My version of Eggs Benedict with a healthier Hollandaise

This past weekend as some of you... well all of you should know was Mother's Day. One of my mom's favourite dishes is Eggs Benedict so to celebrate Mother's Day I made my mom her favourite dish. My version is a bit unconventional as it does not use clarified butter as a traditional hollandaise recipe calls for. My alternative is using Extra Virgin Olive oil. I found that it was time consuming melting butter, removing fat, then adding it in slowly and of course its a lot of fat which is not really needed. By using extra virgin olive oil its a bit healthier and it still has the same consistency as a clarified butter hollandaise would have.

Here is the recipe for my version of Eggs Benedict:

Eggs Benedict with Grapefruit Hollandaise 

*Number of Ingredients depending on how many people you are serving. 

2 servings

 Ingredients:

4 slices of peameal bacon

2 english muffins

8 eggs (4 for poaching and 4 for the egg yolks)

3 cups of extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup of white vinegar

1 whole grapefruit

1/2 lemon

Chives (Optional) 

Poaching Eggs

Steps:

1. Get a pot and fill it about 1/4 of it with water and bring to a simmer and add in the white vinegar. By adding the white vinegar it will help the eggs form a nicer shape.. I think.. don't quote me on that. There is a reason for adding vinegar to the water though so try not to skip it. I haven't poached an egg without the vinegar before so I can't say whether or not the eggs will still poach nicely.

2. In a small bowl crack an egg into and make sure the yolk did not crack or anything. 

3. When the water starts to simmer... slowly pour in your egg. Most recipes say to whisk the water in a circular motion however I found that the egg doesn't come out as nicely. If you slowly pour the egg into one area and try to use a slotted spoon to pour the egg whites around the egg yolk. Let the egg cook in the simmering water for about 3-4 minutes (until the eggs are a bit bouncy but still has some resistance. When you cut into the egg you want the yolk to pour out slowly which means the cooking is a bit longer compared to cutting it and having it super runny so its basically raw and unsafe). I try to do at least two eggs at a time. 

4. When the egg is ready get a slotted metal spoon and take it gently out of the water and place it into a water bath (a bowl of water filled with ice). This will stop the cooking and ensure you won't have a hardboiled egg.

EGGS DONE

Hollandaise Sauce

1. After you are done cooking your eggs use the same pot and place a large stainless steel bowl ontop of the pot ( This is called a bain-marie). Make sure the water beneath it isn't directly touching the bowl; you want it to simmer. By simmering it you want the steam to heat teh bottom of your bowl. 

2. Separate 4 eggs and place the egg yolks into the metal bowl. 

TIP: The easiest way I found to separate egg yolks is to crack the egg and pour the egg into your hand and let the egg whites fall out, leaving you with a perfect egg yolk. 

3. In the same bowl  zest one grape fruit and squeeze the living juice out of it. Place your hand under the grapefruit with the juicy part in your hand and squeeze it. This will help catch any unwanted seeds.... obviously toss the seeds out when you are done juicing.... the grapefruit. You also add the juice of half a lemon which will help add more acidity.

4. Whisk the egg yolks and grapefruit juice on top of the bain marie until the mixture thickens. You want the mixture to thicken so that way the mixture is cooked and you aren't eating raw egg (approximately 5 minutes). After it is thickened, take it off the pot and slowly pour in the oil. Dribble alittle bit of it at a time until its thick.You want the consistency to be thick but not mayonnaise like. It should be able to spread out and not be stiff.

5. After you mixed all of the extra virgin olive oil in, season with salt and pepper. 

HOLLANDAISE DONE!

Toast your english muffins a bit and flash fry the peameal bacon.

Plating: Place toasted English muffins on a plate, place the peameal bacon. Paper towel the poached eggs so its not wet and pour over some of the delicious hollandaise on top! Top with some fresh chopped chives. Serve with my easy roasted potatoes! 

Eggs Benedict with a healthy hollandaise sauce... DONE

KMW