Basic Eggs Benedict

[Marauderer]

We have EB about once a month and I don't always feel like making my hollandaise sauce from scratch. Several years ago I ran across a package mix for hollondaise that was excellent and have used it for several decades. Don't ask me what's in it as it is written in code and probably has some nasty things in it but, we won't go there.

I fixed this for the DW and I this morning and thought others might enjoy it.

The basics are:

English Muffins
Eggs
Knorr Hollandaise mix
Ham/Canadian bacon
Butter
Paprika
White Vinegar
Water
Milk

I use Thomas brand original English muffins and I use a table fork to separate each one into halves. I then toast them at the appropriate time to be used in this epicureans delight.



My eggs come from my friends farm just down the road from me and are never older that 3 days when I get them and sometimes they are only hours old

The Knorr Hollandaise Mix is great

I use real butter. For me there is no substitute for real butter.

My ham was a wet brined smoked one that I got from the grocery store and I smoked it some more to 140*F internally with a box temp of 225*F


I used a Sweet Spanish Paprika that I like.

All of these ingredients can be modified for your individual preferences. This is just my preference.

I used two packages of the Knorr Hollandaise Mix. The recipe on the back of the package has changed a bit over the years and the way i do it works for me. It calls for 1/4 cp of butter/pkg. One stick of butter is 1/2 cp and I used 1 1/3 sticks for my recipe


Turn your burner on and slowly melt your butter being careful not to boil it.

Add both packages of the Hollandaise mix


Whisk in the mix completely ensuring there are no lumps


I will continue in the next post.

[Jerod Broussard]

Go Barry!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Marauderer]

Now turn up the heat on your burner to medium high and slowly add two cups of milk whisking it in while adding it.


Continue heating until the mixture starts to boil and it thickens


When it has thickened turn of your burner and cover and remove to a cool section of the stove.

Now lets start getting ready to poach some eggs. I picked a pan with cover that i could do four eggs in. After filling it with water I add 2-3 tsp of white vinegar. This keep the egg white from running all over the place. I heat the water to 190*F as I don't want it to boil. Poaching is really from 160-180*F and Simmering is 185-200*F. So I guess I make simmered eggs.


Place your muffins in the toaster and make sure your ham is warmed sliced and the extra fat trimmed from it. Add your eggs to the water, I time them as a thermopen will pierce the yolks and we don't want to do that. At 190*F it usually takes 4-5 min for the whites to get done and still have a nice dippy yolk.


While the eggs are cooking return the hollandaise to the stove and rewarm if it cooled off to much. Get your plates warmed and your muffins on the plates with the ham on the muffins ready to receive the eggs. Using a spatula remove the eggs and place them on their respected muffins


Ladle on some Hollandaise on each muffin and add some paprika. Be careful with the paprika as it can over power the rest of the flavors. Some prefer cayenne pepper or chipotle pepper instead of paprika your choice.


Serve and enjoy. We had some fresh papaya in the fridge and had that with it and some raw milk.


I don't think I will wait a month to have this again. We really enjoy this breakfast.

[smarkley]

The best breakfast ever!!! Thanks... Barry!

[(umamidadi)]

Beautiful Job, I loved poached eggs but this takes it to a whole 'nother level. Nice Pics BTW!

[Huskee]

GREAT posts Barry!

[Jerod Broussard]

First time I ever wanted someone to invite me over for breakfast.

[cdd315]

Outstanding .. my wife and me love EB. Thanks for the recipe Barry I will try this!!

[Henrik]

Nice one, Barry! I second that "real butter" you mentioned. There's just no substitute.

[Marauderer]

First time I ever wanted someone to invite me over for breakfast.

Jerod if you are ever coming to the Atlanta area let me know and we will get together.

[Marauderer]

Using the two pkg's of mix I had enough left over to save some for another day and it is great with just toast points or English muffins alone. Darn I had breakfast already

[Marauderer]

Nice one, Barry! I second that "real butter" you mentioned. There's just no substitute.

Absolutely, Kinda like Breakfast Broccoli aka Bacon, the other vegetable.

[AldenMiller]

That's my wife's favorite breakfast. We use the same Knorr Hollandaise mix and canadian bacon from the butcher. She likes it so much that some years back we bought a special egg poaching pan that has little cups for the eggs to keep them a consistent shape. I think I need to make sure we have all the ingredients on hand to have some this weekend.

-Alden

[David Parrish]

Try this recipe with pulled pork!

[HC in SC]

Everything looks great to me except for the Hollandaise sauce. I know that is heresy on this thread, but I would have to hold the Hollandaise, and instead ladle over some hot buttered grits and then top with shreded cheddar cheese. Just my $0.02.

The poaching part as Marauderer does it is much harder than it looks. I can do over easy in my sleep w/o breaking the yolks, but they have broken when I've attempted poaching becoming boiled scrambled eggs - yuck!

Great job on your technique Mar!