In November I told you how to Poach an egg and then Christmas happened and I didn’t manage to tell you anything else – but if you’ve been practising your poached eggs, you’ve probably been wondering what to serve your poached eggs with – so here are four recipes for you to try.
Eggs Benedict & Eggs Royale are from the same family and depending on where you are from you may give them a different name and serve them with different things. Traditionally Eggs Benedict is served with Ham but I have use Bacon and Eggs Royale is served with Smoked Salmon but it’s also known as Eggs Montreal. Other varieties include Eggs Florentine (Spinach) and Irish Benedict (Corned Beef Hash) and many many more… It’s commonly served on an English Muffin, but you could use whatever you fancy. What is important is that you make a Hollandaise sauce and dollop it on top.
Many people fear the Hollandaise but there really isn’t anything to be frightened of – but it will need your constant attention, so it’s useful to have your very own slave Sous Chef handy if you have other bits you are preparing at the same time. Nigel Slater advises to have a shallow sink of cold water to hand, if your sauce looks like it is about to separate, remove it quickly from the heat and pop the pan in the cold water and whisk it VERY hard, if this fails… start all over again. So far, *TOUCH WOOD* I have not had to do this.
What you need: (to serve 2 generously)
2 Egg Yolks
140g Melted Butter
Pinch of Salt
Squeeze of Lemon
Gently simmer a pan of water with a heat-proof bowl sitting comfortably on top – not touching the water.
Add your yolks and a splash of water to your bowl.
Gently whisk & pour in the butter, slowly at first – then quicker as the sauce thickens.
Once thick & creamy add a squeeze of Lemon juice & a pinch of salt.
Serve immediately.
Sweetcorn Fritters
I made these for the first time this morning, from a recipe on the BBC website – There is room for improvement, I’m thinking some fresh chilli – more paprika and maybe some peppers… but for now, this is the recipe.
What you need: (makes roughly 8 mediumish sized fritters)
100g Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
Salt & Pepper
Pinch of Smoked Paprika
1 tbsp Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
75ml Milk
Tin of Sweetcorn (225g)
6 Finely Chopped Spring Onions
Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, paprika & sugar together.
Separately beat the eggs & milk
Gradually add to the mixture
Then chuck in your sweetcorn & spring onions. Combine well.
Pop a knob of butter in a frying pan on a medium heat
Once the butter is bubbling add as much or as little as you like of the batter – depending on the size you want.
Flip or Toss
If you want to prepare them slightly in advance, keep them warm in a low oven – with kitchen roll between each one.
I served mine with some Sweet Chilli Sauce (which came from a bottle)
Potato & Cheese Pancakes
The next two recipes I have pinched from Salad Club – with slight adaptations.
What you need: (serves 2)
2 small/medium potatoes
2 eggs
25g Plain Flour
Glug of Milk
Handful of grated Mature Cheddar
a generous dollop of the Mustard of your choice (I choose Wholegrain)
a Big handful of fresh spinach
Salt & Pepper
Peel & grate the Potatoes into a tea towel or kitchen roll – and squeeze off the excess water.
In a bowl beat together the eggs
Add the flour and form a smooth batter, if needed thin out with a glug of milk.
Season well & add the mustard.
Add the Potato, Spinach & Cheese and combine well.
Put a large frying pan on a medium heat – melt a knob of butter and once bubbling pour in all the mixture and flatten down. Allow it to cook for a few minutes on one side, until crisp and browned and then Flip or Toss (My technique was to put a plate on top of the frying pan and turn the pancake out onto it and then put in back in the frying pan to cook the other side – but you might be better skilled at this than me)
Serve the pancake in slices.
Sweet & Spicy Bacon
The original recipe said to use Cayenne Pepper, which I didn’t think I had – so I used Smoked Paprika. The next time I tried it I realised I did have Cayenne Pepper – BUT, it really got to the back of my throat while it was grilling and actually didn’t taste as nice – so I have switched back to Smoked Paprika.
What you need:
Bacon
a few teaspoons of Light Brown Sugar
a few teaspoons of Smoked Paprika
Lay some tin foil onto your grill pan
Lay the bacon on the tin foil
Combine the Sugar & the Paprika
Sprinkle on the Bacon (both sides)
Grill – keep an eye on it, as the sugar means it will catch easily.
Serve.
So there are four things you can put your eggs on (or of course eat without eggs)
Roswensian 