look forward to every sunday. Eggs benedict! First brought to you by Mrs. LeGrand Benedict at Delmonico's in New York City. Now, there is some debate over this origin myth--some argue that Mrs. Benedict created it first in 1893, and then there are those that say Mr. Benedict ordered toast, bacon, a poached egg, and a small pitcher of hollandaise sauce to treat his hangover at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in the year 1894. Either way, Mr. Benedict understood one thing: its medicinal values to the ever-so-present weekend hangover (or week day for some of you really ambitious college students). So ladies and gentlemen if you're trying to cure your saturday night hangover (as most of you college students are) AND you want something that will brighten your otherwise library-confined day, eggs benedict is the answer.
Now eggs benedict is my ultimate favorite breakfast/brunch food. I order it at almost every restaurant when I go out for breakfast. It always seemed to me like one of those foods that was way too impossible to make and only the elite chefs could do it. But then I learned a really easy way to poach eggs. And then tried to make benedicts. And it worked. And it's so simple you'll be amazed!
First I started by putting together all the parts except for the poached eggs. This I'll leave to your creativity but these are some things I've done that have worked really well. This morning, I had a bell pepper, avocado, sliced ham, and various left over goat gouda cheese (from all the other meals I've been writing about). I toasted the muffins and buttered them. In the mean time, I sliced the bell pepper and sauteed it in truffle oil and salt until they were soft and slightly charred. Then i put a sliced ham on each open-faced muffin, slices of the avocado, the sauteed bell pepper slices, slices of the goat gouda and a slice of a red heirloom tomato (basically a crazy looking mishapen tomato that doesn't taste any different than your roma or your garden variety tomato, but is really really pretty and comes in orange, green, yellow, and red variations--sometimes a mix of all 4 colors!)
Ok so everything is ready except for your eggs. So I have the easiest way in the world to poach an egg so that it's runny when you cut into it but soft and fluffy at the same time. First take a frying pan, one with high straight sides around it. Now put water in and boil the water in the fry pan. Once the water is boiling (at a very high temperature) crack the egg open into the water. Having the fry pan is important so that the egg is close to the heat. At first, the yolk will appear to separate from the egg white. But don't freak out! You'll see that eventually the egg white will become that opaque white color just like if you fried it (although you will probably have lost a portion of the egg white to the water). Now, preferably using a largish slotted spoon (i.e. a spoon with draining holes in it) flip the egg over so the other side cooks for a bit. Then, once the white part seems firm enough to pick up without breaking, take it out and put on your already prepared benedict!
Now I've tried making hollandaise sauce. But after I spent a solid 40 minutes whipping the eggs by hand so that it would be a creamy texture and then have it still turn out too runny I said the hell with hollandaise sauce until someone gets me a real egg beater (dear family, please click on link for grad present ideas). For now, I have some delicious and easy variations that you can pour over your eggs benedicts and will still make your benedict-os delicious.
Pesto sauce. Yep easy as pie-or pesto! (Ok that was definitely a joke my dad would say). Either use pre-made pesto or make your own.
Quick make-it-yourself-pesto recipe:
- A chunk of basil
- Olive oil
- Cheese (I like manchego or goat gouda or chevre, of course)
- Lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
**Sun-dried tomatoes (*optional for a slightly different taste)
**Artichokes (*also optional for an also differently-delictable taste)
Put in the blender until its smooth and creamy and your done! You can play with the portions of each of the ingredients to get the kind of pesto flavor you like.
Salsa. I had forgotten that I used all my pesto sauce last night and in a hurried frenzy I looked in my fridge and found salsa! So I used that instead of my usual pesto and it was very good. It gave it more of a southwest taste.
Feel free to try whatever else! To top it all off, I put a fresh basil leaf on each one to give it a nice color against the red salsa and a little added flavor.
The finished product! Bon appetit!
Here are some other great combinations I've used in the past for my eggs benedict:
- Smoked ham / Turkey
- Bacon (optional but always delicious--probably better paired with the turkey)
- Gouda cheese
- Avocado
- Bell Peppers
- Pesto sauce
- Sun-dried tomato on top
Pacific Northwest
- Salmon (smoked or in lox form) / Crab could also be good
- Asparagus
- Chevre
- Homemade hollandaise (but could also be great with pesto)
- Sprig of rosemary (or thyme)
Sky is the limit! Try whatever combinations you like--I promise it can't taste bad!
Changing how you see sundays,
Love & Doughnuts,
The Mrakulous Kitchen
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