Eggs Benedict was always something I was afraid of making. I think it was a combination of all the ingredients, raw eggs for the hollandaise sauce, and just the duration of how long it takes to make them. But then I realized I can NOT be the only person with this trepidation, so I decided to make it happen... with a pragmatic twist. Usually the eggs are poached and the yolks are removed and blah, blah, blah. My Eggs Benedict version wastes no ingredients, is much easier, and tastes just as good. It may not have that fluffy texture of a poached egg, but it still has the taste & appeal of the real thing. Some people will call me lazy, others will call me a genius, but this is just our attempt at opening the door to a recipe that has always seemed so foreign to me.
Let's start off by getting our eggs out and at room temperature, and melting that butter so its ready for later. This makes them easier to whisk. Crack the eggs in half but be careful so as to not let the egg out of the shell. Use one half of the shell to hold back the yolk and let the white part (the albumen for my science friends) drip through into a bowl. NOTE: In this step, we want to separate the whites from the yolks for all 4 eggs and place them in separate bowls, but don't throw anything away, we want to use all of these ingredients.
Take the lemon you have and cut it in half, and squeeze about a tablespoon's worth of lemon juice into the egg yolks. You can use a bit more or a bit less, your call, but I like to add a bit extra! Make sure that no seeds get into your sauce.
Using a whisk or a fork, whisk the yolks vigorously so that the lemon and the yolks meld together and double in volume.
Get a small pan and fill it with a few inches of water. Get it to a light boil and hold your dish with the lemon/egg mixture over the water and continue whisking. This is done to warm up the yolks and make them a bit fluffier. Make sure, however, you don't get the mix too close or to touch the water since the eggs will begin to scramble.
As you whisk, slowly stir in the melted butter. The volume should double again, and when it does, whisk in the cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, and paprika. When it is all well whisked, set aside the hollandaise sauce & cover with foil to keep warm.
Now the easy part! Cut the muffins in half and toast them until crispy. Meanwhile, add a little salt to the egg whites you have from before and whisk them together. They won't whisk in the same way as the yolks, which is fine, this just helps break up their consistency.
Heat up the same pan you had the boiling water in (which should be empty of water now) to med-high. When hot, slowly pour the egg whites into the pan and try to make little circles. Its pretty tough to get perfect circles, so I used a lid from a mason jar. You could also try a cookie cutter or a single egg frying pan.
When you have your four egg circles (however you wanted to go about that), keep the pan hot and warm up the Canadian bacon. Once warm, place the Canadian bacons on each toasted english muffin, add an egg white circle on top of it, then put two spoonfuls of hollandaise to top it off! I recommend whisking the hollandaise sauce one final time before adding it to your Eggs Benedict. Enjoy!