Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try something

* Ahhhhhhh * the art of Eggs Benedict . The perfect balance of English muffin , canadian bacon, melt in your mouth poached egg, Hollandaise sauce............. Sheer perfection for a breakfast item. Breakfast places that offer Eggs Benedict mostly offer this Menu item on weekends .... I now KNOW why. 


Hollandaise Sauce ........"melted butter which has been whipped into a frenzy with egg yolks until it's died and gone to heaven". Basically that's what it is, I have the sore arms to prove it. 


Ok- Picture this CRAZY morning... I wake up about 8am, decide you know what I'm going to make Eggs Benedict for breakfast today... thus meaning I'd have to run to the store to get the rest of the items I need to complete such an AMAZING breakfast.... canadian bacon, english muffins....  You can NEVER have too much butter (that's my OCD obsession .... I buy butter, I never walk out of the store without butter, even if I'm not using it that particular day-needless to say I LOVE butter) butter, and Potatoes to make hash browns. Ok , Ok, Mccormick makes instant Hollandaise sauce, it's in powder form that you add milk and butter to... Yes yes I needed a back up just in case this sauce didn't come out. Word to the wise when dealing with hungry inpatient kids- ALWAYS have a back up plan! I'm gathering all my pots, and items to start making the Hollandaise sauce, the entire time I'm thinking out loud "I'm scared, I'm intimidated to make this sauce " I really was! You have to be precise with it or your sauce can break... or the eggs start to cook.. etc etc.  This is what you'll need. 

• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, if needed (or more)
• 6 -8 ounces very soft unsalted butter
• 1 dash cayenne pepper
• salt, to taste
• fresh ground white pepper, to taste

You whisk the egg yolks, water, and lemon together - Fast! When I say fast I mean fast.... You gotta whip it, whip it good. Ohh sorry can't help but get that song stuck in my head. Back to this sauce.  Whip it until thick and pale. Set the pan over moderately low heat and continue to whisk at reasonable speed, reaching all over the bottom and insides of the pan, where the eggs tend to overcook.As they cook, the eggs will become frothy and increase in volume, and then thicken. When you can see the pan bottom through the streaks of the whisk and the eggs are thick and smooth, remove from the heat. By spoonfuls, add the soft butter, whisking constantly to incorporate each addition. As the emulsion forms, you may add the butter in slightly larger amounts, always whisking until fully absorbed. Continue incorporating butter until the sauce has thickened to the consistency you want.Season lightly with salt, pepper, and a dash of cayenne pepper, whisking in well. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding droplets of lemon juice if needed. Serve lukewarm.

Somewhere in between the whisking, the sweating, the crying, the yelling , and finally the breaking up of the Texas Death matches between my 3 boys - I broke my sauce. I can NOT admit failure easily. But I did partially fail at this sauce, it came out pretty good... then I was ready to serve it and I made the mistake of re-heating it on the stove top... and it broke :( Do NOT re-heat ! After that it was a runny mess that I couldn't dare serve. I made my sauce from a package. Boo-Whoo I was not a happy camper. On the other hand I poached a beautiful egg, that deed I did beautifully . I guess you can't have it all right....... well sometimes you can !   

I hope you give this a try, it's not gonna be the last of me....  My sister told me everything is better the second time around. *Cough, Cough* maybe the reason my first marriage sucked! Ok, hey now! Hee hee  ~ Til next adventure folks :)