Breakfast,

[Noni]

How do I make proper eggs benedict?

Also how do I make nice pancakes? Like the ones in Mcdonalds lol.

[autopilot]

Eggs Benedict - thats scrambled eggs with smoked salmon it it not?

We make that every now and again. All i can say is, add the bits of smoked salmon right at the end, just before you put in on the plate, or it tastes very fishy. A few fresh chives in the mix too is a must IMO.

Can't comment on the MD pancakes, i hate MD, thier food and everything they stand for. However, a touch more on the egg side and a bit of cinimon in the mix works great. Make them a bit thicker and smaller (yanky style) and serve with 100% pure maple syrup and a little bit of dark chocolate greated on top.

[toomanycooks]

Eggs benedict:

1. Make your hollandaise sauce.

This is actually straightforward despite what people think. The most important thing to know is that all your ingredients should be at room temperature.

Take 2 egg yolks and whisk them in a glass/pyrex bowl with a fork.
Add the juice of half a lemon and season.
Take a small saucepan and put a few centimetres of water in it and place the glass bowl ontop - the water should not be touching the bowl or you will end up with lemony scrambled eggs.
Melt 200g of butter in another pan.
Put the saucepan with the bowl on top onto the stove on a very low heat - the aim is for the water to heat the bottom of the glass bowl only with the steam produced from heating the water.
With the melted butter in one hand and a fork/whisk in the other, add the melted butter to the yolk mixture a few drops at a time (rush this part and all is lost), stirring constantly.
Keep stirring and stirring until all your butter is gone.
Ready!

====Tip: add chopped taragon at this point and you have bernaise sauce which goes very, very well with steaks.====

2. At the same time, poach 2 fresh eggs per person.

A sign whether your eggs are fresh is if the whites seperate out from the yolk when you put them in the water. If the white stays close around the yolk, then these are good and fresh and you should buy more from whoever sold you these.

Take a pan of boiling water and add a tablespoon of vinegar - this helps the eggs and is not for flavour (if this help give an idea of the quantity).
Stir the water until you have the water spinning round the pan on it's own - be careful, boiling water.
Break and delicately drop in your eggs - you will need a large-ish pan if you want to do 4 eggs and a vat if you are looking to do this dish in any sort of quantity.

3. Grill your bacon and your sourdough bread.

4. Build in this order: Toast, bacon, eggs, sauce.

[toomanycooks]

I guess you can tell what I think about Md's food...

[Moby-Dick]

MD's food isn't the finest

nice Eggs benedict there - I always feel breakfast is a meal that is often ignored for "nice" food. I suppose its because peoples dont want complex flavours etc first thing in the morning.

The pankcakes you are thinking off are scotch pancakes or drop scones as they are otherwise known. I tend to cheat personally and either buy a mix or buy ready made - but I do use real maple syrup I picked up in New York for it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancake ( can't fault wiki )

http://breakfast.cereal.com/pancakes.htm

I believe the buttermilk is essential ?

[tiggerai]

it's not essential... you can make drop scones with normal pancake batter, but add a little more flour to make it stickier. But the american recipes are always better.

It's the one and only reason I'd like to live in the states... american breakfasts.... mmmm

Pancakes, crispy bacon and maple (or pancake) syrup. YUMMMMY!

[Funkstar]

as long as the crispy bacon actually has bacon on it.

Here in Norway they tend to use the streakiest cut you have ever seen, so itæs basically crispy pork fat. nice once in a while, but not every morning

[Noni]

Thanks for the replys, Ill get to making some now :O !

[toomanycooks]

Thanks for the replys, Ill get to making some now :O !

How'd you get on with the hollandaise?