Saturday mornings are the best! I love the stage of life we are currently in which allows us to enjoy time together, and of course, a hearty breakfast meal. Let’s be honest, weekday mornings are so packed full there is hardly time to feed all the hungry tummies.  During the weekdays, we regularly eat homemade waffles and pancakes which I store in the freezer. Over the weekend we tend to consume large quantities of eggs, including our kids newfound favorite, poached eggs.

Until recent years, poaching eggs had been a intimidating process for me.  Sure there are poaching pans and bags which are marketed to help you serve up the proper poached egg, however, I have found that all you need is a few tools you currently have in your kitchen to acquire equal results. Here’s my take on the pan, unless you are making large quantities of poached eggs, I wouldn’t invest in it, if for no other reason than limited cabinet space and cost. The poaching bags I ordered, worked poorly, definitely not worth the money or time.

I feel like I lost some of you the moment I mentioned poached eggs so many of you may equally cringe at hollandaise sauce. Let me just say that although both are more time consuming in the process they are both worth the extra time it takes to make them – so, basically I’m encouraging you to give them a try. Now, let’s get to the combination of these two recipes in the comforting breakfast classic, Eggs Florentine. Take an English muffin buttered and topped with a poached egg, sauteed spinach, homemade hollandaise sauce and a pinch of paprika *drooling* and you have yourself one delicious breakfast meal.

Poaching Eggs

Prep time: 5 minutes / Cook time: 3-4 minutes / Serving size: 1

Ingredients

10-quart stock pot
1 slotted spoon
large plate
paper towels
ramekins
1 tablespoon white vinegar
8 cups water

 

Instructions

1. Fill your 10-quart stock pot 1/4 the way full with water.
2. Add in 1 tablespoon white vinegar and bring to a simmer.
3. Meanwhile, crack eggs into individual ramekins, make sure that the yoke stays in tacked.
4. Once water is simmering, using the slotted spoon, begin to swirl water in a circular motion until water is rapidly moving in one direction, do not leave spoon in the pot.
5. Pick up egg filled ramekin and carefully pour egg into the center of the stock pot, where the water is moving the least. The egg will come together in the center of the pot with the water swirling around, leave the egg in the pot to simmer for 3 to 4 minutes (depending on desired doneness).
6. Remove with slotted spoon and rest slotted spoon on plate with paper towel to rid of excess water before serving, repeat.
7. Carefully place egg on top of an toasted English muffin and top with sauteed spinach, hollandaise sauce and a pinch of paprika.

Hollandaise Sauce

Prep time: 10 minutes / Cook time: 10 minutes / Makes: 1 cup (4-6 servings)

Ingredients

4 egg yokes
1/2 cup butter, unsalted and melted
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt to taste

Instructions

1. Fill a medium size sauce pan with 1 inch of water and find a metal mixing bowl that will sit on the rim of the saucepan without touching the water. Remove the bowl and heat the water to medium, water should be simmering.
2. In the metal bowl, whisk egg yokes and lemon juice vigorously until the yokes double in size. Place bowl on saucepan and continue to whisk while drizzling in melted butter.
3. Once sauce has doubled in size you can stop whisking, remove from heat and serve immediately, or you can cover the and keep warm until ready to serve.

Notes

If you set sauce aside for later use, you will want to ad a few drops of warm water and whisk before serving.