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SCENE 1
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| [AB is reading from "The Epicurean"] All right, cut some muffins crosswise, toast without browning, place round of cooked ham, eighth of an inch thick, on each half, heat in moderate oven, and put a poached egg on each toast, cover the whole with hollandaise sauce. That sounds like eggs benedict to me. |
SLICE MUFFINS CROSSWISE |
Now, any fan of this show will no doubt notice that on various occasions we have
dabbled with, well, three of the four components listed here. That said, when
attempting to align them together on the same plate, at the same time,
adaptation and innovation are required, starting of course with the muffins.
[looking at a microscopic view of an English muffin] The English muffin is
actually kin to the griddle baked crumpet, and was invented in 1880 by one baker
named Samuel Thomas, in Chelsea. [map of London appears] No, not London,
actually, but rather, New York City. [map of New York City appears]
MEN: [yelling, as in a famous commercial for Pace Picante Sauce] New York City?
That's right, kids, English muffins are, in fact, American muffins, although
Thomas himself was English. Anyway, they caught on very quickly in fancy hotels
because they were so much easier to portion and toast than regular bread, which
was still awaiting the invention of the mechanical bread slicer.
Now although entire megamart aisles are dedicated to English muffins in a wide
range of finishes and flavors, I have yet to taste one off of the rack that
holds a candle to homemade.
| [at the countertop] Allow me to introduce the English muffin dry team. Twelve ounces by weight all-purpose flour, one quarter ounce of active dry yeast. That's one envelopes worth. One tablespoon of sugar. One teaspoon kosher salt. And 1.5 ounces of non-fat powdered milk. |
12 Ounces All-Purpose Flour ¼ Ounce Active Dry Yeast 1 Tbs. Sugar 1 tsp. Kosher Salt 1½ Ounces Non-Fat Powdered Milk |
Now, using this in place of liquid milk allows me to add structural proteins to the dough, as well as milk sugars, which can enhance browning, without having to add, of course, more liquid. Install your paddle attachment and mix 10 seconds.
| As for team liquid, heat 10 ounces of H2O and one tablespoon of shortening to 120 to 130 degrees, which would be a minute to two minutes on high, depending, of course, on your microwave. |
10 Ounces Water + 1 Tbs. Shortening |
Some of you home bakers may have noticed I did not soak the yeast in warm water, or proof it before just chucking it in with the other ingredients. Now many applications that count on a rapid rise do this to rouse the wee beasties from the state of suspended animation into which they are placed for packaging. Since we are going for an all-night refrigerated rise, no such proofing is necessary.
Dim Sum the popular Chinese meal, is considered
by some to be the original
brunch.
Add the water and shortening to the dry goods, and slowly bring the mixer up to
medium speed, and allow this to work for three minutes. And you're going to want
to stop about halfway through the process to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Now, all this agitation will marry the water to wheat proteins to produce
gluten, the springy, bungee-like three-dimensional mesh that will provide an
elastic and plastic structure capable of capturing most of the gas that will be
produced by our delightful little yeasties. [demonstrates with a prop] Kind of
like that.
[back at the mixer] There. Time is up. Now that is some gooey stuff. It's
actually more batter than dough. Why so wet? Because much of the water will turn
into steam in the oven, providing additional lift, thus producing the big, open
nooks and crannies, characteristic of the classic English muffin.
Now I'm going to let this rise directly in the work bowl, but I don't want it to
get a skin on it, so a little plastic wrap before refrigeration.
[at the refrigerator] Whip this up, say, right after dinner on Saturday evening,
and by Sunday morn, your dough will be
infused with yeasty goodness. It'll also be stiff enough to take on a little
extra air.
Back onto the mixer, the same paddle, and we'll beat for another three minutes
at medium speed. Meanwhile, we shall contemplate our muffin guidance system.
Whether you cook them on a griddle or bake them in the oven, English muffins
must be cooked inside some type of ring to have the proper shape and size. Now
here are a few rings, four, that I picked up down at the kitchen emporium. It
was about, I don't know, eight to ten dollars for a set. You're going to need
eight for this application.
Now this, on the other hand, is an empty food can—[sniffs]
water chestnuts, I
think—with the ends cut out. This was free and, it's taller, which means it can
hold more batter, which means you've got the option of making taller muffins,
should you so desire.
Now, either will work as long as they are properly lubed. So just set eight of
your choice on a sheet pan, and blast with no-stick. [to the camera lens] Oh,
you know, you might want to cover up for this. [sprays] There.
| Now tradition would demand a corn meal dusting, both top and bottom, but you know what, I don't like demands, and I prefer the flavor, texture, and look of rolled oats. So, half a teaspoon goes into the bottom of each ring. |
½ tsp. Rolled Oats in Bottom of Each Ring |
Three minutes is up, so we extract the dough, which is even gooier than it was
before. Just about the only way to dose this out will be a spring-loaded disher,
which happens to deliver two ounces. And just divide the dough between the rings
evenly, about halfway full, I'd say.
