Sous Vide Eggs Benedict
This is my go-to recipe for a fancy brunch for a crowd. It's easy, highly predictable, and forgiving. You will need a sous vide machine (aka immersion circulator aka precision cooker). Food geeks will note that the eggs in this recipe are not actually poached eggs. However, I think these pseudo-poached eggs are a reasonable approximation of the real thing.
Ingredients
Hollandase Sauce
- 40g white wine vinegar
- 25g shallots (minced)
- 150g salted butter (plus some extra to toast the muffins)
- 85g egg yolk (in my experience 1 egg yolk is about 18g)
- 60g water
- 3g salt
- 20g lemon juice
Everything else
- 12 eggs
- 6 English muffins
- Thinly sliced deli ham
- Dill, scallions, or chives to garnish
- Dash of smoked paprika (optional)
Instructions
- About 2.5 hours before you want food to hit the plates, preheat a large pot of water to 147 degrees F using your precision cooker.
- Put 40g of white wine vinegar and 25g of minced shallots into a small sauce pan. Reduce liquid volume down by 50% over medium high heat. Strain out shallots (optional).
- In a large ziploc style bag, combine 150g butter, 85g egg yolk, 60g of water, 20g lemon juice, the shallot/vinegar reduction (about 20g), and 3g salt. Lower the bag into the water with the zip open to push out as much air as possible. Zip up the bag and clip to the side of the pot. Don't worry about mixing the ingredients. Let hollandaise cook for about 1-2 hours.
- Add eggs still in the shell to another ziploc bag. Scoop up some of the pot water to fill in the space between the eggs. Lower the bag into the pot of hot water and seal. Let eggs cook for 1-2 hours.
- About an hour before you want to eat, preheat your oven to 200F. Toast the English muffins and top each one with a couple slices of ham. Roughly arrange the ham into a circular "nest" that will contain the poached egg.
- About 30 minutes before you want to eat, remove the bag of hollandaise sauce from the hot water. It will look separated and greasy, but don't worry. Pour the contents of the bag into a blender and blend on medium until homogeneous, yellow, and fluffy.
- Crack eggs over a slotted spoon and gently place the poached egg onto an English muffin. Gently pour hollandaise sauce over the egg. Garnish with dill and smoked paprika to taste.