This version came about as a happy accident. One weekend morning I was craving eggs Benedict and while gathering my ingredients I discovered I did not have ham and tried it with the fresh mortadella that I had on hand and discovered that it’s oh sooo good! I’m sharing all of my knowledge with you as to how to orchestrate each step for ultimate success. The key to a successful eggs Benedict is timing. Yep, with this one it’s all about timing. By this, I mean making the hollandaise sauce first, then correctly keeping it at the right temperature while you poach the eggs and, as mentioned above, I’m going to give you all my tips and tricks to get it just right. Making the best poached eggs is easy, but it’s always good to know the ins and outs because you have to have that amazing runny yolk, right? (see below) Below, I go more in-depth about in my post for The Easiest Hollandaise Sauce, which I encourage you read before making this sauce because there are some key things you need to know for the sauce to turn out as you want it to.
Eggs Benedict Steps
Have all of your ingredients (mise en place) ready (this includes the hollandaise keeping warm over a water bath) along with a towel or paper towel ready to drain the eggs. Have your English muffins sliced and ready to be toasted, the mortadella slices ready and your cold eggs cracked into small bowls to make it easier to drop into the water. Your first step is get your poaching water ready. Fill a wide pan that is at least 3 inches/7.5 cms deep, at least three quarters full of water. For every liter/quart of water, add 2 tablespoons clear vinegar. Bring to a boil and add a little salt, stirring to dissolve. Bring down to a light simmer; the perfect temperature is 200°F/400°C. You will need to work in batches of 2 to 3 eggs at a time. Only fit as many eggs in the pan so to not overcrowd the pan. Gently lower the eggs into the water. Try and get each egg into the pan as quickly as possible so they don’t cook at different rates (you can also make them ahead, check out How to Poach an Egg for the details). Now is the time to toast the English muffins. Get your plates ready. Check the eggs, use a slotted spoon to lift one out, if the whites are set with no liquid egg white and the yolk is slightly soft to the touch then drain them on the towel. The muffins should be ready, place them on the plates and top with slices of mortadella and top each them with an egg. Whisk the hollandaise and spoon over the top. That’s it, you just made easy Eggs Benedict!
Alternative to Hollandaise Sauce
If you don’t like hollandaise, I have an Italian Eggs Benedict that I made with a Parmesan sauce that is amazingly good and I recommend you give it a try! You may need less butter depending on how quickly the sauce thickensTo keep the butter melted and warm, you can keep it over very low heat, or place in a bowl inside a larger bowl of warm water.
