Eggs Benedict: First Attempt

[Jisho]

This morning I made my first attempt at Eggs Benedict. Due to some other meals we were having, we just happened to have the leftover ingredients necessary, and my wife was craving Hollandaise, so I decided to give it a try. I have never poached eggs before, and I have never made Hollandaise, so this was going to be new.

First, some non-Hollandaise components: We used whole wheat english muffins, which were toasted first and set in a warm oven. Then, the canadian bacon was heated and just slightly browned, and placed on top in the oven to keep warm.

We don't have 'farm fresh' eggs in the house right now, so regular eggs had to suffice, though I knew they wouldn't poach as well. When the water was heated and lowered to a simmer (with some vinegar), the water ended up at too low a temperature (electric stove. How I long for gas). After about 3 eggs half disintegrated in the pan, noting it was getting worse, I decided my technique might not be the issue. I raised the temperature a bit, waited for the water to come back to a nice light bubble, and slid the eggs in. This time, I got nearly perfect poaching. Excellent. Once poached, I slid them on top of the waiting bacon/muffins, and started in on my Hollandaise.

Now, everyone seems to have their own recipe for Hollandaise. There doesn't seem to be a true "standard", so I did some searching here, at the Food Network website, and around the internet to get an idea of a base for the sauce. After some deliberation, I decided on the following formulation:

3 egg yolks

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/8th tsp kosher salt

1/8th tsp white pepper

6 oz (1 1/4 sticks) of butter

I have seen a number of creation methods for the Hollandaise, but the one I'd seen recommended as best for the emulsion was using cold, cut butter instead of melted butter. I've seen some with clarified butter as well. I went with cold butter for mine.

I whisked the yolks, water, lemon juice, and kosher salt in a bowl placed above (not touching) simmering water, until they had turned pale and thickened a little. Or, at least, that was the intention. I turned to pull my last poached egg for a moment, at a crucial juncture, and when I turned back, it appeared to my untrained eye that the eggs, while still a delicious color, might have thickened a tad too much.

I pulled the bowl off the pan, whisking in 1 tablespoon of butter at a time, bringing back to head as needed to get the butter incorporated. At this point, after 6 oz of butter, I had an issue: the hollandaise appeared to still be too thick. It did not drizzle, nor was it velvety, although it did not separate at all, and after breakfast, is still a nice emulsion. Since my knowledge of hollandaise is limited, I thought that perhaps this might be normal, so I let it go.

I sampled the Hollandaise. It was rich and creamy, but perhaps a little too lemony bitter? I'm more of a fan of bitter, but when my wife tasted it, she was definitely of the opinion that the lemon had contributed a bit too much. I added 3/4 of a tsp. of prepared mustard, which helped take some of the edge off, and about 1/4th tsp of sugar, and gave them a quick whisking over heat. I poured some warm hollandaise on the waiting eggs, and served them up.

Mostly, the breakfast was a taste success. My wife likes her eggs a little more "done", and is not a fan of runny yolk. When I bit into mine, the runny yolks from the eggs merged well with the hollandaise and cut the lemony flavor. After tasting it, my wife agreed for the first time ever that perhaps she would have liked her eggs a bit softer in the middle.

So, some notes on what I learned, and some requests for opinion:

1. I used a pan that was a little too shallow for poaching. Next time, I need to use a deeper skillet or a larger pan with more water. Also, I need to watch carefully for water heat, or I just end up with egg strings all over the pan.

2. The hollandaise was too thick, it seemed. Did I thicken the eggs too much (there were no cooked egg bits that I could discern), or did I use the wrong proportions of butter? Should the butter have been melted instead? It did not drizzle from the spoon, but instead came out in small blobs, like a pudding that has just begun to set.

3. The hollandaise seemed a bit lemony and bitter. I used fresh lemon juice, but some recipes called for 3 eggs to 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, and some called for more lemon juice than I used. Perhaps next time a 3 yolk to 1.5-2tsp of lemon juice mixture would fix it without having to add other things to soften it? Maybe Hollandaise is supposed to have a lemony flavor, because my only exposure is with small diner hollandaise (having never ventured to fine dining for breakfast).

