Eggs Benny Loves Bea

Psssssst. Love.

Huh?

Love.

What?

Love.

Who??

LOVE.

How?

Like This:

Two eggs slipped into a bubble bath. Towel dried. Enrobed in silky sauce. Bedded on toast. Bite by bite—Hold it. Stop right there. That’s all you need to know. And yes, it was very romantic.

My bruh ha ha (guy, lover, main squeeze) loves bennies. L-O-V-E-S bennies., but only eats them in restaurants. Why? Because I don’t make bennies. And I still don’t. But this Valentines I introduced him to a new chick, Eggs Beatrice.

She’s swanky, Beatrice is. A little simpler than Ben with her base of toast, but comfortable with a few pieces of ham nestled beneath her goods.

I found this recipe for Eggs Beatrice in my study of Marion Cunningham’s The Breakfast Book. Marion describes Eggs Beatrice as a “lighter and more delicate version of Eggs Benedict” (p.146). Her description is apt, of course. Marion has a simple way of stating things perfectly and honestly.

The recipe involves three main steps:

1. Making the hollandaise

2. Toasting the bread and ham

3. Poaching the Eggs

Eggs Beatrice for Two

Modified from Marion Cunningham’s The Breakfast Book

Making the Hollandaise

You can make this sauce in the blender. I don’t have a blender. I have a food processor. The bowl of a food processor is too big for this sauce. Instead, I used an immersion blender and a narrow bowl with high sides. If you are horrified by the richness of this sauce, remember, you only use a portion of it for your Eggs Bea. I put 2 Tbsps of sauce on each Eggs Bea.

1 egg yolk

1 Tbsp boiling water

½ cup butter, melted and hot

2 Tbsp lemon juice

Salt to taste

Put the yolk in the bowl. Blend it with an immersion blender (or make the sauce in your blender). Add the water and blend. Then, very slowly, dribble by dribble, add the hot butter while blending. Add the lemon juice and some salt. Taste and season.

Cover the bowl. Don’t worry if it cools a little. No one will notice as your eggs will be nice and hot.

Toasting Eggs and Ham, I am

Put 2 pieces of bread in the toaster and the ham in a pan on low. The ham should just warm up a little.

Poaching the Eggs

I love Marion’s tip for poaching eggs! Marion says to boil the eggs in shell for thirty seconds before poaching. This causes the yolks to cook a little so the eggs hold together perfectly when entering the pan. Although, I still insist on cracking the eggs into a small vessel such as a cup or ladle and sliding them into the hot water. Brave Marion just cracks them right into the pan.

2 eggs

1-2 tsp cider vinegar

In a smaller saucepan, heat enough water to cover the eggs. When the water boils, add the eggs for thirty seconds. Remove.

In a wide sauce pan, or deep frying pan, heat the vinegar and enough water to cover the eggs. Bring the water to a boil then reduce the heat so that the boil slows to just barely a simmer. Crack one egg into a cup or a ladle and slip it into the water. Repeat with remaining egg. Let the eggs poach for 2 minutes and you should have a firm white with a runny yolk inside. Keep an eye on the pan as you may need to increase the heat to keep the slow simmer consistent.

Remove from the water with a slotted spoon.

Assemble:

Put one toast on a plate. Cover with ham top with egg. Cover with 2-3 Tbsp of hollandaise sauce. Repeat.

Note: For big eaters, poach two eggs per toast.