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I agree with Maggy, eggs benedict is a favorite, but it seems like one of those things that you just don’t throw together like a fried egg and toast. I’ve put together an adaptation that can be quick enough for a not too busy morning or a great simple brunch offering.
Eggs benedict can be problematic in Israel due to the lack of two traditional ingredients, Canadian bacon and English muffins. To resolve this I actually attempted to make homemade English muffins that turned out like dough hockey pucks. So to look for alternatives I decided on unsliced baguette or unsliced sourdough, a dense enough bread to succeed in the recipe and not absorb the hollandaise like a sponge.
Although I don’t keep kosher, I’ve come up with a meat kosher (if you use a butter substitute or olive oil in the hollandaise) or non-pork consumer alternative. Your choice. The base of the eggs benedict starts with a slab of sour dough bread you cut from the loaf yourself and toast. Then I take a lunch meat offering from packaged deli products (msg free only) or go to a specialty deli for a more kindred meat to original recipe meat and make an easy blender hollandaise taken from ‘Simply Recipes’
Easy Blender Hollandaise
Ingredients
•3 egg yolks (see how to separate eggs)
•1 tablespoon lemon juice
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1/8 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
•10 tablespoons unsalted butter (if using salted butter, skip the added salt)
1 Melt the butter slowly in a small pot. Try not to let it boil – you want the moisture in the butter to remain there and not steam away.
2 Add the egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and cayenne (if using) into your blender. Blend the egg yolk mixture at a medium to medium high speed until it lightens in color, about 20-30 seconds. The friction generated by the blender blades will heat the yolks a bit. The blending action will also introduce a little air into them, making your hollandaise a bit lighter.
3 Once the yolks have lightened in color, turn the blender down to its lowest setting (if you only have one speed on your blender it will still work), and drizzle in the melted butter slowly, while the blender is going. Continue to buzz for another couple seconds after the butter is all incorporated.
4 Turn off the blender and taste the sauce. It should be buttery, lemony and just lightly salty. If it is not salty or lemony enough, you can add a little lemon juice or salt to taste. If you want a thinner consistency, add a little warm water. Pulse briefly to incorporate the ingredients one more time. Store until needed in a warm spot, like on or next to the stovetop. Use within an hour or so.
Assembly
Poach eggs a la Julia Child or rewatch ‘Julie and Julia’. Bring salted water to a soft bubbly simmer, crack open eggs and put in a small container, slide them into simmery water. As eggs cook in simmering water, gently coddle with slotted spoon until white becomes opaque, cover pan with a lid and spoon out when white just solidifies over the yolk. This will only take a few minutes.
Steam some spinach for a dressing, or just use another decorative green, heat the deli meat in microwave, assemble with toasted bread, 1 meat layer and place poached eggs on top. Pour easy hollandaise over and voila!