Eggs Benedict

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan, melt the unsalted butter, skim off any white foam/particles that come to the surface. This is clarification. What you should be left with is a pure golden butter with no white, keep warm.
2. In a glass bowl, add the egg yolks, water, white wine vinegar, a pinch of salt and paprika. Whisk for a minute to combine well.
3. Place the bowl over a bain-marie of lightly simmering water, you want a very gentle heat.
4. Whisk continuously, adding the clarified butter very slowly (don’t be tempted to speed up, as this can split the hollandaise!).
5. Keep whisking until you have a creamy thick coating consistency, you won’t need all the butter, likely around 2/3rds. Remove from the heat, taste and season with a little extra salt and lemon juice to taste. If it’s too thick, let it down with a tiny bit of warm water and whisk again.
6. In a medium saucepan, fill with boiling water and 1 tbsp white wine vinegar, once at a rolling boil, swirl the water and carefully add your eggs, you can do it one by one if you like to make it easier.
7. Poach the eggs for approx. 3 minutes for a jammy soft poach.
8. While the eggs poach, toast muffins.
9. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper or a clean cloth.
10. Butter the muffins with salted butter, add a slice of ham to each, top with a poached egg and spoon over the hollandaise.
11. Sprinkle with a little more paprika and serve immediately!
12. Cooking Tip: You can swap the ham for bacon, it’s personal preference. You can use an electric hand whisk rather than a manual one, it will save your arm and it’s less likely to split! Keep any left over clarified butter in a jar in the fridge and use for cooking!