Eggs Benedict Perfection

I went most of my life having never tried eggs benedict.  Such a shame too because it only took one bite and I was hooked.  Me and my wife went to a restaurant in town known for their breakfast. I ordered up the eggs benedict.

 Reaction: "Ohhhhhh man...that's some heaven on a plate right there!"  

The softness of the poached egg, the yolky-smooth hollandaise running from the top, the crunch of the bacon...I was hooked.  So, I spent the next few weeks experimenting and came up with the perfect Eggs Benedict with fresh Hollandaise.

. . . you won't be sorry.

Ingredients:
6 eggs-poaching
6 strips of thick-cut bacon
3 english muffins cut in-half
2 cups white vinegar

Hollandaise Sauce:
1 stick of butter
2 eggs yolks
1 1/4 tbs lemon juice
1/4 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1 pinch of ground cayenne pepper

Preheat your oven to the Broil setting.

For Hollandaise Sauce: In a small bowl mix together egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and red pepper. Place your small bowl in a slightly larger bowl that's filled with luke-warm water.  Set aside.  (This allows your ingredients to all reach the same temperature.)  Don't let any water get in the smaller bowl.

Fill a large skillet just-under halfway with water and place on stove at medium-high heat.  Stir-in the distilled white vinegar and a pinch of salt  .  You want the water to reach a temperature that is just below boiling.  (I find that in-between medium and medium-high is the best setting for our stove as it runs high.)

While your water is heating up in the saucepan, place strips of bacon on baking sheet lined with tin foil. Broil for approximately 7 minutes, flipping halfway.  When done immediately place bacon on a paper towel-lined plate.  Press new paper towel on-to bacon to soak-up excess grease and set aside still covered.

Turn oven down to 350 degrees.

When the water in the skillet is ready and steaming, crack open an egg one at a time and allow it to drop into the water.  Do this in 2 patches of three.

Leave egg in water for approximately 2 minutes.  Yolk should still be runny.  Remove poached eggs with slotted spoon.

Continuing with Hollandaise:  Add the egg mixture you set aside earlier into a blender.  Heat the butter in a glass measuring cup until steaming hot.

(The steaming butter is what will cook the egg yolks so it has to be hot but not scholding).

Turn your blender on low speed and SLOWLY add hot melted butter.  Add Worcestershire sauce.

Blend until smooth and creamy.

Construction

Slice english muffins in half.  Put 2 slices of butter on each muffin, place on a baking sheet and toast in oven until edges are light brown.  Just a few minutes.  Too long and they'll dry-out and be crunchy.

Snap each strip of bacon in half.

Place on english muffin.

Place egg on-top of bacon.  Pour Hollandaise a-top poached egg.

A delicious, gourmet tasting breakfast! Enjoy with some fresh fruit and hot coffee.

Apple Baby Food

Making your own baby food couldn't be more simple or economical.  Aside from that, it's the healthiest for your baby when it comes to introducing  foods.  Best of all, most baby food recipes only has a few steps. . . nothing to it!  We found this recipe in Baby Love.

Though for this recipe we used green Delicious apples, I recommend starting off with red apples.  Their taste is less tart and more sweet.  We find that it was an acquired taste for Little Man so-to-speak.

Start by washing and peeling 5 apples.

Next, slice your apples in half . . . 

. . . and then slice each half into 6 cubes and place in pot with 8 ounces of water.  

*Be sure to remove seeds and stem with a melon baller or spoon

Place your pot on the burner, set to high and cover with a lid.

Cook for 8 minutes, stirring once in-between. Apples should be tender but not falling apart.

After the 8 minutes, pour all ingredients into a blender and puree until smooth

.

For Storing:

• freeze in ice cube trays 
• remove by placing bottom of tray in warm water for a few moments 
•  store in a zip lock bag.

To Warm:

•  place two (2) cubes in bowl and heat for 30 seconds.  
• Stir and continue microwaving in 5 to 10 second intervals until heated. 

Do Not Overheat!  This can cause the nutrients to be depleted and can burn your baby's mouth. If you think you've overheated it, then follow your instinct and toss it.  Just take two more out and start the process over again.  It may take overheating the first bowl to get a feel for the timing  All microwaves are different so keep that in mind when warming your cubes.

*Yields 34 ounces