There’s the dining room table. It tends to get buried under a blizzard of school notices that come home in backpacks. Really buried.

We decided that brunch worked well for everyone for Easter. We would go with Eggs Benedict with the “Holidays” sauce. You read the last post, right? As I said before, I was hoping my Meyer lemon tree would be ready to celebrate with us. But, the tree that grows in the dining room is making me w-a-i-t for the rewards.

I have worked out a system for making my poached eggs ahead of time. They swirl in the boiling water and get dropped in a cold water bath. When I am ready to serve, the eggs are brought to temperature in warm water. 

My older guy wanted to know how to make the poached eggs. I put him on swirling duty. Bringing a pot of water to a boil, I had him add the salt. And then, a good splash of white wine vinegar. I explained the vinegar helped the egg whites coagulate and wrap around the yolks. My son cracked an egg against the counter. He took the two egg shells and rocked the yolk back and forth. The egg white separated and he placed the yolk in a ramekin.

He took the thin wooden spoon and started to swirl the boiling water. Tilting the ramekin, I lowered the yolk into the water. It disappeared and immediately rolled over. It continued rolling as he kept the water moving.

He watched as the strings of egg white began to appear. And the fluttering ribbons slowly wrapped themselves around the yolk. Another few seconds, and he lifted the puffed pillow of egg out of the pot and into a cold water bath. “That was cool!”

As children are known to do, he displayed his awe at this technique. When told there were eleven more eggs to poach – he said I could do the rest.

The English muffins were crisped in the oven with the Canadian bacon. I grilled asparagus and caramelized shallots. The Hollandaise stayed warm on a double boiler.

We had our egg hunt with thirty colored eggs hidden outside. I assembled plates of crispy muffins and smoky ham. Then, potatoes and asparagus with their sweet shallots. The ham was topped with the eggs and Hollandaise spooned over the top.

Some fresh chives on top and we all sat down to brunch. And the dog slept under the table.

Hoidays Hollandaise

1 1/2 stick of butter    (America’s Test Kitchen named Cabot the best butter and I agree.)

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon salt

pinch of cayenne

3 tablespoons lemon juice

-Gently melt butter.

-In a blender, mix egg yolks, salt, cayenne, and lemon juice.

-With the blender running on low, slowly stream in the butter to mix.

Hollandaise can keep for an hour before serving. Loosen with a tablespoon of warm water and serve.