― Jonathan Goldstein
In my family, we embrace breakfast for dinner. We eat various egg dishes for all 3 meals, and occasionally we'll throw in pancakes or biscuits and chocolate gravy for good measure. My mom's newest favorite B4D swap is Eggs Benedict. She had a similar version at Bob Evan's Restaurant, and of course we had to make one at home. I personally cannot poach an egg to save my life - they always come out overdone. So, these are in the poachless style of frying an egg. There are a few other swap outs, but they are delicious!
Eggs Benedict
2 eggs per person (we used 8)
3-4 slices precooked Hormel bacon per person
6-8 Tb butter
4-5 Tb flour
2 cups milk
16oz soft cheese, shredded -or- Velveeta, sliced thinly
8-16oz baby spinach
1 clove garlic, minced
sea salt
1. Prepare biscuits according to recipe (or use canned biscuits - 1 per person).
2. In a large skillet with a lid, melt 2 Tb butter over medium heat, brown garlic in butter. Add spinach, sprinkle with salt, and stir until wilted down. Once it has wilted, put on the lid and reduce heat to lowest setting. Stir occasionally to prevent the spinach from burning or sticking.
3. Melt 4 Tb butter over medium-high heat in medium, heavy-bottom sauce pan. Once butter is bubbly, add flour and whisk until flour has browned. Add dash salt and whisk in milk. Stir continuously until sauce has started to thicken. Add cheese a handful (or a few slices) at a time (we prefer Velveeta but only had 8oz each Monterrey Jack and Colby Jack on hand). Stir until the cheese has melted before adding more! Continue adding cheese until it reaches the desired thickness and cheesiness.
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| Melt butter |
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| Add flour, cook til browned |
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| Add milk, stir constantly, cook til thickened |
4. Melt 1 Tb butter (for 4 eggs) in a shallow skillet (nonstick is best). Once the butter and pan are hot, crack eggs directly into pan - hold egg close to pan and go slowly so the bottom of the white begins to cook before the yolk is in the pan. Repeat for additional eggs. We did 4 at a time in 2 batches for a total of 8 eggs. If you don't like fried eggs, scramble them. I would not do more than 4 at a time unless you are using a humongous skillet or electric griddle! Wait until the whites are almost cooked through before flipping the egg. This takes some practice, but I have found that if I start in the center of the pan and slide my spatula under the edge of the egg, tilt the pan to ease the egg onto the spatula, and gently turn it over toward the outside edge of the pan, they typically do not break. Salt and pepper each egg while it is still in the pan. Cook until the yolk is the desired doneness. I gently tap the topside of the yolk as it cooks to test how done it is. The egg will continue to cook for a bit after you remove it from the heat.
5. The biscuits should be done and out of the oven by now, so reset the temperature and cook the bacon for 2 minutes (or whatever your package says).
6. You're ready to assemble! Open the biscuit and lay it flat. Place one fried egg on each half of the biscuit. Top with spinach. Pour cheese sauce over the top. Crumble the bacon or lay it in an X on top of each half. If you are very ambitious, you could also fry up some "taters" or hashbrowns, but they take a lot longer and you might need an extra set of hands to get it all on the table at the same time and have it be hot.