4. Whole wheat english muffins are chewier and harder to cut than standard english muffins. After warming in the oven, a sharp knife was necessary to easily get through the muffins, though a butter knife would do with a little effort. Next time, I'll make the muffins later in the process, and go with the standard white variety.

5. There was not enough salt in the Hollandaise, I would increase it to 1/4 tsp.

I apologize that there are no pictures. I had a hungry family waiting for the meal.

[gus_tatory]

...

2. The hollandaise was too thick, it seemed. Did I thicken the eggs too much (there were no cooked egg bits that I could discern), or did I use the wrong proportions of butter? Should the butter have been melted instead? It did not drizzle from the spoon, but instead came out in small blobs, like a pudding that has just begun to set. ...

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hi Jisho--

i can only comment on the hollandaise part, but it sounds like you guys had a great breakfast, so no need to split hairs~!

i find people are scared of hollandaise a little bit, but if you have it over water that's just bubbling, and whisk it every 4-5 minutes, and (here's the "cheating") whisk in 1-2 tsp of warm water from the pan below, it is stabilized and will be fine. i have heard of using cream to do this, but i also like the really lemon-y taste, and cream and lemon = maybe not. it sounds like you did everything great--my hollandaise ends up a "quivering" texture (i can't think of a better word) that's like halfway between 35% cream and a loose mayonnaise.

and if you're making something "caribbean", like grilled fish, try lime juice, or tangerine juice instead of the lemon.

but it all sounds lovely nevertheless.

[Jisho]

...

2. The hollandaise was too thick, it seemed. Did I thicken the eggs too much (there were no cooked egg bits that I could discern), or did I use the wrong proportions of butter? Should the butter have been melted instead? It did not drizzle from the spoon, but instead came out in small blobs, like a pudding that has just begun to set. ...

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hi Jisho--

i can only comment on the hollandaise part, but it sounds like you guys had a great breakfast, so no need to split hairs~!

i find people are scared of hollandaise a little bit, but if you have it over water that's just bubbling, and whisk it every 4-5 minutes, and (here's the "cheating") whisk in 1-2 tsp of warm water from the pan below, it is stabilized and will be fine. i have heard of using cream to do this, but i also like the really lemon-y taste, and cream and lemon = maybe not. it sounds like you did everything great--my hollandaise ends up a "quivering" texture (i can't think of a better word) that's like halfway between 35% cream and a loose mayonnaise.

and if you're making something "caribbean", like grilled fish, try lime juice, or tangerine juice instead of the lemon.

but it all sounds lovely nevertheless.

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That's exactly the texture I ended up with. I thought about adding some warm water to it to smoothen the texture, but decided to leave it. And you're right, it had a powerful lemony flavor. I haven't really had "good" handmade hollandaise, so maybe it's supposed to be that way. Over eggs, I was having a hard time imagining it, but I can see that same lemony bitter flavor working very well over, say, asparagus or fish.

[Dave Hatfield]

This thread has a lot of information about making the sauce.

Almost as many techniques are there are posters.

Personally, I start with less lemon than I know I need, make my emulsion and add more lemon near the end to get the amount of 'bite' I want.

[snowangel]

Back to the poaching eggs. Next time you try them, first check out the ECI course on poaching eggs. It was of great help (although I'll admit last time I did eggs benedict, I fried the eggs over easy because I didn't want to dirty yet ANOTHER pan.

[Dana]

For another twist, and for my SIL who is not a lemon lover, I add a little 'sauce' from a can of chiplotles. Add a delicious southwestern flare. No, it's not classic, but wow, it's good.

[dockhl]

Sounds fine to me but here are a few recipes for Blender Hollandaise:

Marlene's from Recipe Gullet

Slightly different proportions and no mustard (my favorite)

Blender Hollandaise

From the 1961 New York Times Cook Book, updated with a little modern technology. It yields about 3/4 of a cup.

