I love going out for breakfast. Paleo Eggs Benny, omelettes, breakfast dates with my favorite people, or rehashing adventures from the night before. I used to date a cute boy from the gym. Our dates were always breakfast dates. It sets the tone for an entire day of awesome. Orange juice, an Eggs Benny, some shameless flirting; too bad he moved away and I lost my breakfast date buddy. Maybe I should work on finding another one, any offers? Tell the world, I want grain free English muffins and waffles available for my breakfast dating and dining pleasure. Not likely to happen immediately, so I have had to resort to making them at home. For now…
Hollandaise. It is a simple sauce, 3 main ingredients. Not so simple to make. Or perhaps I haven't had enough practice. But when you get it right… wow.
I have been experimenting with the different types of eggs: chicken, duck and quail, this benny was a chicken egg for the Paleo English muffins, and then duck and quail for the poached. An extra set of hands for this dish is helpful, maybe a long weekend brunch adventure? I made this one morning for breakfast, and whoa, delicious once I got it right. It took a couple tries. The first eggs I poached: overcooked, and the hollandaise was separated (I didn't pour the oil in slowly enough to emulsify it). Determined to succeed and encouraged by my breakfast mate who wanted a benny, not just poached eggs, I tried again, but my make-shift double boiler was too hot and my egg yolks turned to scrambled eggs instead of hollandaise. The third time was a charm. So… what you can learn from me: don't be a hero, ask for help. Pour the butter in S-L-O-W-L-Y and over medium to low heat. If you have extra yolks say, from the hot cross bun recipe, this is a great way to use them! Happy Brunching!
Paleo English Muffins
Description
English Muffin, grain free. Can be done up ahead of time and frozen. Adapted from www.beautyandthefoodie.com
Ingredients
- 2 eggs beaten
- 2 Tbsp coconut milk (full fat)
- 1 Tbsp ghee
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- pinch of salt
- 2 baking rings or 3-inch ramekins
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400F.
- Combine baking soda and apple cider vinegar, set aside.
- Combine eggs, coconut milk and ghee, mix until lump free.
- Add salt.
- Mix in baking soda and apple cider vinegar mixture.
- Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and place baking rings on top.
- Spoon mixture evenly into both rings.
- Place in the center of your preheated oven for 12-16 min.
- Allow to cool slightly then pop out of baking rings.
- Cut in half (along the horizon. Top and bottom, not two sides. You know what it should look like).
- In a lightly greased pan, or toaster oven lightly toast all sides.
Notes
If you prefer a sweeter version, you can use sweetened condensed coconut milk or add 1 tsp honey.
- Cuisine: Breakfast, Brunch
Paleo Eggs Benny
Description
Paleo Eggs Benedict. A classic for Brunch; grain free, dairy free, but certainly not flavor free! I used a duck and a quail on each benny, but you can use whatever eggs you have access to.
Ingredients
- 2 English muffins (from above recipe)
- 4 slices back bacon
- 2 duck eggs (or substitute)
- 2 quail eggs (or substitute)
- 4 slices tomato (optional)
Hollandaise sauce
- 2 egg yolks
- Juice from 1/2 lemon (4 tbsp, or you can use 2 tbsp lemon 2 tbsp water if you prefer less lemon)
- 1/4 cup ghee or grass-fed butter melted
- pinch of salt
- pinch of cayenne
- pinch of paprika or black pepper
Instructions
- Toast English muffins.
- Pan fry back bacon, lay on English muffin.
- Lay tomato slice on top of bacon.
- Keep warm (I pop them into the oven at 100F or whatever the lowest setting is).
Hollandaise Sauce
- Whisk egg yolks with lemon juice until glossy.
- Bring water to a boil in a double boiler, then reduce to medium/low (remember too hot = scrambled eggs instead of sauce).
- SLOWLY add melted butter or ghee, whisking constantly. The mixture will start to thicken.
- Whisk in salt and cayenne.
- Remove from heat, serve immediately.
Poached Eggs
- In a large pot, bring water to a rolling boil.
- Add vinegar, and stir.
- Use the handle of your slotted spoon to stir the water in one direction until you create a gentle swirl or vortex (sounds scientific, do I sound smart?).
- Gently drop the egg into the center of the vortex. The swirling water will help diminish the white from “bleeding out” or disappearing into the water.
- Turn off the heat, cover the pan and set your timer. Let the eggs relax in their bath, no peeking, poking, or stirring, it makes them angry.
- Soft poached is approx 2 min, 4 for medium, and 6 for hard: this will vary slightly depending on the type of eggs, freshness, size and starting temperature.
- Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and stack on top of the tomato slice.
- Cover with a generous amount of Hollandaise sauce.
- Sprinkle with paprika or black pepper.
Notes
There are numerous substitutions and variations, sliced bacon, or seafood instead of back bacon, the addition of avocado or other veggies, the world is your oyster, or… the world is your benny!
- Category: Breakfast
It feels like there are some instructions missing. Ive never poached eggs before so maybe this is my fault, but it says bring water to a boil? How much water? Also says add vinegar? But again no amount. For the sauce, does the yolk mix go on the double boiler? Doesnt say how to incorporate that. Things that make you go hmmmm.
Okay, You are correct the instructions should mention that the butter or ghee be slowly added to the egg/ water, lemon juice mixture. Overtop of the double boiler while whisking or stirring constantly. I will adjust accordingly, thanks for mentioning it.
How much water in your double boiler? Well, that depends on what you are using, you don’t want the water to touch the top pan, but you do not want it to boil dry. fill you bottom pot about half way
Poaching the eggs is an art in its self. Again how much water and vinegar depends on the size and shape of your pot! You want 1 tsp of vinegar for approx 5l of water, just a touch so it helps the white stay together and you want enough room that you can swirl the water and not having it spill all over the stove. You need a deep enough pot that the eggs won’t stick to the bottom because that is a pain when you have to break the yolk to get it out of the pot. If you have a tall skinny pot it will need less water than a short wide pot, and less vinegar, I would suggest practicing poaching eggs, as they can be quite fussy, and there are a dozen different techniques. Best of luck!!