Grain-Free Eggs Benedict with 2-Minute Hollandaise

Eggs benedict is a beautiful thing - the combination of creamy, rich hollandaise, runny egg yolk, and salty bacon all soaked up by an English Muffin is a kind of perfection.

I wanted to create a recipe that gave the satisfaction of a benedict without gluten or grains, and with a California twist. So I went for an easy latke-inspired potato base; I also added a layer of avocado, some fresh basil, and subbed prosciutto for bacon.

The result was this completely delicious, gorgeous, ridiculously easy breakfast that made my Sunday extra special.

Suitable for: Paleo, Primal, Whole30. May be suitable for keto/lchf depending on how many carbs you're willing to spend on the potatoes.

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

350g white potatoes

5 eggs

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

115g unsalted butter

Salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste

4 slices prosciutto

1 avocado, sliced into 4 rounds

4 large basil leaves/8 small ones

Cayenne (optional)

Method:

Potato Rosti

• Grate 350 grams of white potatoes into a double layer of paper towels. Squeeze out any excess water you can, and pop your potatoes into a bowl.

• Add in one egg white (save the yolk for the hollandaise!) and season well with salt and pepper. Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil.

• Form your potato mixture into 4 equal parts, shape them into rounds, and pop them into the oil.

• Once the edges are crispy, turn them over and get the other size golden as well. Then turn down the heat a little and keep cooking them another 7-10 minutes until the middle is cooked through, flipping them over every couple of minutes.

• When you’re almost ready to plate up, take your rostis out of the pan and let them drain for a minute on a folded paper towel.

Hollandaise

• Take your leftover egg yolk and add to a mason jar or smoothie blender cup just wide enough for your immersion blender to fit into, not too wide.

• Add a teaspoon of water and two teaspoons of fresh lemon juice to your yolk.

• Melt 115g unsalted butter in a saucepan over low-medium heat until just melted.

• Put the immersion blender on top of the egg yolk and blend at high speed.

• Without stopping the immersion blender, drizzle in the melted butter slowly and watch the magic emulsification happen.

• Season with salt and cayenne to taste.

Poached Eggs

• The key here is to strain your eggs through a fine mesh sieve before adding them to the water to reduce stringiness.

• Fill a saucepan with 4-ish inches of water; salt liberally and bring to a gentle simmer - NOT a rolling boil.

• Take your first egg and crack it into a fine mesh sieve, over the sink/trash can. Let the thinner bits of the white filter through the sieve. When not much more is coming off, transfer your egg to a small cup/glass.

• Swirl your simmering water a few times, then plop your strained egg into the center - the movement of the water will also encourage your egg to stay round and contained.

• Repeat this process with additional eggs, I don’t recommend doing more than 2 at a time.

• Cook the eggs 2-3 minutes with the water barely simmering until you can see that the white has solidified and the yolk is beginning to firm up. Transfer onto a paper towel

Building your Benedict

• Improvise with what you’ve got!

• I started at the bottom with the potato rosti, then added a slice of prosciutto, a ring of avocado, and some fresh basil.

• Top with your poached eggs with a generous spoonful of hollandaise, and a sprinkling of cayenne.