Revisited: Eggs St. Patrick

Two years ago I started my own St. Patrick’s Day tradition – Egg’s St. Patrick. Here’s a flashback:

The hollandaise sauce is creamy and rich. The poached eggs are tender with silky, rich yolks. The corned beef is hearty, pleasantly spiced and rich. If you haven’t caught the pattern yet, pretty much everything about this dish is rich except the English muffins, and when you get down to it their sole purpose is sop up all the hollandaise, egg yolk and corned beef juice that you can’t get with a fork.

Although it’s a play on Eggs Benedict – typically a breakfast dish – this is perfectly suited for any time of day. And in true St. Paddy’s day spirit, no matter what time of day it is, it should be accompanied by Guinness.

At the time I couldn’t think of any way it could be better. But with age comes wisdom, and this year’s version was different enough that it merited a new, revised recipe.

Adding Guinness to the sauteed corned beef builds on the stout framework (see what I did there?) of the dish. It imbues it with dark and roasty undertones that add a subtle bite to counteract the natural richness of the hollandaise. Similarly, the caramelized cabbage cuts through the heaviness with notes of sweetness and earthiness.

Seriously, make this next St. Patrick’s Day. Or, you know, this weekend.

Eggs Benedict with Mushroom and Brussels Sprout

You have been mislead your entire life. Brussels sprouts are delicious.

Don’t boil them, don’t leave the ends on. Chop them up, season them with a little salt and pepper, and saute them in a little butter and you will be astonished at how delicious they are.

And they’re particularly delicious in this recipe. They develop a faint caramelization that melds hints of sweetness with the natural flavors of roughage. When paired with the umami notes of seared mushrooms, the two form an alliance of earthy flavor. Combined with rich hollandaise, a runny poached egg and an English muffin to clean your plate of all the leftover goodness, you can’t go wrong.

This recipe is vegetarian, but if you’re feeling carnivorous it would be perfectly suited to the addition of nice, crispy bacon. Serve it up with some hash browns or country friend potatoes and bask in scrumptious glory.

Eggs Benedict with Mushroom and Brussels Sprouts

• 7 eggs
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 pinch of cayenne
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons pepper
• 6 crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 7 Brussels sprouts, finely chopped
• 2 English muffins
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• pepper, to taste

 

1. Fill a pot with water and bring to a steady simmer. Take three eggs and separate the yolks from the whites. Combine the yolks, lemon juice and cayenne in a stainless steel bowl and whisk together until thickened.
2. Place the stainless steel bowl on top of the pot, making sure the bottom doesn’t touch the water. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter and continue to whisk until the the volume has increased by half. Remove from the heat.
3. Heat a skillet to medium-high heat. Add the butter and allow it to cook until it just begins to brown. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the mushrooms and add them to the skillet, tossing until evenly coated with butter. Cook until one side of the mushrooms are seared, approximately 3 minutes, then toss and repeat for the other side. Reduce the heat to medium, add the Brussels sprouts and saute for another 4-5 minutes.
4. Add enough water to fill the pot, add the vinegar and bring it to a soft boil. Poach the four remaining eggs so the yolks are still slightly runny.
5. Lightly toast the English muffin. To serve, dish the mushroom and Brussels sprout saute over each English muffin half followed by a poached egg. Top with a couple spoonfuls of hollandaise sauce and garnish with a sprinkle of pepper.

Eggs St. Patrick

I like to talk a lot about balance when I discuss the food that I cook, because I generally believe the best dishes are those that marry disparate flavors together in a harmonious fashion. This is not one of those dishes.

This is a rich, decadent recipe. You will feel lethargic after you eat it. You will also feel glorious, but the lethargy is pretty much unavoidable.

The hollandaise sauce is creamy and rich. The poached eggs are tender with silky, rich yolks. The corned beef is hearty, pleasantly spiced and rich. If you haven’t caught the pattern yet, pretty much everything about this dish is rich except the English muffins, and when you get down to it their sole purpose is sop up all the hollandaise, egg yolk and corned beef jus that you can’t get with a fork.

Although it’s a play on Eggs Benedict – typically a breakfast dish – this is perfectly suited for any time of day. And in true St. Paddy’s day spirit, no matter what time of day it is, it should be accompanied by Guinness.

Eggs St. Patrick

• 5 eggs
• 5/8 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 pinch of cayenne
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1/3 cup of corned beef, cooked and shredded
• 1 English muffin
• 1 pinch of paprika

 

1. Fill two pots with water and bring to a steady simmer. Take three eggs and separate the yolks from the whites.  Reserve one white, combine the yolks and melted butter in a stainless steel bowl and whisk together until thickened.
2. Add the lemon juice and cayenne to the egg mixture.  Place the stainless steel bowl on top of the first pot, making sure the bottom doesn’t touch the water, and continue to whisk vigorously until the volume has increased by half. Remove from the heat.
3. To the second pot add the vinegar and bring to a very light boil. Poach the two remaining eggs so the yolks are still slightly runny (see Smitten Kitchen’s how-to if you need instruction on how).
4. Combine the reserved egg white with the corned beef and form into two patties. Sear quickly on each side, approximately 2 minutes, and remove from heat.
5. Lightly toast the English muffin. To serve, place a corned beef patty atop each English muffin half followed by a poached egg. Top with a couple spoonfuls of hollandaise sauce and garnish with the pinch of paprika.

Benedicto Italiano

Simply put, this dish is magnificent.

It starts with a toasty, chewy English muffin that soaks up all the extra sauce and yolk to make sure nothing slips away. The prosciutto on top of that is crisp, crunchy and salty. After that, the poached eggs are rich and creamy and the yolks run out onto the plate the minute a fork pierces them. Atop it all is a robust hollandaise with classic Italian flavors of fresh basil and sun-dried tomato.

Traditional Eggs Benedict is a great dish, but it often leans too strongly towards richness and decadence.  This Benedicto Italiano uses lighter prosciutto and cuts through the heaviness with tart sun-dried tomato and refreshing, aromatic basil. It’ll definitely leave you feeling full, but the flavors are explosive and perfectly balanced

In the end though, any attempt at describe this dish will fall short of the real deal.  The only way to know what I mean is to make it yourself!

Benedicto Italiano

• 5 eggs
• 5/8 cup of butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 pinch of cayenne
• 8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, rehydrated and diced
• 2 slices of prosciutto
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 English muffin

 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°.  Fill two pots with water and bring to a steady simmer.
2. Place the prosciutto on a foil covered baking sheet and slide into the oven to cook while making the sauce and poaching the eggs. The prosciutto should cook for approximately 10 minutes, so be sure to remove it on time if you don’t finish the next steps in time.
3. Take three eggs and separate the yolks from the whites.  Combine the yolks and melted butter in a stainless steel bowl and whisk together until thickened.
4. Add the lemon juice and cayenne to the egg mixture.  Place the stainless steel bowl on top of the first pot, making sure the bottom doesn’t touch the water, and continue to whisk vigorously until the volume has increased by half. Remove from the heat and add the basil and sun dried tomato, mixing thoroughly.
5. To the second pot add the vinegar and bring to a very light boil. Poach the two remaining eggs so the yolks are still slightly runny (If you don’t know how to poach an egg, Smitten Kitchen has an excellent how-to here).
6. Lightly toast the English muffin. To assemble the dish, place a prosciutto slice atop each English muffin half followed by a poached egg. Top with a couple spoonfuls of the tomato-basil hollandaise and garnish with a few basil ribbons.