{Breakfast club} Asparagus eggs Benedict

As promised, here is the first breakfast for the BREAKFAST CLUB series: asparagus eggs Benedict with orange-flavoured Hollandaise sauce.

This was my first attempt at eggs Benedict and they turned out so amazingly good.  I have to warn you, this is not a breakfast dish you can make in a hurry, it's more of a weekend brunch type-of-thing.  You also want to think about the order of things: what do you cook first eggs or asparagus? Do you begins with toasting English muffins or making Hollandaise sauce?

Originally I thought of saving time by making blender Hollandaise but it turned out that "cooking" the sauce does not take very long so I opted for a classical version of the sauce.

As for the order of things I started by preparing asparagus.  While it was steaming I whisked the sauce.  After that I prepared eggs and while they were poaching I "cooked" the sauce and toasted English muffins.

And now on with the recipe:

What you need:

(for 4 portions) 

• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 2 English muffins
• 15-20 asparagus spears

     
      orange-flavoured Hollandaise sauce:

• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/3 to 2/3 cups of butter 
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 3-4 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tsp grated orange zest
• salt

What to do:

asparagus

• Bring a big pot of water to boil.   Prepare asparagus by snapping off woody ends.
• Blanch or steam asparagus until bright green and crispy (2-4 minutes).  To avoid overcooking shock it in an ice bath.

poached eggs

• Bring a medium-sized pot of water to boil.  Add vinegar and turn down heat to medium to avoid strong bubbling.
• Carefully break an egg into a small cup/ramekin making sure that the yolk stays intact.
• Gently pour the egg into the boiling water.  If the white separates too much, use a slotted spoon to bring it all together.
• Repeat with the rest of the eggs.
• Cook for 3 minutes.  Carefully remove poached eggs with a slotted spoon and set on the paper towel to dry.  You can also keep poached eggs in warm water while making the Hollandaise sauce.

orange-flavoured Hollandaise sauce

• In a small sauce pot melt butter.  Skim off foam.
• Whisk egg yolks, lemon juice, and mustard until well combined.
• Slowly whisk in warm butter.  Transfer to the sauce pot and thicken over medium heat, constantly stirring.
• Remove from the heat, add orange juice and zest.  Mix thoroughly.

to assemble eggs Benedict

• Toast English muffins.  Set half of the muffin onto the plate and pour about 1/2 tbsp of Hollandaise sauce.
• Cut 4 or 5 asparagus spears in halves and arrange on the muffin half.
• Arrange one poached egg on top of asparagus and spoon 3-4 tablespoons of warm Hollandaise sauce.

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