These recipes, the most popular ever on Gentleman’s Portion, are worth repeating. They’ve received 49.4 thousand views since first being posted more than a decade ago. Tuck in and enjoy!
Eggs Benedict and three delicious versions–Eggs Florentine with spinach, Eggs Royale with smoked salmon and Eggs Norwegian with both–are perfect ways to create a delicious Sunday brunch. Sometimes I offer more than one version at the same meal. BONUS: Check out my video for a complete demonstration on how to make them all.
There are two famous New York eateries, which each say their version of Eggs Benedict is the real one. I prefer the claim of Delmonico’s Restaurant, the very first public dining room ever opened in the US, since theirs is clearly the oldest. In the 1860’s, a regular patron of the restaurant, Mrs. LeGrand Benedict, wanted something different to eat and asked Chef Charles Ranhofer (1836-1899) for his ideas. He offered her a dish which he named Eggs Benedict in her honour and published the recipe in his cookbook, The Epicurean in 1894.
Coincidentally, that same year, 1894, Mr. Lemuel Benedict, a Wall Street broker, who was suffering from a hangover, apparently ordered “some buttered toast, crisp bacon, two poached eggs, and a hooker of hollandaise sauce” at the Waldorf Hotel in New York. The Waldorf’s legendary chef, Oscar Tschirky, was so impressed that he put the dish on his menu and named it after the banker.
Whatever the story, Eggs “Benny” and the three variations seen here, are among my favourite Sunday brunch foods.
I serve them with a few lightly steamed asparagus spears and perhaps some new potatoes lightly fried on the side and either a bloody Mary or a crisp prosecco, cava or dry sparkling wine.
Occasionally, guests who are on a gluten free diet or something like that, ask me to leave out the muffin, in which case I double up on the spinach, lay the smoked salmon on top, the poached egg above than and a small blob of hollandaise to finish.
EGGS BENEDICT
Shopping list
- 2 fresh large room temperature eggs
- 1 English muffin, halved and toasted
- 5 or 6 slices thinly cut ham to cover the muffins
Topping
- 2 TBSP HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
- Pinch Paprika
Sides (optional)
- 4 or 5 lightly steamed fresh asparagus spears
- 3 parboiled and pan-fried new potatoes, halved
Preparation and cooking
- Prepare the HOLLANDAISE SAUCE and set to one side over a very low heat.
- Lightly pray the cups of an egg poached with vegetable oil and bring the water in the base to a boil. (OPTION: Fill a deep sided 10 in frying pan with water, add a good splash of white vinegar, and bring to the boil. The vinegar will help the albumen in the eggs hold together. Salt will substitute.)
- Wash the asparagus, and break off the tough ends. The spear should break exactly where the tender part ends and the tough part starts. Make sure the flower end is washed clear of sand.
- Put just 1 in of water in the bottom of a steamer and set to boil. Add the asparagus and steam for 5 min.
- Par boil new potatoes, cut in half and pan fry. Rest on kitchen paper and sprinkle generously with salt.
- At the last minute, add the carefully broken eggs to egg cups above boiling water and turn off the heat. Let the eggs sit for 3 min for soft and 5 min for medium. If you need more than 4 poached eggs, cook them in batches and keep warm in the oven until all are done.
- Break, do not cut, the muffins in half and toast.
- Plate the muffins, arrange the slices of ham on top of the muffins, using a slotted spoon, gently lift each egg out of the water, drain excess water on kitchen paper and then carefully slide the egg onto the ham. Top with a couple of spoonfuls of sauce and finish with a touch of paprika for colour.
- Plate with asparagus spears and fried potatoes and serve immediately.
EGGS FLORENTINE
Shopping list
- Replace the ham with lightly steamed spinach for a vegetarian version. The spinach can steam along with the asparagus. NOTE: Be sure to squeeze all the water out of the spinach before adding on top of the muffins.
EGGS NORWEGIAN
Shopping list
- Replace the ham with smoked salmon or gravad lax placed on a layer of steamed spinach.
EGGS ROYALE
Shopping list
- Replace the ham with smoked salmon or gravad lax for another delicious alternative.
HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
If you are in a panic about this, use a packet mix. But the taste is infinitely superior if you make it from scratch. It only takes 5 min and can then rest while you prepare the remainder of the ingredients.
Shopping list
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 TBSP lemon juice (or less)
- 107 g / 1/4 lb / 1/2 cup melted butter (typically 1 stick of packed butter)
- 1 TBSP hot water
- pinch cayenne pepper
Preparation and cooking
- Heat butter until fuly melted
- Beat the egg yolks in a pan over hot water so they start to thicken.
- Add a few drops of lemon juice and keep beating.
- Add melted butter slowly to form an emulsion.
- TIP: If at any time it starts to separate, add a little very hot water and beat in gently.
- Taste and add more lemon juice if necessary. Season with a pinch of cayenne pepper for colour and bite.
NEW! Watch Nigel make these dishes on our Gentleman’s Portion YouTube channel, which includes demonstrations on the best way to make Hollandaise and the differences between Eggs Benedict, Eggs Royale, Eggs Florentine and Eggs Norwegian.
Also, please check out my recipe for Eggs Soho, a variation using bacon and tarragon flavoured Béarnaise Sauce, discovered in Soho, London.
The complete compendium of all Nigel’s recipes from the past decade, Simplifood: Amazing food, simply prepared is now available as an eBook well priced at 9.99 in any currency. Click on Amazon for Kindle devices, Barnes and Noble for Nook devices, Kobo for Kobo eReaders, and Lulu Publishing for any other formats, including Apple iPad.
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This is Nigel’s 387th blog on Gentleman’s Portion. The SEARCH function at the top works really well if you want to look back and see some of his previous recipes and stories, or check under CATEGORIES. Jim Walker on WINE and David Moorcroft on CRUISING also contribute regularly.
Categories: Simply food
Gentlemans Portion 
I find ground white pepper preferable.
Also whatever you call it the best result comes from roast ham, then spinach, then poached eggs and hollandsise on top.
John
London
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Wikipedia has 22 named versions of eggs benny, but none to describe your compilation, which I have tried and is delicious! Paprika is the traditional garnish, to add a bit of colour, but honestly, you can add whatever you like.
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