{Mis}Adventures in cooking: Eggs Benedict.

I looooooooove brunch... it's one of my all time favorite things.  It's always filled with great food, great friends, and mimosas- what can be better? Some recent Pinterest discoveries got me in the mood to tackle one of my go-to brunch dishes: Eggs Benedict. I figured if I can tackle this recipe, it might be fun to host our own brunch or even make this for guests when they come in town.

I've "heard" that it's a tough dish to make because of the whole "egg poaching" process. But thanks to my inflated confidence from some successful first-time cooking experiments, I thought to myself...

Last week, I bought this contraption from Crate and Barrel that, according to the sales rep, was a fool proof tool for poaching eggs...

I also did a ton of research online watched one video, and decided I was an instant poaching machine. Since I *knew* I had a natural talent for making eggs benedict, it would be a shame to stick to the regular, boring recipe. I decided to make a hybrid of these two delicious-looking dishes:

Avocado Eggs Benedict

Eggs Benedict with BBQ Hollandaise

I laid all of the ingredients out, poured a glass of wine, and told Zeke to be ready for dinner in about 10 minutes {according to the video}.

Step 1: Cook the canadian bacon.

Easy peasy. Next!

Step 2: Make hollandaise sauce. Melt 1 1/4 c of unsalted butter in a pan while you combine egg yolks and lemon juice in a blender. Should be easy... right?

I open the box of butter to realize I only have 1/4 cup left. Crap!!! Luckily, I had some "I can't believe it's not butter" in a tub at the back of the refrigerator, so I threw a bunch of spoonfulls in the pan. Apparently the stove CAN believe it's not butter, because it melted in 2.5 seconds and started to bubble while the unsalted butter took its sweet time. Panicking, I threw the egg yolk and who knows how much lemon juice in the mixer, and went back to the failed butter mixture that was scorching in the pan. I'm sweating at this point... and I'm only on step 2. 

Pour butter into egg/lemon mixture, stir. Add BBQ sauce, mustard seed, chili powder, cumin.
Somehow, 20 minutes later, I think the sauce is ready. 

Then.... oh SHIT! I also realized I didn't turn off the pan that the Canadian bacon was cooking on, so they were shriveled,  brown, and looked plastic. Good thing I have a whole package of those. I'll deal with that later. On to the next challenge: Poached eggs. 

Bring water to a boil, reduce, gently drop the egg in the water, do the cool "spoon the egg" trick like the guy on the video did. Easy... right?

Wrong!

Eggs # 1-7 failed miserably. The "bubbles" are the egg whites. 

Yes, I went through 7 eggs. Every time it "gently" hit the water, the whites dispersed, hardened, and I had to pour the water out and start over. I tried different temperatures, different methods with the foolproof egg poacher, same result. FML. 

Flustered, I decide to abandon the stove idea and opted for the "foolproof microwave instructions" I saw in one of the recipes. Instructions: Place egg in 1/2 c of water, microwave for 1 minute. How can you possibly screw that up?

30 seconds in... I hear a loud pop. SHIT!!! I open the door to find the egg exploded all over the microwave.

I only had 4 eggs left, and that's how many I need for the recipe, so I looked around the kitchen to regroup and plan my next move. I realized I've made a complete mess and only have the {now cold} BBQ hollandaise sauce to show for. It better be good.

Plan B: Screw poached eggs, fry 'em. 

Old faithful.

While the eggs were frying, I threw the english muffins in the toaster, warmed up the BBQ Hollandaise sauce, and a few minutes later......

Taaaaaaadaaaaaaaaaaa!

Surprisingly, it turned out really well! Now... the eggs weren't "poached"... but that was more of a cooking item to cross off my bucket list. Fried eggs with runny yolks still serve the same purpose as far as I'm concerned. Zeke said he was 110% satisfied. According to him, the sauce was one of the best things I've cooked so far :)

If you're ever interested in experimenting with Eggs Benedict recipes, here's my advice:

- Get an egg poacher, and make sure you know how to use it. Don't assume anything.

- Fried eggs are an acceptable and delicious substitute for poached eggs. 

- Don't use "I can't believe it's not butter". It is not butter.

- Try this recipe with BBQ hollandaise sauce- it adds a nice tangy element. 

- Also add avocado: smooth and creamy flavor cuts the sharpness of the BBQ.

If you have any tips for my next go-round... let me know!

XoXo, 

Kate