Twisted Crab Cake Eggs Benny

I recently had quite a bit of company and the request for my eggs benedict was unanimous. It seemed like I was making these for 3-4 hours straight (just like the restaurants…

but everyone loved them and plates came back completely empty. All is good. So, here is ONE of my personal versions of crab cake benedict. I hope you enjoy.

Yield 6 Benedict:

For the Benny:

3 English muffins, halved

12 thin slices Virginia or Black Forest ham

3 tbs unsalted sweet cream butter

12 slices hickory bacon

6 quality crab cakes (if making your own, I have a great recipe here ).

6 c water

1 tbs white distilled vinegar

6 eggs

For the Holly Sauce:

3 egg yolks

8-12 good dashes of tabasco sauce

¾ tbs lemon juice

9 tbs unsalted sweet cream butter

2 tbs freshly minced parsley for garnish

If making your own crab cakes, you would want to have this done and already set by the time you’re ready to cook. Go ahead and cook the crabcakes off first. While those are going, toast both halves of the English muffins. This can be done by simply dropping them into your toaster. Set aside and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. The quickest and easiest way to prepare the ham is by placing the slices in a heatproof bowl. Top them with 3 tbs butter. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Punch a few small holes in the top. Heat for 2 minutes in 30 second intervals. This will prevent the ham and butter from exploding and free up the cooktop space. Once done, turn the ham over and recover. Set aside.While the ham is cooking, cook up your bacon to desired donness. Drain off excess fat, cover and set aside.

Time to make the hollandaise. This versions is MUCH different than the restaurants and quite a bit easier. When making this dish for a restaurant, you generally make clarified butter and carefully whisk that into your egg yolks, keeping extremely careful not to break your sauce. It’s often a pain and to be perfectly honest, I love blender hollandaise. So, let’s get started. First, you need to melt your butter. I like doing this by getting one burner hot via medium high heat, turning it off, placing the 9 tbs butter in a pot and simply setting the pot on the previously lit burner. This melts my butter while I’m cooking other things and I dont have to babysit it. (This is a good time to skip down and poach your eggs) Once the butter has completely melted, add the yolks, tabasco sauce and lemon juice to your blender. Cover and puré. While you’re blender is on, slowly and carefully pour the melted butter in. Cover and continue to puré for about 5-10 more seconds or until well combine. Set aside.

Let’s get the poached eggs going. Transfer the water and vinegar to a non-reactive pot and bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium high and crack one egg directly into your water, keeping it in one little bundle. You can use a chopstick to swirl the water around the egg a bit so it folds over on itself. Wait for about 45 seconds to 1 minute. Use a slotted spoon to lift out of the water and gently press on the egg. You will be able to feel the softness of the yolk. Remove from water and transfer to a plate once it is done to your own personal preference. Set aside and repeat. (If you’re pretty confident in the kitchen you can make more than one egg at a time.) Voila!

Time to assemble! Place 1 top and bottom of an English muffin, cut side up, on each plate. Use a bbq brush to brush on some of the ham liquid. Top each slice of muffin with 2 slices of ham folded over. Top with 2 slices of bacon and 1 crab cake each. Use the slotted spoon to carefully transfer 1 egg per. Once each Benny is made, you can pour on some hollandaise and sprinkle with a little parsley. There you go. Twisted crab cake eggs Benny. Serve these up with a side of roasted asparagus, sautéed tomatoes, hashbrowns, roasted potatoes or fresh fruit.