* 1 stick butter

* 3 egg yolks

* 2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

* 1/4 tsp salt

Melt butter in microwave. Using a blender or blender wand, gently blend the egg yolks with the lemon juice and salt. Set blender at lowest speed and blend while slowly drizzling melted butter into the mixture. Continue blending for a few seconds after all butter has been added. Garnish with a pinch of cayenne pepper.

I think doing it in a blender is easy and almost foolproof.

[Fat Guy]

I used a pan that was a little too shallow for poaching. Next time, I need to use a deeper skillet or a larger pan with more water. Also, I need to watch carefully for water heat, or I just end up with egg strings all over the pan.

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When we did the eGCI eggs class, the student feedback really underscored and confirmed the importance of using a deep vessel with a lot of water. Poaching eggs in a stockpot is simply much more reliable than in a shallower pan. I don't think any other factor made such a big difference in the results I've seen. When you poach in a stockpot, the motion of the eggs falling to the bottom really seems to do a lot to help shape them into poached eggs with proper comet-like tails. When you poach in a shallower vessel you tend to get poached eggs that look more like boiled fried eggs.

[menon1971]

This thread has a lot of information about making the sauce.

Almost as many techniques are there are posters.

Personally, I start with less lemon than I know I need, make my emulsion and add more lemon near the end to get the amount of 'bite' I want.

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I agree regarding lemon juice. Also, I think there is a slight difference in flavor depending on when you add the lemon juice - adding at end gives a more aromatic and fresh taste.

[Jisho]

Sounds fine to me but here are a few recipes for Blender Hollandaise:

Marlene's from Recipe Gullet

Slightly different proportions and no mustard (my favorite)

Blender Hollandaise

From the 1961 New York Times Cook Book, updated with a little modern technology. It yields about 3/4 of a cup.

    * 1 stick butter

    * 3 egg yolks

    * 2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

    * 1/4 tsp salt

Melt butter in microwave. Using a blender or blender wand, gently blend the egg yolks with the lemon juice and salt. Set blender at lowest speed and blend while slowly drizzling melted butter into the mixture. Continue blending for a few seconds after all butter has been added. Garnish with a pinch of cayenne pepper.

I think doing it in a blender is easy and almost foolproof. 

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You know, I have that exact same cookbook. From that exact same year. maybe I need an upgrade?

[SushiCat]

We went through a phase (it was a while back) on eggs benny and hollandaise, I use a different method for the hollandaise, and less yolk to butter ratio. I am pretty sure we normally used two egg yolks and 8 Tablespoons of butter and this worked really well. Also, I like the lemon flavour, particularly for eggs benedict, so we used to start with lemon juice and reduce it to concentrate it before starting our yolks etc.

About the eggs, gas stove REALLY makes a huge difference here - we wanted poached eggs a while back, and I was amazed at how easy it was to get them started and ending up looking like poached eggs instead of stringy boiled eggs! If you don't have gas, try this ... get those little egg cups (they are plastic and sold for poaching), start each egg in one of the cups, and let it simmer in there for about two minutes, then tip it out into the water. I'm not sure on the science, but it seems to warm the egg without cooking it, and therefore the white all stays together.

Enjoy!

[Busboy]

On poaching eggs, I find that the old trick of splashing aliberal amountof vinegar in the water works well, ensuring that the eggs stay more or less together rather than whisping themselves into nothingness. No vinegar flavor, either.

I am vaguely appalled by the egg-to-butter ratios being touted on the thread. I find that a single egg yolk will emulsify an entire stick of butter by itself, giving a light, velvety sauce.

Lemons are veariable creatures. Some are bitter, some more sour than fruity and some the other way 'round. Thus, I never actually follow a set recipe with the lemon juice, just adjusting as necessary. Meyer lemons are in season now, well worth adding to the mix (I find them a little fey to use alone, and usually mix them half-and-half with their less exotic brethren).

