yummmmm

This is probably my favorite breakfast ever. I get it every other time we go out for breakfast, and it never disappoints. I'm not a huge pancake person, although Stu is, I just LOVE eggs for breakfast. Best part is, it's not too hard to make! Seeing as I've tried eggs benedict in almost every breakfast place I've ever been, I know exactly how I like them. The Sugar Shack at Huntington Beach does it best (in my opinion) veering away from the traditional style of eggs "benny", they scramble their eggs instead of serving it poached- totally fantastic. Not to mention, it makes it so much easier to make at home! Have you ever tried to poach an egg? DIFFICULT. But if you do want to try to poach your egg, I heard white vinegar is the trick. Good luck. Anyway, for those of you that asked, this is the way I put together my favorite breakfast. Or lunch, or dinner...

eggs benedict with hollandaise sauce
and crackers&co style potatoes

6 eggs (you will use 4 of the yolks for the sauce)
2 english muffins, halved (i prefer sandwich or bagel thins)
4 slices of bacon (you can substitute with canadian bacon or sliced deli meat)
2-4 slices of cheddar cheese
1 tomato
1 avocado
handful of spinach

hollandaise sauce:

4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/2 cup of butter


1. Cook up the bacon until almost crispy, save the drippings in the pan to cook the potatoes in. If you use canadian bacon or another substitute, go ahead and cook this up too. You'll probably have to use some olive oil to cook your taters though. In the meantime, slice up the avocado and tomato and remove the stems from the spinach.
2. Scramble 4 egg whites and 2 full eggs together (remember the 4 yolks are going into the sauce) Toast your english muffins or sandwich thins, good ol' sliced bread works too.
3. Layer from top to bottom: toast, cheese, 1 slice of bacon cut in half to fit on top, spinach, slice of tomato, eggs.
4. Try realllllly hard not to give in and just eat this sans the sauce, you'll be missing out on the best part.

Now for the sauce: this is the only tricky part of this recipe. But trust me, it is WORTH IT. Hollandaise sauce is simply heavenly. I could drink it straight, only that would probably be gross. Secret tip: this recipe is easier if you have a kitchen helper, like a trusty spouse, to focus on the sauce while you make up the bacon and eggs. Or vice versa. Otherwise I would start making the sauce right before scrambling the eggs so everything stays warm.

1. Separate 4 egg yolks into a stainless steel or glass bowl (if you have a double broiler, you can use this too). Put the egg whites aside to save them for your scrambled eggs. Put a small pot with about an inch of water on the stove on Low-Medium heat. Make sure your bowl an sit in the top of the pot without touching the water.
2. Add the lemon juice and whisk the mixture "into submission" (a line from Julie and Julia). The yolks will thicken into a pudding consistency.
3. Melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds.
4. When the water starts simmering, (important: if it is BOILING, it is too hot, take it down a couple notches. Too hot water will turn your sauce into scrambled eggs, no bueno.) place the bowl in the pot and continue whisking. Pour in the butter little by little until the sauce thickens up a little, about the consistency of gravy. Take off the heat and keep in a warm place until you're ready to use it. (add a few drips of water and re-whisk if the mix gets too thick)
5. Pour over the top of eggs and layered goodness. Add a few shakes of pepper, if desired. DEVOUR.

crackers&co style potatoes:

2 Large or 5-6 small potatoes
2 tbs of flour
1 tsp of olive oil
1/2 tsp of lawry's seasoned salt
1/2 tsp of pepper

Have you ever had the potatoes at Crackers&Co? Or at the Farmhouse in downtown Gilbert? uh-may-zing. I wish I had the courage to just ask how they make them, but I guess that takes away the fun of testing my skills at recipe-matching. For what it's worth, I think this method is pretty darn close, and in Stu's words, "pretty darn fantastic." Slice up the taters before you cut up the avocado and tomato and start them in the pan. These are pretty low-maintenance and require little attention once you have them in the pan.

1. Slice up potatoes into rounds, about 1/4 inch thickness. Kind of like Au Gratin style... Place in a large bowl and coat with oil.
2. Mix the seasonings and flour together, then coat potato slices with flour mixture on all sides. Just sprinkle on potato slices while turning them in the bowl.
3. Add to bacon-greased pan on Medium and let sit for a few minutes on each side before turning them in the pan. Let them get golden brown and crispy, aka delicious. These should cook through just about the same time everything else is done.

This meal should feed 4 regular people, or one normal person and one hungry husband...

So this was the plan for our Wednesday meal. I was feeling sick, and Stu was at school, but I was able to have it all prepared and ready for him (and me) to enjoy within 40 mins. Needless to say, our stomachs were very, very happy :)

(was this recipe hard to understand? I'm still trying to get the whole recipe-writing thing down.. let me know if you have any questions!)