This weekend go all out on brunch – just because. New book Dirty Food is full of all sorts of deliciously ridiculous recipes featuring the likes of pulled pork, salt beef, ribs, burnt ends and mac ’n’ cheese. Our favourite recipe, though, is the eggs benedict – Paris style. Here’s the recipe...
Paris-Style Eggs Benedict
Ingredients
*For the hollandaise sauce
*140 g unsalted butter
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
*For the eggs Benedict
*60g butter
4 slices bacon
2 teaspoons white or rice vinegar
8 slices brie cheese
4 eggs
4 croissants
Butter, for spreading
Dash of Tabasco sauce (optional)
Couple of sprigs flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to garnish
Ground black pepper, to taste
Method
To make the Hollandaise sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Put the egg yolks, lemon juice and salt in a blender and blend on medium to medium-high speed for 25 seconds or until the eggs lighten in colour. Change the blender speed to the lowest setting and very slowly, pour in the hot butter and continue to blend. Add salt and lemon juice to taste. Transfer to a small jug.
Melt some butter in a large frying pan on a low to medium heat, and when the pan is hot, add the bacon, turning it occasionally until warm.
While the bacon is cooking, fill a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Add the vinegar and let it come to a boil again. After the water boils, reduce the heat to a simmer.
Next, poach the eggs. The easiest way is to do one egg at a time. Crack the egg into a small bowl and slip it into the barely simmering water. Once the egg begins to solidify, slip in the next egg and so on until you have all 4 cooking. Turn the heat off, cover the pan with a lid and let the eggs sit for 3–4 minutes, depending on how runny you like your eggs. Starting with the first egg you cracked, gently lift them out with a slotted spoon and set them down in a bowl or on a plate.
Toast and butter the croissants. Top with the bacon, 2 slices of Brie and a poached egg. Sprinkle on Tabasco sauce if desired. Pour the Hollandaise sauce over the top and garnish with flat-leaf parsley and ground black pepper to taste.
*Dirty Food by Carol Hilker, photography Peter Cassidy, published by Ryland Peters & Small. *
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.