Eggs Benedict Casserole with Hollandaise Sauce
A most elegant brunch casserole with an authentic Hollandaise sauce, this dish will be the star of the show.
If you've ever made or tried to make Eggs Benedict, you no doubt found it very difficult to do well. Poaching eggs seems like it would be simple, but it is not. Technique is everything and restaurants that serve Eggs Benedict have special equipment and a structured procedure to poaching eggs, toasting English muffins, heating Canadian bacon, and they make their Hollandaise Sauce in large quantities generally using a commercial blender. This process allows the restaurant to get Eggs Benedict to you while the dish is still hot, and trust me, Eggs Benedict loses its heat very, very quickly.
This is a great recipe if you're entertaining guests for brunch and want to provide an elegant dish without any worry it might be cold by the time it hits the plate. The casserole is assembled a day ahead of time, so all you have to do it pop it in the oven the next morning and while it's baking, make real Hollandaise Sauce before serving. In fact, this recipe is meant to be made a day in advance so the milk-soaked bread and eggs are left to "cure" in the refrigerator overnight. They will become light and soufflé-like upon baking the next day.
I will give a hat-tip to the allrecipes website for this recipe's inspiration, which I made without modification except for one, small detail: their recipe uses a packaged, powdered Hollandaise Sauce mix, to which I say: ugh. That’s just wrong. Making a true, classic Hollandaise has no equal. Package, powdered Hollandaise is not Hollandaise at all.
I am posting my recipe for this classic French Mother Sauce. It is entirely patterned after a Julia Child recipe, from her 1968 book, The French Chef Cookbook. But Julia's recipe is made in a blender, it's hard to follow and I've learned many secrets to making a great Hollandaise Sauce over the years, so allow me to share them in a recipe that is made the old-fashioned way: with a metal mixing bowl and a wire whisk.
I have experimented with several different types of English muffins; regular, whole wheat, whole grain and sourdough, and prefer the latter, but use which ever one you like.
Eggs Benedict Casserole with Hollandaise Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 extra-large eggs
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2-3 green onions, finely sliced
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 6-oz packages Canadian Bacon, about 20 slices (like, Jones Hickory Smoked)
- 6 English Sourdough English Muffins (like, Thomas')
- 3-4 dashes paprika
- non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam Butter Flavored)
- Kitchen Tapestry's Hollandaise Sauce
Instructions
- You will need a 9" x 13" (or thereabouts) casserole dish that has a lid or otherwise, use aluminum foil. Liberally spray the dish with the non-stick cooking spray.
- Separate the English Muffins and then cut them into one-inch cubes.
- Similarly, cut the Canadian Bacon into 1/2-inch cubes.
- Layer 1/2 of the Canadian Bacon into the bottom of the casserole dish. Layer the English Muffin cubes on top of them, then add the second half of the Canadian Bacon as the final layer.
- In a separate mixing bowl, use a wire whisk to thoroughly blend the eggs together.
- Add the milk, salt and thinly sliced green onions, and stir well to combine. Pour this evenly over the Canadian Bacon and English Muffin cubes.
- Put the lid on the casserole dish, and refrigerate overnight for at least 12-hours.
- Remove the casserole from the refrigerator about an hour before you're ready to place it in the oven. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F degrees.
- Place the casserole in the center of the oven with the lid on for 30-35 minutes until the eggs are set. You can test this by simply jiggling the dish back and forth. If the center of the casserole moves freely, the eggs are not set. If they just jiggle slightly, then you're good for the next step.
- While the casserole is baking, make the Hollandaise Sauce using the Kitchen Tapestry recipe, found here.
- Remove the lid and bake the casserole for another 20-25 minutes until the top is starting to turn golden brown. Before serving, give a few dashes of paprika over the top. You'll be able to cut square portions to serve along side your freshly made, genuine Hollandaise sauce.
Notes
- If you're cooking in altitudes above 5,000 feet, pre-heat the oven to 365°F and increase cooking time 5 minutes each time.
Hollandaise Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 egg yolks, room temperature
- 1 oz butter, room temperature
- 2 sticks butter, room temperature
- juice of 1 medium fresh lemon
- 2-3 dashes cayenne pepper
Instructions
- About 2 hours before you start making the Hollandaise, take the three eggs out of the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature
- Similarly, take all of the butter out of the refrigerator and allow it also to come to room temperature.
- To properly make this sauce, you will need a metal mixing bowl (which will likely be made of stainless steel) that fits neatly over a saucepan. Do not substitute a traditional double-boiler. I've tried this and it does not work because the curvature of a double-boiler (or lack thereof) simply will not allow you to properly whisk the ingredients.
- About thirty minutes before making the Hollandaise Sauce, separate the yolks and discard the albumen. Put them in the mixing bowl, but not over the heat just yet. Vigorously whisk the yolks together for 2 minutes. Add the ounce of butter and whisk it into the yolks for another minute. Allow the yolks and butter to rest for 15 minutes or longer before proceeding.
- In the meantime, cut the two sticks of butter into 5-6 pieces each and place in a microwave-safe measuring cup (you will need the spout). Microwave the butter until melted, about 45 seconds.
- Fill the saucepan about 1/3 full of water and bring to a light simmer. Place the metal bowl on top of the saucepan and begin whisking. Don't stop until the process is complete. You cannot leave this alone for another chore.
- In the beginning, add just a couple of tablespoons of melted butter to the yolks at a time.
- Whisk for a minute over the saucepan of simmering water.
- Then, whisk for a minute with the mixing bowl off the saucepan.
- Add the next couple of tablespoons of butter and return the mixing bowl to the saucepan.
- Add the lemon juice after you've added melted butter to the egg yolks twice. The sauce will loosen a bit after you add the lemon juice, but have faith. It will continue to thicken as it continues to cook.
- Keep repeating these steps: add butter; whisk on the heat; whisk off the heat; repeat. Whisk the mixture continuously; don't stop for more than a couple of seconds while you add more melted butter to the yolks. Once you've added 1/2 of the melted butter, you'll then be able to increase the amount of butter that you can add at a time.
- Don't stop whisking and keep the above process in motion, going on and off the heat at regular intervals.
- Eventually, you will have all the butter incorporated. If the sauce is still too loose, increase the amount of time you leave the mixing bowl over the heat. In the end, the sauce should be of the creamy consistency indicative of a Hollandaise sauce: not as tight as mayonnaise, but thicker than a cream gravy.
- Once this stage has been reached, whisk in the cayenne pepper, and then stop whisking. Remove the mixing bowl from the heat entirely and allow it to rest until ready to serve at room temperature.
Notes
- Many recipes for Hollandaise call for clarified butter, which is the complicated process of removing the milk solids from the oil. The only thing clarified butter will do for you is allow the butter and the yolks to incorporate a little more quickly. Non-clarified butter provides no ultimate benefit in terms of taste or texture, but you will have to whisk a little longer to finish the sauce. You will notice after you melt the butter that the milk solids sink to the bottom, while the oil, which is in fact clarified butter, floats to the surface.
- You will also notice that once you get into the milk solids at the bottom third of your measuring cup, the sauce will loosen up a bit. Have faith. Keep whisking and keep the whisking process going. Eventually the sauce will thicken.
