EGGS BENEDICT

There is a salon de thé called the "Pink and Cosy" in La Roche-Posay where they serve excellent salads, cakes and light meals.  We usually go for the eggs Benedict as the eggs are always perfect and the Hollandaise sauce delicious.  

English muffins are readily available in French supermarkets so I bought a pack and decided to have a go at making eggs Benedict myself.  I used a Jamie Oliver recipe here for the Hollandaise sauce.  

It took two of us to make the whole dish.  Getting the muffins toasted in the toaster, the bacon cooked in the air fryer and the eggs poached at the same time as making the sauce seemed to be a two person job.  The sauce requires the full attention of one person and the rest is a juggling act that requires a bit more practice.  Either that or two pairs of hands and eyes in the back of your head!!   (There are ways to reheat poached eggs and Jamie suggests keeping the sauce warm in a vacuum flask until you need it.). However, they were utterly delicious and well worth the effort.

Ingredients for the sauce

150g unsalted butter

2 large egg yolks

1 dessertspoon white wine vinegar

a splash of lemon juice (I used Jif lemon)

Method

Put the butter into a small saucepan and melt over gentle heat.  Set aside.

Put the egg yolks into a heatproof bowl over a saucepan containing just simmering water.  Choose a bowl that sits firmly on the rim of the pan without rocking about and make sure that it doesn’t touch the surface of the water.  Break the egg yolks with a whisk and begin whisking.  Whisk in the vinegar.

Dribble the melted butter into the eggs and continue whisking until you have a thick, glossy sauce.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Serve immediately or keep warm.

For the eggs Benedict 

2 English muffins 

4 eggs

4 rashers of bacon.

 Method 

Split the muffins and lightly toast both sides.

Grill or fry the bacon until as cooked or crisp as you like it.  (I did mine in the air fryer.)

Poach the eggs to your liking (see method here).

Place a split, toasted muffin on each plate.  Top each half with a rasher of bacon then a poached egg and spoon over the Hollandaise sauce.

Serves 2.