Adventures In Saucy Eggs

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When I was a kid, after church on Sundays, my family would often eat out at Elmer’s.  I always had (and honestly, still do) one of two entrees.  I’d either have the German pancake or I’d have Eggs Benedict.  The classic, with the layer of ham, poached eggs, and piles of beautiful Hollandaise sauce, all served over an English muffin.  Back in my youth, there was no nonsense about adding things like avocado or crab meat to Eggs Benedict…

These days, I don’t go to Elmer’s very often.  I make myself a German pancake fairly regularly, because it’s fast and easy.  But I also make myself Eggs Benedict on occasion as well.  The Eggs Benedict is slightly less common because I have to make sure I’ve gotten the special ingredients at the grocery store (the English muffins and the ham).

I think some folks think making Hollandaise sauce is hard.  But it isn’t.  It takes a little while because it has to be cooked slowly, but it’s not complicated or difficult.  And once you’ve made a batch of sauce, you can keep it in the fridge for a few days, gently reheating it whenever you want to use some.  So I think it’s worth the effort of making the sauce.

The sauce is so simple: egg yolks, lemon juice, and melted butter.  And at the end, a pinch of salt and nutmeg.  Start off by melting the butter in the microwave; cut it up, and heat it on low power in short bursts.  Otherwise, you get an epic butter explosion, and no one wants to clean that up.  Once the butter is melted, whisk together your egg yolks and lemon juice in a glass bowl. Once it’s lightened in color, looks frothy, and has about doubled in volume, set it over a saucepan of gently simmering water.

Start whisking and don’t stop until you’re done.  You are using indirect heat to warm this up slowly, so that your eggs don’t scramble.  As you start whisking, add the melted butter in slowly.  Whisk and whisk and whisk until the mixture has about doubled in volume again and it starts to thicken up.  This can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes, so make sure you don’t have anyplace else to be for this part of the operation.  Once the sauce has thickened almost enough, take your bowl off the heat and let the water in the saucepan cool down a little bit.  Add in your salt and nutmeg.  You can add a pinch of cayenne, if you Iike a little heat.  The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.  Once the water is a little cooler, you can put the glass bowl back over the top of it to keep the sauce warm.

Split and toast your English muffin, poach two eggs (I’ve used a poacher like this for years and it’s fantastic), and warm two pieces of ham.  Then assemble…English muffins, then ham, then eggs (lightly seasoned), and top with a generous serving of Hollandaise sauce.  If the sauce has thickened too much, you can pop it in the microwave for about 10 seconds on very low power and then whisk it.  Or you could whisk in a couple drops of warm water to loosen it up.  Enjoy!

Take any leftover Hollandaise sauce and store it in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days, reheating it over a pan of simmering water or gently in the microwave.  The sauce is unlikely to split.  But even if it does, it still tastes great.  Ignore the appearance and savor the flavor. Or, you could reconstitute it…this YouTube video is short and informative.

This whole process is quite easy, if not exactly quick.  And the delicious sauce is absolutely worth the effort.  I usually get three portions of Eggs Benedict out of one batch of sauce.  If I weren’t so heavy-handed with the sauce, I imagine I’d get four portions.  But I think three generous portions are much preferable to four miserly portions.  You do you…

I hope you’ll give this a try…you won’t regret it.

Hollandaise Sauce

Click here for printable PDF of recipe

INGREDIENTS

6 Egg yolks

1 Stick butter, melted (8 Tbsp)

3 Tbsp lemon juice

Pinch of salt

Pinch of cayenne (optional)

Pinch of nutmeg

DIRECTIONS

Vigorously whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a glass bowl until the mixture is frothy and doubled in volume. Place the bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water; the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Continue to whisk rapidly. Be careful not to let the eggs get too hot or they will scramble. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter and continue to whisk until the sauce is thickened and doubled in volume. This can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes.

Remove from heat, and whisk in cayenne, nutmeg, and salt. Cover and place in a warm spot until ready to use for the Eggs Benedict. If the sauce gets too thick, whisk in a few drops of warm water before serving.

This can be stored in the fridge for a few days…when reheating, either reheat with a Bain Marie arrangement (glass bowl over saucepan of water) or else in low bursts on very low heat in the microwave.

This makes enough for 3-4 servings of Eggs Benedict (depending on how heavy-handed you are with the sauce).