What just may be the most famous brunch dish ever is actually quite easy to do at home. I find people who want to make eggs benedict are put off by one of two things; the hollandaise sauce, or the poached egg. These things are not even that difficult, plus I have an extremely helpful hint to help with the poached egg! I made this recipe quite often as it is the number one thing Alona requests of me for breakfast. It sure is not the healthiest breakfast, but seeing as we rarely have anywhere to be I like to spoil us.
Traditional Eggs Benedict is made with thick cut “Canadian Bacon” also known as back bacon, along with the poached egg and hollandaise. It is also served on a split open English muffin, or breakfast muffin, that has been toasted and buttered. I’ve changed up the recipe a bit since I wanted to use smoked salmon instead of the back bacon. This is also known as Eggs Royale or Eggs Atlantic.
The trick with the poached egg? The Microwave! Yep you can easily make a poached egg in the microwave if you don’t feel like doing it in a pot of water. Even now sometimes I make it in the microwave just for the convenience. The only difficult part is learning your machine. You don’t want to cook the yolks, but you do want the whites to set. Therefore you may “waste” a few eggs while still learning how to use your microwave. For example with mine I microwave at the second to last highest setting for 1 minute and 20 seconds. But that probably won’t be the same for you.
Eggs Benedict With Salmon Ingredients
- 4 Eggs
- 200 grams Smoked Salmon. You can also use cured salmon such as gravlox if you prefer. Both go great in this dish.
- 50 grams Lettuce; mixed. I find putting the salmon directly on the toasted bread feels lacking, so I place it on a bed of crisp salad lettuce.
- 2 English Muffins; split. You should split them using a fork so you can make all those nooks and crannies. Yes, I know I used hamburger buns in my picture. The English muffins I had went bad and I didn’t notice them until I took them out to toast, so I used the buns in an emergency.
- 1 tsp Paprika; or more to taste.
- 2 tbsp Green Onion; chopped.
- 1 tbsp White Vinegar; for boiling.
Hollandaise Sauce
- 2 Egg Yolks; from large eggs. When splitting the yolk and the white I find it easiest to either coddle the egg in between the two halves of the broken egg shell, or just dump the contents into my hand and let the white run through my fingers.
- 70 grams Butter. I used unsalted so I can taste for salt at the end.
- 2 tsp Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed.
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper; freshly cracked.
- Salt; to taste
Eggs Benedict With Salmon Instructions
- Begin by making the hollandaise sauce. The separate detailed recipe is here, but I’ve simplified it for this recipe. Whisk together the egg yolks and lemon juice in a glass or steel bowl and melt the butter. Place the bowl over a pot of boiling water and do not stop whisking. Slowly trickle in the melted butter until the mixture has more than doubled in volume and a shiny sauce has formed. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside off the heat, but in a warm place. If it thickens up too much a teaspoon of warm water will help so you can mix it up with a whisk some more.
- Toast the split English muffins (in my case split hamburger buns). Lay on the mixed salad lettuce and top with 50 grams of smoked salmon per half.
- In a pot of boiling water add the vinegar and give the water a swirl with a spoon. Crack an egg right into the middle of the vortex and after a minute or so you should have a perfectly poached egg. Remove with a slotted spoon and place atop the smoked salmon. Spoon some of the hollandaise sauce over the eggs. Sprinkle with paprika and chopped chives and serve the eggs benedict immediately. If you really want to kick these eggs royale up a notch, try grating some cured egg yolk over the top just like you would cheese over pasta.
Notes
To be honest I actually prefer the microwave method for poached eggs, just because it makes it easier to do a lot at once. I don’t want to have four pots of boiling water going at once, and I can do 4 poached eggs in the microwave which means Alona and I can have our meal hot at the same time. That being said, I understand why people prefer the traditional method, so how you poach an egg is entirely up to you.
Eggs Benedict With Smoked Salmon
Ingredients
- 4 Eggs
- 200 grams Smoked Salmon or cured, such as gravlox
- 50 grams Lettuce mixed salad leaves
- 2 English Muffins split
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 2 tbsp Green Onions chopped
- 1 tbsp White Vinegar for boiling
Hollandaise Sauce
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 70 grams Butter melted
- 2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper freshly cracked
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Begin by making the hollandaise sauce. The separate detailed recipe is HERE, but I’ve simplified it for this recipe. Whisk together the egg yolks and lemon juice in a glass or steel bowl and melt the butter. Place the bowl over a pot of boiling water and do not stop whisking. Slowly trickle in the melted butter until the mixture has more than doubled in volume and a shiny sauce has formed. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside off the heat, but in a warm place. If it thickens up too much a teaspoon of warm water will help so you can mix it up with a whisk some more.
- Toast the split English muffins (in my case split hamburger buns). Lay on the mixed salad lettuce and top with 50 grams of smoked salmon per half.
- In a pot of boiling water add the vinegar and give the water a swirl with a spoon. Crack an egg right into the middle of the vortex and after a minute or so you should have a perfectly poached egg. Remove with a slotted spoon and place atop the smoked salmon. Spoon some of the hollandaise sauce over the eggs. Sprinkle with paprika and chopped chives and serve the eggs benedict immediately.
