Eggs benedict is a Sunday brunch staple, but rather than head out to a cafe, this video featuring chef Gee Charman will walk you through some of the trickier aspects of the dish.
The two most difficult parts are making the hollandaise sauce and poaching an egg.
The cheats way of poaching an egg is to get a sauté pan or a deep frying pan, and fill it with three inches of water. Add a splash of white wine vinegar and bit of salt. You won’t taste the vinegar, but it holds the egg together.
However – the freshness of the egg is important. “It doesn’t matter if you’re the best chef in the world,” says Charman, “if you have not got fresh eggs you won’t be able to poach them properly.”
Take a spoon and with the egg and shell intact, roll it in the water back and forth for 15 seconds.
The idea is that it sets the secondary white of the egg. That means when you crack them into the pan later, it is already held together for you.
“Crack them gently and carefully into the pan.”
You don’t want big bubbles – keep it on a gentle heat.
Splash a bit of water on the whites so that they have a nice shape. If it’s nice and firm round the white, you know it’s ready.
For the hollandaise, melt 175g of butter. In a small blender pop in three egg yolks, black pepper. Don’t season it just yet – as you may be using unsalted butter.
Run the blender and slowly add the melted butter. To cut through the fat, add lemon juice.
Take two muffins and pop some thick-cut ham. Flip the eggs on top and drizzle the sauce. Happy brunching!
