Luxurious Breakfast

This is a breakfast for a slow weekend morning: eggs Benedict on golden toasted bread with ham, delicate yogurt with fruit, freshly squeezed orange juice and croissants to serve. To keep everything calm, prepare the cold components first, then the sauce, the poached eggs, and only assemble the toasts at the end. That way the bread stays crisp, the eggs warm, and the hollandaise won't thicken too soon.

Ingredients

• For the hollandaise: 150 g butter
• For the hollandaise: 3 egg yolks
• For the hollandaise: 2 tbsp water
• For the hollandaise: 1 tbsp lemon juice
• For the hollandaise: a pinch of salt
• For the poached eggs: 4 eggs
• For the poached eggs: 1 tbsp white vinegar
• For boiling: 1 L water
• For boiling: 1/2 tbsp salt
• For the toasts: 4 slices rustic/country bread
• For the toasts: butter for frying
• For the toasts: 8 slices smoked ham
• For serving: watercress
• For the yogurt: 400 ml vanilla yogurt
• For the yogurt: 1 peach or 2 kiwis
• For the yogurt: 125 g raspberries
• For serving: 800 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
• For serving: chocolate or plain croissants

Method

1. First prepare the cold part of the breakfast. Divide the vanilla yogurt between bowls, add sliced peach or kiwi and the raspberries. Keep the orange juice and croissants aside for serving.

   

2. Make the hollandaise. Melt the butter and keep it warm. In a heatproof bowl whisk the yolks with 2 tbsp water. Place the bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water and whisk until the mixture thickens and lightens in color. Remove from the bain-marie, gradually whisk in the melted butter, then add the lemon juice and salt.

   

3. Prepare the poached eggs. Bring 1 L water with the salt and 1 tbsp vinegar to a gentle simmer. Reduce the heat so the water is barely moving. Crack the eggs one at a time into a small bowl and gently slip them into the water. Cook for 3 minutes, lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

   

4. Fry the bread slices in butter until golden. In the same pan briefly warm the ham. On each plate place a slice of bread, top with ham, a poached egg, hollandaise and some watercress.

   

5. Serve the eggs Benedict immediately with the bowls of yogurt, freshly squeezed orange juice and chocolate or plain croissants.

   

Notes:

💛 Don’t overheat the hollandaise: if the bowl is too hot the yolks can scramble.

💛 Poach the eggs after the sauce so they don’t cool down before assembling the toasts.

💛 Serve everything right away so the toasts stay crisp and the sauce remains warm.