Once the dough is evenly distributed, or as close as you can get, sprinkle on
another half teaspoon of oats on each, and cover with parchment paper, and allow
this to rest for 60 minutes so that the yeast can ...
YEAST SOCK PUPPET: [enters and belches]
AB: You know, this persistent releasing of gas is only funny
to small children and men with names like Beavis.
YSP: [belches again]
AB: Thank
you.
| After an hour, your doughs will be nicely risen, so just re-cover with the parchment and place another sheet pan on top, and bake in the middle of a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes if you're using short rings, 30 if you're using tall ones like we are. By the way, I'm perfectly aware of the fact that English muffins traditionally are griddle fried, but, believe me, when you're putting on brunch, you don't have time for that. |
400 Degrees |
When you have about five minutes left to go, pull the top pan and the parchment
paper and allow the muffins to brown nicely. And by the way, you're looking for
a finished internal temperature of 210 degrees.
When they're finished, allow them to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before
de-ringing. And if they give you a little trouble coming out, just use a paring
knife or a little offset spatula to free the crust. Everything will just
ease right out of the tube. These guys, oh yeah, those are fine.
|
Now let's say it's the morning of your brunch and you have an hour to prep, what are you going to do next? Well, for me, it depends on how many people we're talking about. If you have, you know, two, then I'd probably make the hollandaise and then poach the eggs, right before service. But, you know, what if you have six, eight, ten people? Do you really want to poach 12, 16, or even 20 eggs at the last minute? Oh sure, I mean, you could bake them in cups or fry them, but then you'll have Lemuel Benedict calling you a ... |
PREP MUFFINS |
LB: Traitor!
You don't want that. So, here now, a better way to perfectly poach a mess of eggs. It's going to seem a bit odd, but you're just going to have to trust me.
| Fetch down a six-quart straight-sided sauté pan, or a wide rondeau, and place four six-ounce custard cups inside. Then, pour in enough water to cover the cups by at least a quarter of an inch. See, a quarter of an inch. Well, close enough. All right. Then, add a quarter of a cup of plain white vinegar, and a teaspoon of kosher salt. There you go. Then crank the heat to high. |
Cover Cups With Water By At Least ¼ - Inch ¼ Cup White Vinegar 1 tsp. Kosher Salt |
Alright. Meanwhile, take a large mixing bowl, fill with water, insert a folding steamer basket, and about a quart of ice. There.
April 16th is National Eggs Benedict Day.
| [at the refrigerator] For four servings, we require eight very fresh eggs. Over time, the thick white around the yolk, not to mention the yolk membrane itself, breaks down making poaching all but impossible. So buy fresh or get yourself some chickens. | 8 Fresh Eggs |
[at the stovetop] Now when your water hits a boil, back off the heat to just
maintain about 205 degrees. That's key. Now, crack an egg into a custard cup
and then move it to your first position inside the pot. Now we're going to time
our entrances 10 seconds apart so that everything is done evenly. So crack your
next egg, and at 10 seconds it goes into position number two. Another 10
seconds goes by, and we'll be ready to move into position number three. There we
go. And by 30 seconds in, of course, you will have four eggs in position. This
is going to be very helpful when it comes time to extract. Now five minutes is
going to be the cook time. And keep monitoring that heat, for 205 degrees.
Now at the five-minute mark, we start extracting the eggs, pulling them out at
10-second intervals. This way we know that everything is done evenly.
| [at the refrigerator] Now you can refrigerate your eggs in their bath for up to six hours without losing any real quality. So we will turn our attention to the hollandaise. And for that we'll need three egg yolks—oh, those are already out—and half a pound of unsalted butter. Hey, I said it was good. I didn't say it was low-fat. | ½ Pound Unsalted Butter |
[at the dining table] Besides providing color, moisture and flavor, egg yolks contain a phospholipid called lecithin, a molecule with a split personality. One end can dissolve in water, while the other one dissolves only in fats. Now as we build our sauce, we break the butterfat into small droplets, which become studded with these molecules and can, therefore, be held in a stable, suspended state inside the water phase of the sauce.
| Now there are several different pathways to hollandaise, all right? There's blender method, there's the clarified butter method, the double boiler method. All will produce a useful sauce. But, to my mind, only one delivers maximum flavor and optimum texture in a short amount of cooking time, and that is the infamous direct heat, stove top method, which, it turns out, isn't that scary at all. |
SPECIAL EDITION STOVE TOP |
| [at the stovetop] Start by fetching down your favorite two-quart sauce pan or saucier, which is even better. Grab your favorite whisk, and invite three egg yolks to the party, along with one tablespoon of water. That'll help to loosen up the mixture, make it easier to work. Add to that, some flavor. A quarter teaspoon of ground cayenne, and a quarter teaspoon of my favorite, kosher salt. There. |
3 Large Egg Yolks 1 Tbs. Water ¼ tsp. Ground Cayenne ¼ tsp. Kosher Salt |
Now we're going to beat this until it's light and frothy for one minute. When
one minute is up, you can turn one of your burners onto low heat, and then just
start moving the pan off and on the heat at 10 second intervals.
