"eggs benedict" news and stories

Thanks, everyone, for coming by our little Garden Party today! In case you missed anything, or want an easy reference back to all our recipes, ideas and posts, here is a roundup of all the stuff we did today:

General and How-To:

• Party Food Porn: White Chocolate Petit Fours
• Edible centerpieces for a garden party
• Cookbooks for parties
• Impress with caviar
• Lime cheesecake mini-tarts

Recipes:

• Smoked Salmon Benedict
• Carrot Mini-Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling
• Lemon Buttermilk Cupcakes
• Edamame Hummus on Toasted Flatbread
• Asparagus, Basil and Tomato Fritatta
• Spinach and Feta Fritatta
• Garlic and Parmesan Roasted New Potatoes
• Coconut Cupcakes
• Cauliflower Soup with Toasted Garlic and Scallions
• Elegant Nasturtium and Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

Drinks:

• Easy punch recipes
• Pimms Original Cocktail
• Campari and Soda with orange
• Grapefruit Cooler Cocktail
• Sparkling cocktails: mimosa, bellini, and kir royale

Tropical fruits:

• Papaya
• Tamarind
• Watermelon Juice
• Spanish Limes/Genips/Quenepas/Mamoncillos

We also had a reader submission from Cookbook 411 for some amazing looking Mini Puff Pastry Pizzas - check them out!

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

Eggs Benedict is the quintessential brunch food. They're great to order on a Sunday monring in the Dining Room of the Ritz Carlton, but they can be a pain in the you-know-where to do a for a large party at home because off the poached eggs. However, poached eggs have an undeserved reputation for being difficult. In fact, for a group, poached eggs are perfect.

To make Smoke Salmon Benedicts, lay out toasted English muffins, top with a few slices of smoked salmon. Just before serving, you will place a poached egg on top, then drizzle (or drown, as preferred) with Hollandaise sauce. Instructions for poached eggs after the jump.

My weekend breakfast life has gone through phases. For a very long time, all I ever ate on lazy Saturday and Sunday mornings was waffles. I didn't have a waffle maker, so going out for brunch and getting thin crisp waffles drowning in maple syrup, or thick chewy Belgian waffles topped with fruit was a treat. Then I went through several years of pancakes - all kinds, but thick, light and fluffy were my favorite. Of course, eggs play a role almost every day, but for big breakfasts, I was always an omelette girl, and even went through the "egg-whites only" period.

However, I've never gotten into Eggs Benedict of any sort, though other people go bonkers for them. I don't mind them. I don't think they taste bad. I just never order them myself, and only three or four times in my life have I actually made them (and it seems always to be around a holiday). I think the super runny yolk freaks me out a little.

But these are a twist on the traditional Eggs Benedict. People have made Benedicts with crabcakes, with spinach, smoked salmon, but this is a southern fried version that, if you really read into it, isn't a Benedict at all. It's a fried egg on sausage instead of Canadian bacon, biscuit instead of English muffin (the one pictured is not a biscuit - use your imagination), and drowning in gravy instead of Hollandaise.

Yes, it does sound a bit like a Sausage Biscuit from McClownburger, but this one is on a plate. And since you have to eat it with a fork, you can serve it for brunch, daaah-ling.