Finally, while there are as many Hollandaise recipes as there are Hollendaise chefs, all beautiful (chefs and recipes) in their own way, whole wheat english muffins are (like whole wheat bagles and whole wheat baguettes) an abomination and can never be used for Eggs Benedict. In fact, as long as we're banning smoking and trans-fats, whole wheat English muffins should be outlawed as well.

[Dave Hatfield]

.  In fact, as long as we're banning smoking and trans-fats, whole wheat English muffins should be outlawed as well.

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Tut Tut Busboy according to my sources this dish was invented in the 1860's at Delmonico's restaurant for a certain Mrs. LeGrand Benedick by Chef Charles Ranhofer. Recipe as follows:

Eggs à la Benedick - Cut some muffins in halves crosswise, toast them without allowing to brown, thn place a round of cooked ham an eighth of an inch thick and of the same diameter as the muffins one each half. Heat in a moderate oven and put a poached egg on each toast. Cover the whole with Hollandaise sauce.

I also note that somewhat later in the 1890's the recipe was again published, but this time specifically calling for English muffins.

Although I may or may not agree with your aversion to said muffins historical accuracy impels me to raise the question?

Does your aversion extend to white flour English muffins as well? If not then I agree. If so then what would you serve them on?

Note: The original recipes are non-specific as to which type.

[Qwerty]

I'll give my $.02

Definately start with a little acid and a little water in your yolks. Whisk them over the waterbath until they have thickened up pretty significantly, and paled in color (sounds like you did this ok). This helps condition the yolk to be better prepared for the emulsion.

Water helps emulsions, whether it be mayo or hollandaise. You noticed your sauce got too thick and gummy, and too tight, because you did not have enough water in it. You can also add water throughout the process, so if you think your sauce is getting too thick, you can add a teaspoon or 2 at a time to acheive consistency. Also, lemon juice or vinegar can thin it out too. In fact, it's better IMO to add acid because it contributes flavor and balance to the sauce.

I also use whole butter, but I use melted whole butter--not quite the same as clarfied. I find that if I use warm melted whole butter, I can better regulate the temperature of the sauce. Also, using fresh cold butter off the heat takes a lot more time. And you can still get the milk fat and milk solids, you just have to conciously incorporate the solids from near the bottom of the pot. Whole butter gives you a much better flavor than clarified, but clarified is generally considered to be a little easier to work with, since it is pure fat and has to water or anything in it.

Also, keep in mind that it is a balancing act between the flavors. Rich, salty, acid, etc, are all in need of balancing in the sauce. If it has too much acid for your tastes, add a little salt, or whisk in a bit more butter to counter balance. Too salty? Add a bit of acid or more butter. Too rich? Add some acid. You may have just needed another tablespoon of butter to make your sauce perfect tasting for you.

You can also add a pinch of cayenne pepper, or a dash or two of tobasco, to give it a little background heat.

Good luck, hope I helped.

[tim]

Hi,

In his book, "Sauces", James Peterson says that acid should not be added until the hollandaise is finished. Adding the acid at the beginning tends to cook the eggs prematurely resulting in a heavier sauce.

I use Peterson's technique of cooking the egg yolk/water over direct high heat to make a fully cooked sabayon before adding butter and flavoring. Once mastered, this technique is reliable, very fast and really impresses your friends, especially experienced cooks.

Tim

[Busboy]

.  In fact, as long as we're banning smoking and trans-fats, whole wheat English muffins should be outlawed as well.

←

Tut Tut Busboy according to my sources this dish was invented in the 1860's at Delmonico's restaurant for a certain Mrs. LeGrand Benedick by Chef Charles Ranhofer. Recipe as follows:

Eggs à la Benedick - Cut some muffins in halves crosswise, toast them without allowing to brown, thn place a round of cooked ham an eighth of an inch thick and of the same diameter as the muffins one each half. Heat in a moderate oven and put a poached egg on each toast. Cover the whole with Hollandaise sauce.

I also note that somewhat later in the 1890's the recipe was again published, but this time specifically calling for English muffins.

