Benediction

I felt slightly sore but in the nicest possible way when I woke up on the first day of September. The reason being that I had played a game of cricket the day before at a fairly high level, being division five out of eleven divisions. However the game had been worth it as my teammates are a top bunch of people, I also took a stinging catch when fielding, learned how to score when my team batted and the ground was located in the middle of numerous green fields with a dreaming spire or two on the horizon.

I needed something to revitalise me for breakfast and plumped for a dish that is rich but also full of protein. The dish was Eggs Benedict. The music of choice to cook to was Van Morrison's transitional 1973 offering 'Hard Nose the Highway' The album's mellow Jazziness and tracks such as 'Autumn Song' fitted my relaxed mood and mirrored my realisation that soon the cricket season would be over and the leaves would soon be falling off the trees in time for the clocks changing.

I have had Eggs Benedict on two occasions during the summer at two rather contrasting places; the first was at a Wetherspoons in Shipley the morning after attending a thirtieth birthday party while the second was at the Malmaison Hotel in Glasgow soon after spending a very enjoyable day in the city with a great person. On both of the times when I had the dish previously it was served with a slice of ham and a piece of salmon on top respectively.

However for my tilt at making the dish I played safe and stuck with the basics by serving the the eggs with a grilled muffin and some Hollandaise Sauce. I started by making the Hollandaise Sauce; I stirred together two egg yolks and their whites in a bowl with three tablespoons of white wine vinegar and a tablespoon of fresh Lemon Juice. I whisked them until they formed a thin golden mixture. Next I melted four ounces of low fat margarine in a pan and once the margarine had melted completely I added the melted margarine to the mixture in the bowl and whisked it thoroughly.

I left the sauce on one side and proceeded to bring a large saucepan of water to boiling point. As the water reached boiling point I added an egg yolk and white to a small plastic cup, that was well greased with margarine, which I normally used for poaching eggs. I floated the cup filled with the egg white and yolk on top of the boiling water in the pan and boiled it for six minutes.

At this point theories diverge on the best way to prepare the dish as some favour creating a small whirlpool with a spoon and then dropping the egg in and boiling it for three minutes. It's not wrong to do it this way however I chose my way to ensure the yolk and white remained in shape and because I prefer my eggs hard-boiled.

While the egg was boiling I heated the Hollandaise Sauce on the hob lightly, which caused it to thicken, and grilled two halves of a muffin. When the egg was ready I placed half of the muffin, with the buttered side facing upwards, on a plate and put the egg, once removed from the plastic cup, on top of it. Then I poured the Hollandaise Sauce on top of the egg and put the remaining sauce on top of the other half of the muffin.

Just as the other two types of Eggs Benedict I had consumed earlier in the summer were different from each other, so this current version of the dish differed again. The sauce provided a real richness to meal and was much thicker than the sauce used to make the others while the egg provided plenty of protein and set me up for a day of walking my dog and watching cricket.

Spread the extra Hollandaise Sauce on a spare muffin slice to get the full benefit of this dish.