NOBODY DOES BREAKFAST like the Americans, with their eggs Benedict, jam-packed omelettes, pancake stacks, overstuffed muffins and waffles galore. What have we got in return? Lots actually. A flick through John and Sally McKenna’s 2010 Bridgestone guide to the 100 Best Places to Stay in Ireland will have you hankering for a weekend away where small hotels and BBs whip up home-made breakfast feasts, often using produce from their own farm including orchard fruits, hens’ eggs and home-cured salmon.

However, unless you’re being treated to a break away or breakfast in bed, it’s safe to assume that with the exception of a weekend visit to a café for a leisurely brunch, breakfast is usually a rushed affair that rarely involves home baking or elaborate preparation. It’s a shame because a special breakfast is such a glorious way to start the day, but we rarely have the time and breakfasts are often full of the wrong food groups and eaten on the run.

However, if you do have 30 minutes for a little home-baked magic, then I heartily recommend scones as a good place to start. Chuck in a few chintz plates and a chipped china mug and I reckon you could charge your family and friends a few bob for enjoying such a treat.

According to my own culinary laws, anyone who likes eggs is forever bound to love eggs Benedict. It’s a no-brainer: take eggs, drench them in a sauce made predominantly with eggs and butter and serve on a soft muffin. What’s not to love?

The key to successful eggs Benedict is a bit of organisation, and a hollandaise that is well seasoned. In reality, a white wine vinegar reduction should be added to hollandaise, so that you get that perfect contrast of acid, fat and salt. At home, I manage to wriggle out of this reduction obligation by using salted butter and maybe a little more lemon juice than I should. People panic about making emulsions such as hollandaise and mayonnaise, but they’re harder to screw up than you think. If it’s a real disaster, you can always chuck it out, start again or just make very buttery scrambled eggs, and pretend that was your intention all along.

Scones

500g self raising flour

100g cold butter, cubed

50g caster sugar

270ml low fat milk

30ml cream

Heat an oven to 190 degrees/gas mark five. Mix the flour and butter in a food processor till crumbs form. Add the sugar and keep pulsing and mixing until they form fine breadcrumbs. Add the liquid in a steady stream until it just about forms a ball, possibly with a little help from you. Roll the dough out until it is 2.5-centimetres thick and a rectangle shape, and cut into four smaller rectangles. Take the trimmings, re-roll and cut into two. Lightly brush the scones with some milk and bake for 20 minutes, until they are golden brown and risen up. Serve warm with butter, jam or cream.

Eggs Benedict

Serves 4

4 egg yolks

200g butter

Squeeze of lemon juice

Salt

8 eggs (to poach)

Good splash white wine vinegar

Toasted bread or English muffins

Put the egg yolks and a knob of butter in a bowl, set over a saucepan of gently simmering water but don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water as it will get too hot and potentially scramble the eggs. Add a pinch of salt and stir with a wooden spoon, continuously and gently. Gradually the butter should melt and the sauce should slowly start to feel thicker.

Once you have reached this stage, add the lemon juice, and gradually add chunks of the butter. Take your time. Allow a bit to dissolve and become incorporated before adding more. Keep monitoring the heat. The water should be gently simmering. This whole process should take about 10 minutes, 15 if you are a bit tentative.

Keep chucking the butter into the sauce at regular intervals, and stirring constantly but gently. Taste and see if salt and more lemon juice are needed. Take the hollandaise off the heat, allow it to cool slightly and then cover with cling film and set aside until ready to serve. You can simply put the bowl over some simmering water for a few minutes before serving for a final quick blast of heat.

Now, poach your eggs. If I was doing this in a large batch, I would just plop them in without worrying too much about swirling the water and so on, so just get on with it. Fill a frying pan with water. Bring it up to the boil and add the white wine vinegar and then reduce the heat so that the water is barely bubbling. Crack the eggs into the water. Keep the water simmering very gently, and after about one-and-a-half to two minutes, lift the eggs out of the saucepan, pat them dry with kitchen paper and plate up on toasted muffins. Spoon over some hollandaise and serve straight away.

See also itsa.ie