Eggs Benny

Eggs Benny is my hippy-ified take on the classic eggs Benedict. I love the idea of eggs Benedict for a brunch or light lunch, because they're so versatile. Forget sticking to the traditional 'poached egg, ham, English muffin, cheese, Hollandaise' routine, in my kitchen eggs Benedict becomes a great excuse to throw together some of my favorite flavours and experiment! Think poached eggs over a traditional Southern biscuit, with leftover sirloin strips, sauted mushrooms, gruyere, and red-eye gravy instead of Hollandaise. Or, if I'm not feeling the calories that day, the poached egg goes over a light English muffin topped with fruit slices (avocado, apple, or even grape is good), and maybe leftover strips from a rotisserie chicken. For a sauce on those days, I sometimes use a light yogurt dressing with maybe the faintest hint of curry, or even no sauce at all (because a properly poached egg has a yolk that can be a sauce all its own, and who wants to mess with that kind of goodness when you're playing with simple, clean flavours?). So here is a health-conscious version of my favorite egg brunch. This is Benedict being good (very, very good!), both for your waistline and your tastebuds.

Eggs Benny

4 refrigerated biscuits (I use Pillsbury Grands Buttermilk with layers, but whatever cranks your tractor)
4 large eggs
2 tbsp white vinegar
Water
1 ripe avocado, sliced fairly chunky (how to choose an avocado)
1 ripe apple, thinly sliced (I use Fuji usually, but Granny Smith are very pretty too)
1 cup rotisserie chicken, in strips (I usually make this recipe with leftovers, since I rarely eat a whole chicken when I bring one home from the grocery)
1 cup plain yogurt (preferably full-fat, but if you're really thinking light, the skim kind works okay too)
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp curry paste (I use Thai red curry, but I bet green would work and be pretty too)
1 1/2 tbsp unsalted sweet butter, melted
Salt
Pepper

Prepare the biscuits according to the package directions. While the biscuits are baking, make the yogurt sauce by combining the butter, yogurt, lime juice, and curry paste in a medium mixing bowl, and whisking until it's all mixed together. The sauce should be fairly thin, to mimic the properties of Hollandaise, but if you want it thicker (as I sometimes do), cut down on the lime juice and leave out the butter altogether. When the sauce is done, set it in the fridge and slice the apples and avocado.

When the biscuits have about five minutes left, fill a saucepan with water and put it on over medium heat to simmer. The goal is to bring the water to a bare boil, then turn the heat down until the temperature is just below a boil, on a high simmer. Add the vinegar to this water. This is the base in which you will poach your eggs.

Crack an egg into a smallish container (I use a 6oz ramekin, but friends use a small glass or a mug). Lower this container into the simmering water, and in one smooth motion, pour the egg into the water. The egg should form filmy trails, and begin to cook. I find that a quicker pour here is better, because my eggs tend to move around less in the water bath with a quicker pour, but this is something that everyone has to feel out for themselves. Repeat this process with the other three eggs, allowing the first egg to settle a bit before adding another one, and disturbing the water as little as possible with the addition of each egg. The eggs should not be touching each other (or they'll cook together), and after the eggs have been placed in the pan, you should attempt to keep the water as still as possible (no stirring, no shaking the pan, etc).

How long you cook your eggs will depend on how firmly you like them poached. 3-4 minutes is sufficient if you like your yolk very runny, but I usually end up poaching mine for more like 7 minutes, so that the yolk still runs a little, but also has some substance to it. Again, experiment around. There's really no 'right' or 'wrong' here. When your eggs have finished poaching, remove them with a slotted spoon. I usually rest my eggs briefly on a paper towel to absorb some of their outside moisture, so that they won't make the biscuit soggy.

While the eggs are poaching, your biscuits have probably finished baking. Remove them from the oven and slice them in half, to make a sandwich-style top half and bottom half. On the bottom half, add a layer of chicken, a layer of avocado, and a layer of apple, distributing these ingredients evenly across your four biscuits. When the eggs finish, top each biscuit-stack with an egg, and pour yogurt sauce over the egg a la Hollandaise with the traditional eggs Benedict. Finish by placing the top half of the biscuit over the whole thing to make a sort of loose egg-apple-avocado-chicken sandwich. If you've got any yogurt sauce left over, you could pour it on top of the 'sandwich', but I usually don't have any left over at this point. Serve immediately, while the egg is still very hot (a cooled poached egg isn't nearly as much fun).

Servings: 4