This easy eggs Benedict recipe has all the tips and tricks you need to make this classic brunch staple, from the poached eggs to the hollandaise sauce.
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00:00 What's up guys, it's Brooke in the Delish Kitchen studios.
00:03 I'm really, really hyped because I get to make my favorite brunch item ever,
00:07 Eggs Benedict. That toasty English muffin, fried Canadian bacon, perfectly poached egg,
00:13 and the dreamiest, creamiest hollandaise that you've ever seen in your life.
00:17 It might seem like one of those things that you can only order at a restaurant, but
00:20 this is really easy to make at home. I've got some tips and tricks to help you nail it.
00:24 Let's get into it.
00:25 One of the main reasons people don't really make Eggs Benedict at home that much is because of
00:29 the hollandaise sauce. That's that creamy, buttery, egg yolk-y, bright yellow sauce that goes on top
00:35 of the whole Eggs Benedict. That's because it's a little bit difficult to make. But it doesn't
00:39 have to be. We're going to simplify this a ton. The way I learned to make hollandaise sauce in
00:43 culinary school involves some simmering water, a double boiler, and about 15 minutes of whisking.
00:49 Save your forearm some time and some pain. We're going to use my special secret tool,
00:54 which is just an immersion blender. You could also use a regular blender, but overall this
00:58 is going to make the hollandaise making process a lot easier and a lot less scary.
01:02 We're going to start by blending together the egg yolk, lemon juice, salt, and water in a tall cup.
01:09 If you do opt for an immersion blender, the cup that you use with that immersion blender is
01:14 very important. You want a cup that has a bottom circumference that's about the same
01:20 as the immersion blender. It's okay if it's a little bit bigger, but you don't want it to be
01:24 insanely bigger because that'll really interrupt your ability to get that nice, smooth emulsion,
01:28 which is the whole reason we're using this immersion blender. Then we're going to melt
01:31 some butter on the stove and slowly stream that butter into our egg yolk mixture while blending
01:37 until it gets nice and fluffy and airy and creamy and dreamy. Oh, look how easy that was.
01:43 We have nice, creamy hollandaise and my forearm muscles are still intact. This does not have to
01:47 be super complicated. To keep this hollandaise warm, we're going to put this whole container
01:52 inside a vessel that has a little bit of warm water. You want it to have just enough to reach
01:56 up to the same height as the hollandaise so it stays nice and warm and emulsified and ready to
02:00 use when you've got the rest of your eggs benedict ready. Poaching eggs is one of those things that
02:04 does take a little bit of practice, but once you've got the hang of it, you can do it in your
02:08 sleep. To get started, you're going to need a skillet or a saucepan that has high sides,
02:12 high enough to pour at least two inches of water in. We're going to bring that to a simmer,
02:17 and then instead of cracking the eggs directly into the pan, we're going to crack them into a
02:21 small bowl first. What that's going to let us do is gently lower the egg into the water, gently
02:26 slide it out so that we have a nice, uniform poached egg when we're all done. Another thing
02:31 that's going to help you get the egg to not spread out all over the pan, especially if you're poaching
02:36 a lot of eggs at once, before you drop the eggs into the pan, take your spoon, create a little
02:41 whirlpool in the pan, and what that's going to do is create enough force to bring the egg whites
02:47 together in one cohesive ball instead of having your egg whites flop all over the pan. Some people
02:52 do like to add a little bit of vinegar to their egg poaching water, but that can do a couple of
02:56 things. One, it'll leave you with a slightly vinegary taste, so if you're not into that,
03:00 avoid it. Two, vinegar is an acid, which means that it can cook, so that means it's going to
03:05 start cooking your egg whites as the water is also cooking your egg whites, which is going to result
03:10 in whites that are a little bit on the tougher side. They'll be a little bit more rubbery, a
03:13 little bit more bouncy, instead of soft and silky smooth. Ultimately, it is up to you if you want to
03:18 use vinegar or not. I recommend you try it without. Last thing to note, before you start poaching your
03:22 eggs, your water should only be simmering. You don't want a rolling boil, even a gentle boil.
03:27 You want a true simmer so that your eggs don't rip apart. Cracking the egg in this little bowl first
03:33 before you poach also helps you not get eggshell in your poaching water. I'm going to make my
03:38 whirlpool. That helps the egg come into a nice little ball in the center. Slide my egg right in.
03:44 Then as soon as you get the egg in, use your spoon to sort of separate the egg from the bottom of the
03:48 pot so that it doesn't stick there while it poaches. And then we wait. What we're looking
03:54 for to determine if this egg is done is for the whites to be completely set, but for that middle
03:59 yolk part to still be a little bit soft and jiggly. It should take about three minutes.
04:04 Then we're going to lift this out of the water and put it on a plate that's lined with paper towel
04:08 to let that excess water drain off before we start building our eggs benedict. Now it's time for my
04:13 personal favorite part of eggs benedict. Start crisping up our Canadian bacon. To do that,
04:18 we're just going to get a large skillet and we're going to put it over medium high heat. To that,
04:23 we'll add a little bit of butter until it melts. Then we'll add our Canadian bacon. This size pan
04:28 could fit about four slices. You just want to cook that for a couple of minutes until we start to see
04:32 a little bit of color on both sides. Only thing we have left to do is toast up our English muffins.
04:37 Instead of just turning to a regular old toaster, I've got a hot pan here already, so I'm just going
04:41 to add them face down to this hot pan. So there's a little bit of butter left and we're going to get
04:46 these toasted until they're nice and golden brown. Brunch is by far my favorite meal of the week and
04:52 eggs benedict is my favorite thing to eat at brunch. This is my time to shine right here.
05:00 That's it y'all. I've had a lot of eggs benedict in my life, but there's something really special
05:04 about this one. For starters, I think it's because we toasted that English muffin in that leftover
05:10 ham fat and butter and then that hollandaise was not only easy, but this is also the creamiest
05:14 hollandaise that I've ever had. This is just like a 10 out of 10 upgraded eggs benedict right here.
05:19 To crank this up just another notch, I added a dash of paprika on top because I love the color,
05:24 but I also like that hint of smokiness. And then of course chives. That's such a classic
05:28 topping for eggs benedict. It gives you a good bit of color, but it also gives you a
05:32 kind of a little tiny bit of onion-y-ness that something like this absolutely needs.
05:36 This is the kind of thing that you can easily knock out on a lazy Sunday afternoon,
05:40 so don't be afraid. Give it a try. If you want more easy Sunday recipes just like this one,
05:44 keep it right here at delish.com.