Although I may or may not agree with your aversion to said muffins historical accuracy impels me to raise the question?

Does your aversion extend to white flour English muffins as well? If not then I agree. If so then what would you serve them on?

Note: The original recipes are non-specific as to which type.

←

I can't match you for historical research. And I'd like to get it out on the table that there are many types of whole wheat and whole grain breads that I mange with great enthusiasm.

But, there have been way too many marketing types messing with perfectly wonderful breads by making them "whole wheat" in an attempt to layer a perception of healthiness atop what was already a fine thing.

As far as English muffins are concened, the Busboy family is quite in love with them, to the extent that our hamburgers are always eaten on muffins, my children would give up fruit and vegetables to live entirely on them, and some of my most treasured childhood memories involve visits to my granparents' house, where their modestly more affluent lifestyle allowed for English muffins and butter, rather than the toast and margarine of my parents' house. I still remember Thomas's back before they were pre-forked.

[Dave Hatfield]

.  In fact, as long as we're banning smoking and trans-fats, whole wheat English muffins should be outlawed as well.

←

Tut Tut Busboy according to my sources this dish was invented in the 1860's at Delmonico's restaurant for a certain Mrs. LeGrand Benedick by Chef Charles Ranhofer. Recipe as follows:

Eggs à la Benedick - Cut some muffins in halves crosswise, toast them without allowing to brown, thn place a round of cooked ham an eighth of an inch thick and of the same diameter as the muffins one each half. Heat in a moderate oven and put a poached egg on each toast. Cover the whole with Hollandaise sauce.

I also note that somewhat later in the 1890's the recipe was again published, but this time specifically calling for English muffins.

Although I may or may not agree with your aversion to said muffins historical accuracy impels me to raise the question?

Does your aversion extend to white flour English muffins as well? If not then I agree. If so then what would you serve them on?

Note: The original recipes are non-specific as to which type.

←

I can't match you for historical research. And I'd like to get it out on the table that there are many types of whole wheat and whole grain breads that I mange with great enthusiasm.

But, there have been way too many marketing types messing with perfectly wonderful breads by making them "whole wheat" in an attempt to layer a perception of healthiness atop what was already a fine thing.

As far as English muffins are concened, the Busboy family is quite in love with them, to the extent that our hamburgers are always eaten on muffins, my children would give up fruit and vegetables to live entirely on them, and some of my most treasured childhood memories involve visits to my granparents' house, where their modestly more affluent lifestyle allowed for English muffins and butter, rather than the toast and margarine of my parents' house. I still remember Thomas's back before they were pre-forked.

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Wonderful! We're in agreement. Not sure I'd go as far as hamburgers, but I'm going to give it a try. If that is I can find an English muffin in France. May have to make my own.

We can now leave the sauce discussions to the 100's of experts who haunt this forum.

[onrushpam]

Brennan's and other NO restaurants serve their Eggs Benedict/Sardou/Houssard/Etc over Holland Rusks instead of English muffins.

Or, I've had great success with King Arthur Flour's recipe for English Muffin Bread.

Pam <usually a lurker, but I do love me some Eggs Benedict!>

Wonderful! We're in agreement. Not sure I'd go as far as hamburgers, but I'm going to give it a try. If that is I can find an English muffin in France. May have to make my own.

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[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

I have never once found a Hollandaise recipe that I didn't consider "too lemony," so I use far, far less lemon juice than called for... 6 yolks + 1 tbsp. of water + 3 sticks of butter (chilled & cut into pieces and whisked in over simmering water) only gets 1 tsp. of lemon juice in my kitchen. And I do add the juice at the very end, with the salt & a bit of cayenne pepper. Maybe this dearth of lemon juice makes my recipe not-very-authentic, but I figure if I want lemon sauce, I'll make lemon sauce... but it's not the same as Hollandaise in my book!

For the record, my favorite variation on eggs benedict is to add jumbo lump crabmeat on top of the canadian bacon. I can fairly hear my arteries clogging, but egads, it's good...