Eggs Benedict

I love Eggs Benedict. It's so rich, creamy, and decadant and something I secretly was a little nervous to make at home. I'm terrible at poaching eggs and hollaindaise sauce seemed so difficult to make. After watching an old episode of Worst Cooks in America where they made this dish, I thought if they can do it, I can do it too! They featured this really cool egg poaching pan which allows anyone to poach an egg. I'm really glad I've purchased this. I'ts a little bit of a unitasker which I hate but you can remove the egg poaching apperatus and just use the pan as a sauce pan. I suggest giving this dish a shot but make sure to have extra ingredients in case you poach your egg wrong or the sauce breaks.

Ingredients:

Hollandaise Sauce:3 large egg yolks, room temperature1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened2 small pinches white pepperFine sea salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Poached Eggs:Unsalted butter or nonstick spray, for greasing cups8 eggs4 English muffins, split and toasted8 slices of crispy bacon
2 chives, finely chopped (optional)
Directions:

1. Crisp the bacon in a saute pan over medium low heat. Move to a paper towel when done to drain excess fat. Prep poaching cups by greasing them with a little butter. Toast english muffin halves.

2. For the hollandaise sauce: Fill a medium saucepan (or the bottom half of a double boiler) with 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer. In a medium bowl that fits snugly into the saucepan without touching the bottom (or in the top half of a double boiler), whisk together the egg yolks, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon water.Set the bowl over the simmering water and cook over very low heat, whisking constantly, until the egg yolk mixture is very pale and thick, about 3 minutes; if it begins to heat too quickly and threatens to get lumpy, remove the bowl from the saucepan and whisk for a while before setting it back over the simmering water. When ready, you should be able to see the bottom of the bowl with every whisk stroke. 

3. Continue whisking while adding the softened butter a little at a time. When all of the butter has been incorporated, add the white pepper, salt, and cayenne to taste. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and set it into a warm bowl of hot water to keep the sauce warm; stir occasionally while you are poaching the eggs.

4. For the poached eggs: Fill an egg poaching pan with 1 inch of water. Cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Lightly grease the poaching cups with butter. Crack the eggs into the cups and set the cups into the poaching pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook to your desired doneness - 4 minutes for perfect runny poached eggs.

5. To serve: Set two toasted muffins halves on each plate. Top each with bacon and a poached egg. Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of hollandaise sauce over each egg. Garnish with chives. Serve immediately!!