Now if you have an infrared thermometer, you might want to shoot a temp every
now and then, or use your instant-read. The goal, hit 140 to 145 degrees tops,
and get there nice and slowly so that you don't scramble anything.
So just keep moving it on the heat and off the heat, back and forth. All right,
we are at 140, or very close to it. And if you look, you can see that the eggs
aren't running around the pan anymore, they look kind of like a stirred custard.
So it is time to add the butter, one pat at a time. Now we want to keep the
mixture at around 120 degrees.
| Okay, when half the butter is in, add one tablespoon of the lemon juice. Now at this point, don't worry if things don't thicken up too much. Keep in mind butter is 12 to 15 percent water. So as it melts, the water part is going to keep the sauce thinned out. And that's good, because it makes the emulsion easier to tend, both on and off the heat. |
1 Tbs. Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice |
| When the butter is finally in, you can add some extra flavorants. We'll go with one tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice, another quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper for the fresher flavor, and a quarter teaspoon of sugar, to kind of even things out. Then, give it a taste. |
1 Tbs. Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice [sic] ¼ tsp. Ground Cayenne Pepper ¼ tsp. Sugar |
| Nice cling, good body. Mmm, creamy, could use a little more lemon, and a pinch more salt. |
Lemon Juice & Kosher Salt to taste. |
To store, preheat a wide-mouth thermos with really hot water, dump out the water, pour in the hollandaise, and seal. Now you're going to be able to hold this for an hour to maybe two. After that, the quality will head downhill fast.
Although Hollandaise is as French as Pepé Le Pew, the name is a nod to the Netherlands which exported a great deal of high quality butter to France.
| [at the refrigerator] Okay, time to retrieve the eggs. We also, of course, need eight thin slices of Canadian bacon. That's a smoked back bacon, or loin, which Canadians no more refer to as Canadian bacon in Canada, than the English call English muffins, "English muffins," in England. Yeah, that's right. | 8 Slices Canadian Bacon |
[at the countertop] Now if you want your eggs to look extra pretty, you can trim
the edges with some scissors, but it's completely optional.
Now here we have our
pot of water, set to high for reheating, a timer, always a good idea, and a
sauté pan, small, set to medium-low.
Now as for prepping the muffins, do not cut them with a knife. You always want
to split them with a fork to enhance the texture. [opens one up with a fork] Ah see, that's what we're
looking for. And you want to toast those under the broiler for three to four
minutes. That'll give you time to julienne the Canadian bacon, which you will
add to the sauté pan. No fat needed, really. And allow to, well, just kind of
move it around until it starts getting hot.
Now for the eggs, we've got the water boiling, so just lift up that steamer
basket, and move directly into the hot water. That's going to take about a
minute, maybe two, to heat up. Cut the water off, no heat needed. The timer is
running. Another minute, your ham is done, and stop your timer, and extract
your eggs. Now I like to use just the handle of a ladle for this [raising the
hot steamer basket out of the pot]. Nice and
handy. And you can just slide some metal skewers under that to kind of prop them
above that hot, steamy water, to keep them warm until the last moment.
Now, we prep the plate. Of course, the fruit salad and asparagus is optional.
Now I like to put a little bit of the hollandaise under each one of the English
muffin halves to keep things from sliding around, just in case things get crazy.
Then some of the Canadian bacon goes down, shredded, very nice, easier to eat
than a whole piece. One egg goes on top of each of those. And then, of course,
the pièce de résistance, the hollandaise. And look, see how that kind of sits up
there but runs down the side? That's exactly what you want to see. Perfect.
[at the dining table with the guests in the first scenes] Well, regardless of
how eggs benedict came into being, I think we all owe Mr. Guy Beringer a big,
fat "thanks," and a promise not to screw up his meal ever again.
As for eggs benedict variations, I must admit I sometimes eat mine as a
sandwich. And sometimes I mix a little crab meat into the bacon.
LB: Traitor!
BA: You shut up!
GB: How stimulating!
LB: [apparently is goosed by Guy Beringer] Oh!
CR: [laughs]
I think ... You know, I think I'm going to need another mimosa right away. See you next time on Good Eats.
Transcribed by Michael Roberts
Proofread by Michael Menninger
Last Edited on 11/02/2010
