SCD Eggs Benedict

Sunday always calls for brunch in our house and one of my favourites is Eggs Benedict. There’s something about the Hollandaise Sauce that makes it feel really decadent and it’s even better when you make your own from scratch (avoiding all the thickeners and additives that extend its shelf life!). I love the tangy, butteriness when paired with the rich yolk and salty ham. By making your own hollandaise and using my Grain-Free Bread you can make an entirely (Specific Carbohydrate Diet Friendly) SCD Eggs Benedict so you don’t have to miss out of your Sunday brunch decadence! It’s also a great one to serve to guests as it looks and tastes so impressive.

A lot of people are worried about making their own hollandaise sauce but all it involves is patience and hardly ever goes wrong if you don’t try to rush it and you keep the temperature low. Also, it’s one of the first things I ever taught Dan to cook when we first started dating, and he’s got it down to a fine art now so I usually leave it to him. As long as you don’t overcook the egg yolks I’ve never had a problem with this recipe. This is how I do it…

Start by melting the butter in a pan or the microwave so that you have it ready for when you need it. Then, using room temperature eggs, separate the egg whites from the yolks. (Keep the whites, they can go into any smoothies, or frittatas or can bulk out scrambled eggs or even make meringues! They keep in the fridge for a few days until you find a recipe you can throw them into.)

Whisk the yolks up with the white wine vinegar and lemon juice in a heat-proof bowl. Once the mixture has become light and frothy, place the heat-proof bowl on top of a saucepan of 2 inches of barely simmering water, creating a bain-marie (make sure the water is not bubbling too furiously and make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water!) Whisk the mixture constantly as it is sitting over the simmering water until it thickens slightly (enough so that it leaves a trail when you lift the whisk up). This is where you have to not rush – it may take up to 5 minutes but just keep the heat low or you’ll end up with scrambled eggs!

Then, take the mixture off the heat completely and start to whisk in the melted butter, a little at a time until the sauce becomes thick and silky. Add the lemon juice bit by bit, tasting as you go, until you get the flavour you like. I like to add black pepper too but it’s not technically an ingredient of hollandaise sauce. Put the sauce to one side while you prep the rest of the dish (it can be kept in the fridge for a few days but it is best eaten on the day it’s made). It will thicken as it cools so make sure you warm it through gently before you use it for the final dish.

Now for the eggs. I also have a foolproof poached egg recipe which never seems to fail me. To start, make sure the eggs are at room temperature or they will cool the water down too much and not cook properly. Then I boil the water in a kettle and add it to the pan – use a deep frying pan (or large saucepan) so it’s easy to remove the eggs at the end and fill it about 2-3ins full. Wait for the water to boil so there are large bubbles popping on the surface and then turn the heat off completely.

Crack the eggs into the pan – don’t crowd the pan, maybe 3-4 at the most each time and then just leave them for 5 minutes. The residual heat from the hot water will cook them without overcooking them and after 5mins or so you can check them by lifting them out. If the white is cooked all the way through then the yolk will be perfect. It always produces the most amazing gooey yolks and this time was no different!

Then it was time to put everything together:

I toasted a couple of slices of my Grain-Free Bread and topped them with a small scraping of butter. I added a slice of ham to each piece of toast, topped each with a poached egg and drizzled a tbsp of hollandaise over the top of each one. Some black pepper on top and the dish was complete. You can add chives or parsley as a garnish too if you fancy.

It’s always great to break into the yolk and have it run out all over the dish. This was an easy breakfast that feels so much more special than the energy required to create it. Buttery and rich and salty, it’s everything that you need on a Sunday morning (when you’ve been out late the night before at a friend’s all night BBQ – oops) and with loads of protein and healthy fats, it’s enough to keep you going until dinner. Definitely a special weekend brunch meal to set you up for the rest of the day!

I actually made myself one Eggs Benedict and one Eggs Royale as you can see in the picture above. Eggs Royale is exactly the same process, you just use smoked salmon instead of ham. You could also try Eggs Florentine which is a vegetarian version using spinach in place of. the ham of smoked salmon. Once you’ve mastered the Hollandaise Sauce you can have fun playing around with different flavours!