Eggs Benedict

I've been talking with several friends who are bemoaning the fact that they're eating hard-boiled eggs three meals a day in an attempt to use up all the eggs they dyed.  Apparently, a lot of people people see two options when it comes to Easter egg dyeing: 1) dye a ton of hard-boiled eggs and eat them nonstop until they're gone and you can't stand the sight of them; or 2) dye a very small, manageable number of eggs.  

I prefer a third option - dye raw eggs.  This year we dyed 12 hard-boiled eggs (easy for our family of 3 to eat in a week) plus 18 raw eggs.  It's much easier to use up raw eggs than hard-boiled eggs.  Obviously, if you are not gentle with the raw eggs, you have a mess to deal with, but Trevor has been dyeing raw eggs since he was 2 and hasn't broken one yet.  

When I first started brainstorming my list of 40 Things, I added "make hollandaise sauce" to the list.  I later added "poach eggs."  I didn't think about linking the two together until later, when I realized I'd listed the two main components of Eggs Benedict.  What a perfect way to use up some of the raw eggs we'd dyed!

I consulted a few recipes, then started on my hollandaise.  I whisked 2 egg yolks with 1.5 teaspoons lemon juice until the mixture was thick and frothy.  I melted 1/4 c. of salted butter.

 

I set the eggs over a saucepan of simmering water and continued to whisk rapidly.  

 

I slowly drizzled in the melted butter, whisking the whole time.  When all the butter was incorporated and the sauce was thickened and doubled in volume, I set it aside. 

 

I turned my attention to the poached egg.  I followed Alton Brown's directions for poaching eggs exactly, which resulted in the perfect poached egg.  I was really surprised how easy it was.  Why haven't I been doing this all these years?

I assembled my Eggs Benedict and served it with a side salad (notice the hard-boiled eggs!).  Absolutely delicious!  And so quick and easy!

Goal #16 accomplished!  (And 5 of the dyed eggs used up.)