Eggs Bennie: an easy dish to mass-produce, yet one that everyone considers a special treat. It was believed to have been originated at the New York Yacht Club by Commodore E.C.Benedict. However, to set the record straight, it seems it wasn’t Mr. Benedict (who wasn’t commodore at the N.Y.Y.C., but somewhere else), but his cousin Mrs. LeGrand Benedict, who invented the dish. It, also, was not a breakfast dish. Mrs. Benedict, bored with the luncheon menu at Delmonico’s, an elegant place to lunch at the turn of the century, asked the maître d’ at the hotel to suggest something new; he asked her if she had any ideas… and, just like that, she said, “What if you put a slice of ham on half an English muffin, and a poached egg on the ham, and hollandaise sauce on the egg, and truffles on top?”
And lo, and behold, a star was born!
INGREDIENTS:
- Eggs – 2 per person
- Canadian bacon – lightly sautéed in a skillet, 2 slices per person
- English Muffins – 1 per person
- Hollandaise Sauce – Recipe to follow Truffles or Black olives sliced in half Avocado slices
TO POACH AN EGG:
This is a neat trick when it works, and makes the cook feel clever. Fill a wide shallow saucepan with 1 1/2 inches of water, adding 2 1/2 TBS. of vinegar per quart of water. Then, with the water at the barest simmer, crack an egg and, holding it very close to the water, your fingers all but in it, swing the shell open and let the egg drop in. If you are lucky, it will form into a quite neat oval, but you can often help it, if help it needs, by rapidly rolling it over and over with a wooden spoon before it has coagulated. Set timer for 4 minutes and continue with the rest of the eggs, adding 4 to 6 in all, depending on the size of your pan; for accurate timing, start the first egg at the handle side of the pan, and move around clockwise, taking out the first egg as the timer goes off, then the second, etc. dropping each as it is done into a bowl of cold water.
STORING POACHED EGGS:
Refrigerate poached eggs in a bowl with enough cold water to submerge them completely, but do not cover bowl. They will keep perfectly for 2 or 3 days.
REHEATING POACHED EGGS: Drop the eggs into a pan of barely simmering, salted water and leave for 2 minutes, then remove, promptly with a slotted spoon.
LIGHT HOLLANDAISE SAUCE: Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
- 2 TBS. fresh lemon juice
- 3 TBS. water
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 whole egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 3/4 cup melted butter, cooled to room temperature salt, pepper and more lemon juice to taste
Shortly before serving, bring the lemon juice and water to a simmer in a small saucepan and add the 1/2 tsp. salt. Meanwhile, vigorously beat the egg and yolks in another small stainless steel saucepan with a wire whip for a minute or so until they are pale and thick. Then set the yolk mixture over moderately low heat and whisk in the hot lemon juice in driblets. Continue whisking, not too fast but reaching all over bottom and corners of pan, until you have a foamy warm mass; remove from heat just as you see a wisp of steam rising. (Do not overheat or you will coagulate the egg yolks.) Immediately start beating in the warm butter by driblets, to make a thick, creamy, light yellow sauce. Taste carefully for seasoning, adding salt, pepper, and more lemon juice to taste.
HOLLANDAISE: THE EASY METHOD
- Whisk two egg yolks in steel mixing bowl until blended (about 3 minutes)
- Place ½ Cup butter (1/4 cube) in a measuring cup (coffee cups work just as well), and microwave on high for 45-60 seconds.
- Skim the fat off the top of the butter, as best as possible.
- With one hand, slowly dribble butter into yolks while gently whisking with the other hand until the two begin to emulsify.
- Once emulsified, you can add melted butter a little faster, and add juice of half a lemon.
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO OVER WHISK, THAT WILL BREAK THE SAUCE.
- Add paprika, you’re done
- Let sit for 10-20 minutes to thicken. If too thick, add warm water or more lemon juice.
Toast the muffins; top each half with a slice of bacon, one of the eggs, the hollandaise and either a truffle or a slice of the black olives. I serve avocado slices on the side of the plate.
This recipe also needs and deserves an official, designated “Champagne Cork Popper”!