Typically, I am not a “breakfast-person,” but daaang – this was may have changed me forever! The Hollandaise Sauce is, of course, buttery and amazing and when it mixes with the egg yolk and the salty, thick cut bacon….. here comes the drool.
It is just awesome.
This is my spin on Eggs Benedict. I know it isn’t a major overhaul, but it is my kind of Eggs Benedict. I would prefer bacon to Canadian Bacon any day of the week, the spinach and arugula just give it a bit of a different texture and the French baguette is so soft and chewy. To me, this is perfection.
Out of curiosity, I did a little research on the origins of Eggs Benedict. It has such a peculiar name, it had me wondering where in the heck did it come from? Well, it appears the origins of Eggs Benedict is a hotly contested issue…. While there are anywhere from 2-4 stories claiming to be the true story… It seems the reigning story is of a New York stockbroker who wanted to cure a hangover, whose last name happens to be Benedict. He walks in to the Waldorf Hotel and orders toast with bacon and a poached egg along with a side of Hollandaise Sauce. The owner was so impressed with his order, the dish made its way onto the menu.
Huh. Good to know.
Over the years, there have been a wide array of variations from the classic Eggs Benedict. Here are a few:
- Irish Benedict: Take some of the leftover corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day and use it to replace the ham/Canadian Bacon.
- Eggs Atlantic/Eggs Royale: Replace the ham/Canadian bacon with smoked salmon.
- Eggs Florentine: Replace the Canadian Bacon with spinach or just place it underneath.
I knew about many of the popular versions of Eggs Benedict before I started doing my research, but the Irish Benedict was news to me – I am going to tuck that little ditty away …..
So, after you make the Hollandaise Sauce, this recipe gets pretty simple.
So simple, I didn’t even take pictures of the process …. Okay – confession – I would have loved to take a few pictures, but when you are a food blogger AND a mom, you sometimes have to do what you gotta do – and in this case, that meant getting this photo shoot done as soon as I could before (a) I lost all my nature light and (b) my youngest woke up early from her nap and the ONLY thing that would calm her cries, was being snuggled in my arms. Who was I to deny her 🙂 That being said, the only tricky party, if you haven’t done it before, is poaching eggs. I will do a follow up post showing a step-by-step of how I poach eggs.
Here was the final plate:
- 1 small French baguette (cut in half both lengthwise and width-wise)
- 4 eggs
- 4 slices of bacon
- 1 cup of spinach/arugula mix
- 1 cup of Hollandaise Sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- Hollandaise Sauce should be prepared ahead of time and sitting in a bowl, placed over a large stew pot with about an inch of hot water at the bottom to keep the sauce warm. Add a Tablespoon of warm water and whisk into the sauce to revive it after it sits for a bit.
- Cut long bacon strips in half and fry until reached your desired crispiness.
- Prepare French Baguette on plate and have spinach/arugula mix prepped and ready to use.
- Have Hollandaise sauce ready to go.
- In shallow sauce pan, fill about 2 -3 inches of water and bring to almost a boil (it is best right when the water starts to bubble of the bottom of the pan).
- Crack egg into a small glass liquid measuring cup and slowly, very slowly, pour into water.
- Let cook about 2-3 minutes, depending upon how cooked you want your eggs.
- While the egg cooks, take a piece of the baguette, place on plate, top with bacon, and then spinach/arugula.
- Remove eggs with slotted spoon and place on top of the spinach/arugula.
- Pour Hollandaise sauce over everything and season with salt and pepper.
- Serve immediately.
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