Hollandaise Sauce
You’ll need the below for 2 portions of Egg’s Benedict.
4 eggs yolks (I use golden yolks)
1/4 tsp water
1/4 tsp white wine vinegar
250g clarified butter (melted)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
Lemon juice and sea salt to taste
2 very fresh eggs
2 English muffin
4 slices of Parma ham
Chopped chives to garnish
Method
1. Add the egg yolks, water and vinegar to a metal/heat proof glass bowl. Whisk to break up.
2. In a saucepan bring some water to a boil remove from the heat wait for 30 seconds then place the bowl on top, whisk continually until the egg yolks double in size.
3. Stream in the melted butter whisking all the time, this will thicken the mixture eventually. It’s important to only add a small amount of butter at a time, the final texture should be thick ribbons when you drizzle it from a spoon.
4. Season to taste with lemon juice and salt, the lemon juice will also thin it slightly. Add a tiny splash of water if it has gotten too thick for your taste
5. If you need to reheat the Hollandaise this can be done over a pan very gently simmering water with the sauce still in the bowl. Be careful though as if the sauce goes above 60c it will split.
For poaching eggs you need very fresh eggs, personally I believe not using vinegar is a better method. The vinegar forms the proteins in the egg white firmer and quicker but I prefer it without. More important is a deeper pan of water, if it’s too shallow the eggs will hit the bottom and stick.
The water should be brought to a boil and then the heat reduce so it sits just below boiling, crack the eggs into a sieve to help remove the whispy bits of white before adding to a gentle stirred pan of water. The vortex thing again in my opinion is not needed. 3 mins should give a perfect finish on large eggs.
Drain the eggs on paper towel before serving with a toasted muffin, you can crisp up the Parma ham like I did by just dropping into a dry frying pan on a low heat for 2 mins. Coat with the Hollandaise and garnish with chives.