First, a clarification. When I say from scratch, I do not mean Michael Ruhlman’s definition of “from scratch”. I did not cure my own Canadian bacon; I didn’t even use Canadian bacon. And I certainly didn’t raise my own chickens or pig. I used chewy American bacon, cured just down the road on Main St. by Link 41. So, while not home cured, it’s hometown cured at least. But I did make homemade buttermilk English muffins and hollandaise from scratch. Now that my conscience is clear, I think I’ll wax historo-poetic about eggs.
There are a few claims as to the origin of eggs Benedict, but my favorite story (and the one I choose to believe) is that a hungover Wall Street stock broker of the name Lemuel Benedict walked into the Waldorf hotel with a hangover and ordered, or rather I like to think that it was his hangover that ordered, “buttered toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon, and a hooker of hollandaise.” It sounds like the sort of thing the body would demand, something intuitive. And I like to think that was the inception of what has come to be known as eggs Benedict, the toast replaced with a porous english muffin so that the creamy yolk mingles with lemony hollandaise in its nooks & crannies.
I grew up on English muffins with butter. I can remember watching “David the Gnome” in our breakfast nook, eating an English muffin. I’d never made them before, hadn’t really thought to make them. Whenever there is a special occasion, Mother’s Day or her birthday, my mother requests eggs Benedict. Usually if I’m making it, I’m making it for her. Nine times out of ten at least. She fell for eggs Benedict at the New Orleans brunch institution Brennan’s, and subsequently fell in love with me coming over and making it. Having lived in New Orleans for four years during collegs and having missed it terribly ever since, I can empathize with the craving. I knew this last time she asked that I had to make English muffins from scratch, as I’m no longer the sort that can abide buying such things at the super market. And I like to know how to make all the things. So I turned to Michael Ruhlman, as I so often do, and of course he has an entire post devoted to eggs Benedict from scratch. Using that as my reference, I embarked on making English muffins.
To Serve Eggs Benedict
Vegetarian Option, Eggs Florentine
Blender Hollandaise
Ingredients
- 3 preferably local egg yolks at room temperature
- 3/4 cups of butter unsalted
- 1 – 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- pinch of cayenne
Instructions
- Melt butter in a small saucepan.
- Place the eggs, lemon juice, cayenne and mustard in a blender. Blend for a minute until nicely combined.
- Pour the butter through the hole in the top of the lid of the blender, SLOWLY, with the blender at high speed. This should take about 10-15 seconds to blend and thicken. You will hear the change as it thickens. Trust me, you’ll know.
Homemade Buttermilk English Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ounces/60 grams butter I used raw local butter that I get over at the Brainerd Market
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 16 ounces buttermilk 450 grams (I used Cruze Farms buttermilk)
- 1 package active dry yeast 1-1/2 teaspoons, .25 ounces or 7 grams
- 1 large egg beaten (from the Main St. Market on Wednesday)
- 16 ounces all-purpose flour/450 grams or four fluffed cups
- 1-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt .25 ounces or 7 grams
- 2 teaspoons baking powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water
- cornmeal for dusting
Instructions
- Combine the butter and sugar in a small sauce pan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the milk, stir it and remove it from the heat. Stir in the yeast and the egg.
- Combine the flour and salt in mixing bowl. Add the milk mixture and stir till it’s all well combined. Cover and set aside for 1-1/2 hours, or refrigerate overnight (removing it from the fridge an hour before cooking).
- Heat a griddle or a skillet over medium heat. If you’re using rings, butter them. Stir the dissolved baking powder into the batter. Dust the griddle or skillet with corn meal. Scoop-pour about 1/4-cup portions onto the griddle, free form or in rings. Cook for about seven minutes. Flip them and continue cooking till done, 7 to 10 more minutes. If not cooked through but fully browned on the outside, you can transfer them to
- Move them to a rack to cool at least 10 minutes. They can be eaten immediately after, toasted, or frozen in a ziplock bag once fully cool. Make sure to split your muffins with a fork or your fingers, not a knife, to get the proper craggy surface area.
Notes
My name is Beth, Elizabeth Evelyn to be exact. A native Tennessean, I was born in the South.
I am the author behind Local Milk Blog.