Time: 30 minutes
Feeds: 1 person
Ingredients:
- 1 English muffin
- 2 eggs
- 2 pieces of thick-cut bacon
- 2-3 egg yolks
- 1 tsp water
- 1 tsp lemon juice, plus more to taste
- Pinch of salt
- 1 stick of salted butter, melted over the stove
- Pinch of cayenne, if desired
Directions: This dish has a few steps that all need to happen at the same time so can be a little tricky but it’s so rewarding when it all comes together.
To start, you’ll want to cook your bacon in the oven. You only need two pieces of bacon for this recipe but if I’m buying a pack of bacon, I’m just going to cook it all and use the leftover pieces for something else. I think it’s important to use thick-cut bacon in this application but it’s up to you at the end of the day. I deviate from a traditional eggs Benedict with Canadian bacon or ham and substitute the bacon because I love the flavor that it has. Lay the bacon out into a single layer on a foil lined sheet pan and add to a cold oven. Then turn the oven on to 400 degrees and let cook until it’s to your desired crispiness. This will generally take about 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of your bacon but it’s very crucial to keep an eye on the bacon so it doesn’t burn. Remove the bacon from the oven when it’s done to your liking and set aside.
in a medium sauce pot, start heating some water with about a tablespoon of white vinegar added. This is going to be for poaching your eggs and I like to use that bit of vinegar to help keep the eggs together as they tend to look neater. You want this to come to a simmer with barely any bubbles. While waiting for the water to simmer, add a stick of butter to a small sauce pot and start to melt over medium low heat. It’s important that the butter is melted over the stove and not in the microwave because you want it to be hot to make the hollandaise.
Next, you should set up your hollandaise. You’ll be using an immersion blender to bring the hollandaise together so it’s important to use a container that’s just bigger than the head of the immersion blender. To this container, add the egg yolks, water, lemon juice, and pinch of salt. Give it a quick blend to combine and then set aside.
Once the bacon is done cooking, you can start to bring everything else together. First, get your English muffin toasting in the toaster. Next, start poaching your eggs. You can give the water and vinegar mixture a little stir to create an eddy of sorts which will also help with keeping the whites together on your eggs. Crack two eggs into the pot and set a 4 minute timer, checking on the eggs with about 30 seconds left. When they’re poached to your liking, remove them from the liquid with a slotted spoon and transfer them gently to a paper towel lined plate to let the excess water dry up. While the eggs are poaching, get your hollandaise together. In a slow steady stream, add the hot butter with the immersion blender on. This will emulsify the mixture and it will thicken and become hollandaise. Blend for an additional 20 seconds after adding the last of the butter and then give it a taste to see if it needs more lemon juice.
Now that all of the components are finished, you can bring everything together and assemble the Benedicts. On a plate, start with the toasted English muffin open faced and add a strip of bacon per side. Next, gently transfer the poached egg from the plate on top of the bacon. Finally, spoon over your desired amount of hollandaise. Season with pepper and enjoy!