Mother’s Day
Show mom your love with the best breakfast dishes you can make
If you plan to give mom a break this Mother’s Day and make her breakfast or brunch, you need to impress.
Skip the fried or over easy eggs. Don’t even think scrambled or omelette. Show mom your love with Eggs Benedict. Bathed in buttery-rich Hollandaise sauce and typically served atop English muffins, this is one of the best breakfast dishes and the best thing a brunch spread has going for it.
There are so many ways to dress up Eggs Benedict. Serve it with bacon, ham, Canadian bacon, smoked salmon or crab cakes, as in today’s recipe.
The poached egg is the epicentre of “eggs benny,” as it’s sometimes called. The poached egg should have soft, just cooked snow white whites and an oozing yolk as orange as the sun goes down.
While Eggs Benedict looks stunning and inviting to eat, it’s the poached eggs that people find a bit daunting. Ditto with the Hollandaise sauce.
The eggs are poached in a simmering water bath. Sounds easy enough. But here’s what scares cooks: the egg whites flying away in feathery wisps from the yolk or the yolk breaking in the water.
But have no fear, the following tips will guide you through.
When it comes to making Hollandaise sauce, don’t think you need to break a sweat. In fact, overwhisking can make it separate and break up. If this happens, whisk in an ice cube to cool the mixture and bring the fat back to an emulsification.
One of the most unique qualities of poached eggs is you can make them up to one day in advance. That’s an ace in the hole if you’re hosting a brunch. Make the eggs, then shock them in ice water. Store in the water up to overnight before serving.
At serving time, rewarm the eggs in simmering water for about 30 seconds.
Here are some easy steps that will change your egg poaching abilities.
Start with fresh eggs. The whites will hold together better. To tell if an egg is fresh, place egg (uncracked) in a measuring cup of water. If it sinks, it’s fresh. If the egg floats, it’s old.
To prevent those feathery egg white strands that flail away from the yolk once the eggs hit the water, crack the egg into a strainer to remove and discard the thin part of the white. Transfer to a small cup or ramekin.
• Bring about 6 cups of water to just a simmer. Tiny bubbles will form on the surface. Ideally, the water temperature should be between 180 and 190 F. Add 1 tablespoon white vinegar and a pinch or two of salt.
• Stir the water to create a vortex or whirlpool. While the water is swirling, gently add the egg to the centre, using the cup as a guide. The swirl of the water helps distribute the egg white over the yolk. Cook about two minutes.
• Using a slotted spoon, gently place the poached eggs onto a paper towel-lined plate. If you plan to serve them later, place them in a bowl of ice water to shock them and stop the cooking. Reheat in simmering water just before serving.
Crab Cakes Benny with Florentine Hollandaise Makes 6 servings
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon water
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (or more)
10 ounces melted, unsalted butter
1 dash Tabasco or to taste Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tbsp baby spinach purée (see note below)
For the eggs:
6 large eggs
Water
1 tbsp vinegar, white, red wine or apple cider
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 recipe for crab cakes (see below)
Preparation time: 1 hour; total time: 1 hour
In a heatproof bowl, whisk the yolks, water and lemon juice. Set the bowl over a pot of water with low heat and continue to whisk at reasonable speed, reaching all over the bottom and insides of the bowl, where the eggs tend to overcook.
If necessary, moderate the heat by frequently moving the pan off the burner for a few seconds, and then back on.
As they cook, the eggs will become frothy and increase in volume and then thicken. When you can see the pan bottom through the streaks of the whisk and the eggs are thick and smooth, remove from the heat.
Add spoonfuls of the melted butter slowly while whisking constantly to incorporate each addition. As the emulsion forms, you can add the butter in slightly larger amounts, while always whisking until fully absorbed. Continue incorporating butter until the sauce has thickened to your desired consistency.
Season lightly with salt, pepper and a dash of Tabasco, whisking in well. Whisk in the spinach purée, taste and adjust the seasoning, adding droplets of lemon juice if needed to balance the flavours. Serve lukewarm.
Make the spinach purée: Wilt about 2 cups of baby spinach leaves in a sauté pan with 1 tablespoon water, salt and pepper. Add wilted spinach to a blender with
¼ cup water and purée until almost smooth. The consistency should be like pancake batter.
Poach the eggs: In a wide, shallow pan, bring about 2 cups water to a soft boil and add the vinegar. Stir the water, creating a whirlpool. Break each egg, one at a time, into a small bowl, cup or ramekin and gently pour into water. Place the bowl as close to the water’s surface as possible when adding the eggs. Allow each egg to set for a few seconds before adding the next. Depending on the size of you pan, you may have to make one or two eggs at a time so that they do not become crowded. The water should remain a gentle simmer throughout cooking.
Allow eggs to cook for poach for one or two minutes for a soft yolk. Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove each egg to a paper towel-lined plate. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Crab Cakes Makes 6 servings
1 large egg
2 tablespoons mayonnaise 1 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning tsp salt cup finely diced red pepper
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives 1 pound lump crab meat (see note below)
cup panko bread crumb Vegetable or canola oil, for cooking
Preparation time: 20 minutes; total time: 40 minutes ( plus chilling time)
In a large bowl, combine the egg, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, Old Bay, salt, red pepper and chives. Add the crab meat (be sure to check the meat for any hard and sharp cartilage) and panko bread crumb. Gently fold mixture together until just combined, being careful not to break up the crab meat. Shape into six crab cakes (about ½ cup each) and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Preheat a large non-stick pan to medium heat and coat with canola oil. When oil is hot, place crab cakes in pan and cook until golden brown, about three to five minutes per side. Be careful, the oil may splatter.
Allow crab cakes to drain on a paper towel-lined plate for a few seconds. Transfer to serving plate, carefully top with a poached egg and then the Hollandaise sauce. Garnish with a few cilantro leaves or chopped scallions, if desired. Serve immediately.