Numbers 11 and 12: Master Poached Eggs and Master Hollandaise Sauce

Poached Eggs and Hollandaise sauce have long been on my list of things I need to learn how to do. It’s the only thing I ever want to order when I go out for Brunch. April 16 was National Eggs Benedict Day! I don’t know in what nation, but it came up in my calendar. I spent a lot of time practicing on other eggs. Some were overdone, some were underdone, and almost all of them fell apart as soon as they hit the water. Vinegar or lemon juice? Lots of water or a little water?

Here is what I did to finally perfect my poached eggs:

1. Put as many ramekins as will fit in the bottom of a big pot (for me, that’s three)
2. Fill the pot with hot water, only as far as barely over the top of the ramekins (as the water boils and as you add the eggs, the water level will rise)
3. Bring the water to a boil without either vinegar OR lemon juice.
4. Crack an egg into a separate ramekin and pour into each of the little cups in the water.
5. Boil for exactly three minutes. If you have to turn away to make a coconut lime tart, turn back frequently. Maybe I should have just set the timer.
6. Remove ramekin with a pair of tongs. Tip into a pot of simmering warm water to keep warm as you continue with the rest.

And for the hollandaise sauce, I cheated. To avoid all that extra fat (when already eating two eggs for dinner and having had an egg sandwich for breakfast, and having had failed attempts at poached eggs for the past three weekends in a row trying to perfect these damn things, after all) and to avoid potential bacterial formations in our non-restaurant standard kitchen, AND because one of our friends has an allergy to raw egg yolk, we made a vegan hollandaise sauce using tofu. The results? Amazing. Make this immediately!

Not only was it easy, it’s healthier than the real version!

That’s two more things off my list!