Once upon a time there was a wonderful woman. She was passionate about traveling around the world, loving her family and of course cooking. When her husband moved to France for work, of course she traveled with him. She enjoyed Paris as much as she could: visiting local markets with fresh and aromatic produce, dining out in marvelous restaurants and trying out various wines. One day, she thought why not to go to culinary school - the famous Le Grodon Bleu. School time was challenging yet entertaining and fulfilling. I guess now you all know that I am talking about legendary Julia Child.
The first time I have heard about Julia was when I watched a lovely movie Julie&Julia. I was fascinated by the real stories which were behind the movie - the famous Julia Child who introduced approachable French cuisine to America and a wonderful blogger Julie Powel who shared her culinary experiences with the whole world. Years have passed since I saw the movie. 2013, here I am in Florida, visiting one of my favorite places, Davie, strolling through a local thrift shop, touching items on shelves and imagining who they belonged to. Suddenly, I see the name Julia Child. I do not believe my eyes! Instantly, I go on my cell phone and google to find the name of her and her co-writers' first book - Mastering The Art of French Cooking. I look at the year and I see 1961! All I can do at the moment, cry of delight and rub my eyes in disbelief.
While examining the book, I found it very approachable and easy to comprehend. Each step in recipes makes sense and authors spend time on explaining why each step is necessary. Eggs Benedict was the first recipe to try from the book even though it is just the beginning:-) So here is the recipe:
Ingredients
for Hollandaise sauce
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon of water
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
6 ounces of unsalted butter (melted)
1 teaspoon of cold butter
Salt and ground white pepper
Paprika (I thought it would be a good additive)
+ a dip pan or pot and a bowl
For poached eggs
3 large fresh eggs
2 tablespoons of white vinegar
+ a boiling pot
Instructions
Hollandaise
1. Heat a pot with water over medium - low heat. In a bowl or sauce pan, combine egg yolks, water, lemon juice. Whisk for 1 minute until all the ingredients are well-combined.
2. Place the bowl in a pot with water (for a warm bath) and continue whisking slowly heating the egg mixture. The ready egg sauce will become frothy and smooth. When whisking, you can see the bottom of the bowl and eggs are thick, remove the sauce from the heat. To stop the cooking process, whisk in a teaspoon of cold butter.
3. Add melted butter spoon by spoon, whisking after each spoon added. This process is important because if butter is added all at once, the mixture will not thicken. Continue incorporating until the mixture has the right thickness consistency for you!
4. Sprinkle salt and pepper according to your taste. Set the sauce aside.
Poached eggs
1. Bring to boil a pot with water and vinegar. The pan should be filled with water to a depth of 3 to 4 inches.
2. Once water starts boiling, take a spoon and make a circular motion in water to create funnel. Quickly, crack each egg one by one and open them into boiling water, keeping shells close to the water surface. Cook the eggs for 4 minutes.
3. Fish each egg with a spoon and place it in a bowl with warm water to remove vinegar taste. Place the eggs on a dry paper to remove excess water and serve immediately.
* To assemble Eggs Benedict, toast English muffin or fresh baguette. Place an eggs on each piece and pour the sauce generously.
* You can add bacon or ham as well. For that, heat the skillet and fry them with butter.
* Even though it is written that eggs can be boiled in water at the same time, as a beginner, I would recommend to try making one egg first to get comfortable with the process.
Bon Appetit!
