This is a special breakfast for Two, from One, though it can be adapted to accommodate as many (or as few) as you may wish. So far, I have only made it for Mouse and myself because Ursa Minor is not fond of eggs unless they've been scrambled.
Eggs Benedict is something that I have considered a luxury since I was first introduced to it when I was 18 years old or so. Since discovering it, I was once taught how to make a Hollandaise sauce from scratch by someone who was an actual Chef. I won't bore you with the details of making the sauce from scratch, because I only did it once, and it was a flop and I never tried it again, opting, instead, to go with a packaged mix which, while not gourmet, is certainly adequate for *my* palate.
Without further ado, I give you: The Pigamus Variation on Eggs Benedict
Ingredients:
One pouch (Knorr is good) of Hollandaise sauce mix (and whatever milk and butter is needed per the packet's instructions).
Three English muffins
Six slices of Canadian bacon
Twelve half slices of bacon
Six eggs
To start off, I begin cooking, in a large skillet, on a front burner, the half slices of bacon, cooking over a medium heat. Then, in a small sauce pan, on a back burner, I put on some water over medium heat that will be my water for poaching the eggs. When the water is on for poaching, on a front burner, in another small sauce pan I start the preparation of the Hollandaise sauce, following the directions on the package (and adding a couple extra tablespoons of butter for good measure).
Non-Chef Pigamus makes a first note: the Hollandaise sauce package will invariably give a recipe for making eggs benedict and will call for four English muffins. I am a Hollandaise sauce glutton, though, and prefer my proportions of sauce to food.
While the bacon, water and sauce are doing their business, I start to toast English muffin halves, watching over the pan and pots to make sure they're progressing without burning or boiling over.
When the bacon is finished to a crispy golden brown, I transfer this to a plate with paper towel on it to drain and put the Canadian bacon slices into the same pan (usually pouring off at least a little bit of the bacon drippings).
While the Canadian bacon begins to get its groove on in the bacon fat, the Hollandaise sauce should probably be reaching its simmer stage. At that point, I switch the two sauce pans from back to front and vice versa.
At this point, things become a bit more juggle-some, what with tending all the separate components and getting them onto the plate at the moment of their being finished.
Once I've got at least two English muffin halves toasted (and as an added treat, buttered), and the Canadian bacon slabs are cooked at least on one side, I turn the sauce pan of water on high heat and bring it to a vigorous boil.
To poach the eggs, I crack one into a small bowl. When the water is boiling like mad, I use a slotted spoon and stir the water into a whirlpool and dump the egg into the vortex. I have to be careful, at this point, adjusting the heat accordingly so the egg water does not boil over as it begins to foam. After a minute or so of boiling (more if I want the yolks cooked more solidly, which, frankly, isn't the way that *I* would cook them), the whites will begin to look rather congealed. The egg can be stirred a bit more to get all of the white flecks to congregate toward the main mass.
When the first egg is done cooking, the Canadian bacon should be fully cooked and left on a low heat to keep warm (I also return the bacon to the pan to keep it a bit warmer). The first (buttered!) English muffin half should be plated and one of the Canadian bacon slabs should be put atop it. Swirl the egg again, to get as much of the white in the middle of the sauce pan and then scoop it out with the slotted spoon, trying to retrieve as much of the egg on the first dip as possible. Gingerly shake the spoon so as to get as much of the water off of the egg as possible and then gently dollop the egg onto the already plated English muffin and Canadian bacon. I then put two of the cooked half slices of bacon on top of the egg in an X shape and then ladle on as much of the now shimmeringly beautiful sauce as I think is possible to ingest in one serving.
I then race over to Mouse and serve her first helping.
She tucks in, compliments me on the masterful job I've done, and I'm back to the races, poaching eggs, toasting English muffins, making sure the sauce isn't scorching, intermittently flipping Canadian bacon and bacon, and piling meat and eggs and sauce onto a prep plate that's transferred to the eating plate.
Non-Chef Pigamus second note: During the egg poaching process, the water may tend to start getting filled with flecks of egg white that just cannot be scooped up. I will usually have a tea kettle on the fourth burner that I set to boil as soon as I start the process. This way, if the egg gunk gets too thick, I'll dump the clotted water into the sink and start with fresh water that doesn't need to be boiled from cold, thus keeping the conveyer cooking moving along.
Enjoy! And if you eat three apiece, like I do, be prepared to have a nap immediately afterward.
