Thursday, October 27, 2011

#25 On The List {Try New Adventures Thursday!}

When I was a little girl, my godparents showed up at our house unexpectedly one morning to make us breakfast. And not just any breakfast. Eggs Benedict. My godfather took charge in the kitchen, poaching, blending, and assembling. Until then, I had no idea such an exquisite breakfast existed.

15-ish years later, and I'd never tried to poach an egg or make a hollandaise sauce myself. It's #25 on my list of 27 things I want to do this year before I turn 27.  So on Monday, I attempted it! It was not completely successful, but I'll show you how it went.

Eggs Benedict assembly

1st off, while there are several steps involved, none of them take very long. 2 1/2 minutes or so to poach the eggs, 5 minutes to toast your Canadian bacon and English muffins, a minute or so to melt your butter, and then maybe 5 minutes to make your hollandaise sauce (but I could be off on that, because mine didn't come out exactly right). So it's best to get everything out and ready so that you can actually serve the end product hot. Above you can see my assembly line of sorts.

I went by Ree Drummond's recipe, and here is her glorious result:


She makes it look easy as pie! See how incredibly thick her sauce is?

Everything went well until I got to the hollandaise part. Then, sadly, I couldn't seem to get it to thicken! In hindsight, I think I poured the hot butter into the blender with the eggs a tad bit too quickly.

My end result:

The half-way successful product

My hollandaise didn't thicken, but can I just say that all together, it still tasted great? Please, Julia Child, don't turn in your grave. We ate it and enjoyed it (and I'm rejoicing in the fact that I now know how to poach eggs!).

Speaking of Julia, I should have referenced her cookbook before I started. She gives all kinds of tips for hollandaise sauce and speaks about how every cook should be familiar with "egg yolks under all conditions." Next time I attempt the sauce (I will conquer it eventually!) I'll read that section 10 or so times before I start! I did get a laugh out of what she says about making hollandaise in a blender:

"...the technique is well within the capabilities of an 8-year-old child, it has much to recommend it."

Well, don't I feel brilliant! Maybe she meant an 8 year old French child....
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Ok, link up your adventures below! Participating in Try New Adventures Thursday is easy, simply link up your particular blog post below, link back to Alicia's Homemaking in your post, and visit a few fellow participants with cheerful comments!









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10 comments:

  1. Way to attempt a new sauce! I've made hollandaise sauce once {using the recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook} and it turned out a bit chunky. Not sure what that was all about! ;)

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  2. This is quite an intensive breakfast to attempt! We did it last year using Alton Brown's recipe from "Good Eats." The hollandaise was pretty time intensive, BUT totally worth it! It also shows you how to make your own english muffins--VERY yummy and easy! I think your first attempt can be deemed a success even if it doesn't "look" just right ;)

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  3. http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/foodstoavoid.html

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  4. Looks delicious!! I am always up for a new breakfast recipe!!

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  5. Oh dear, Anonymous must be concerned about me eating yolks that aren't fully cooked....;)

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  6. (honestly, I totally forgot about that...)

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  7. That looks AWESOME! The last time I had an incredible eggs benedict was in Chicago when we were staying with Kurt's parents. I've been craving good breakfast food recently, so I should attempt this. Love you Alicia!

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  8. I wonder if PW makes anything without butter! =p I might try to make this once in my life since hubby likes eggs benedict, but I think I will probably mess up the sauce too.

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  9. It's always worth it to try new things. Try this version of hollandaise from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa. The roasted asparagus is great too!

    Roasted Asparagus with Hollandaise (Serves 8)
    Copyright 2010, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved

    12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1½ sticks)
    4 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
    3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
    Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
    2 pinches of cayenne pepper
    2 pounds fresh asparagus
    Good olive oil

    Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

    Melt the butter in a small sauce pan. Place the egg yolks, lemon juice, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, ¾ teaspoon pepper and cayenne in the jar of a blender. Blend for 15 seconds. With the blender running, slowly pour the hot butter into the blender and blend for 30 seconds, until the sauce is thick. (You can leave it in the blender at room temperature for up to 1 hour. If it is made in advance, add 1 tablespoon hot tap water and blend for a few seconds before serving.)

    Break off the tough ends of the asparagus and, if they’re thick, peel them. Place the asparagus on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, then toss to coat the asparagus completely. Spread the asparagus in a single layer and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast the asparagus for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender but still crisp.

    Pour the hollandaise sauce over the warm asparagus and serve.

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  10. I've never tried it either...it looks so intimidating!!! Good try though and I love Julia Childs, her quotes are priceless!

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