I had the pleasure this week of breakfasting at Adour, the Alain Ducasse restaurant at the St. Regis hotel. They don’t generally do breakfast, so that made it extra (eggstra?) special. The highlight was the lobster eggs benedict. I mean, yum, lobster. And brioche instead of English muffin. The eggs were the most perfectly poached I’ve ever had. (It was kind of eye-opening that some eggs are poached better than others.) Anyway, it was all the inspiration I needed to make my very own eggs benny.
I found the same very basic hollandaise recipe in several places: stick of butter melted, four egg yolks, two tablespoons lemon juice, pinch of salt, pinch of cayenne. Whisk the yolks and lemon over a double boiler, slowly whisk in the butter, add the seasoning, et voila. I suspect I didn’t do these things as painstakingly as I was supposed to, as it only took about five minutes and the result wasn’t completely smooth. But it wasn’t separated, and it tasted delicious. I poached my eggs with a splash of vinegar and served the whole shebang on a corn muffin with a bit of turkey. It was, in a word, divine. Not quite as good as Adour’s but certainly tastier than what I’ve had at a few diners.
Sadly, hollandaise doesn’t keep, so after having it over green beans (in lieu of asparagus) for dinner, it was time to say goodbye. Still, I suspect that next time I have people over for breakfast, I’ll do it again. (It’s not really worthwhile for just me and A.) Eat your hearts out readers!
Layla Schlack 