Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year...start out right with a fabulous breakfast!

Fabulous poached eggs with biscuits and Country Ham! 
I love breakfast food, and the majority of the time I try and keep it healthy and low cal. However, every now and then, I love to get creative in the morning with a sinfully rich starter that's worth blogging about.


Many years ago, there was a great little restaurant within walking distance of our very first home together, called the Gallery Cafe. Some of you native Richmonders may remember this gem on Semmes Ave. They served a great brunch and made some mean bloody mary's! The dish I remember best, and get to craving now and then was a heavenly egg creation with a rich sauce, and broccoli. Here is as close as I can come to it, without knowing the recipe and filtering through about 25 years!


I used a little help from the store, and purchased a hollandaise sauce mix. I have a great recipe for hollandaise, but frankly, 9 am on New Years Day, was NOT the time to break it out! SO, I grabbed the mix I keep stached at the back of my cupboard, and cooked away. The envelope went into the trash so quickly, no one knew the difference! I also used refrigerated biscuits, but if you feel like making your own, go for it. The original recipe was made served over English muffins, so if that's what you've got around, use them.




Gallery Cafe Eggs


Serves 4 big eaters


8 eggs


8 biscuits or English Muffins


2 c. hollandaise sauce


2 cups cooked broccoli florets


4 slices procuitto or your favorite ham


Heat your oven and bake the biscuits according to the directions (or split the muffins for toasting). Set a wide deep pan half full of water and bring it to a boil, for poaching the eggs. Make your hollandaise sauce and steam the broccoli. Turn off the broccoli and keep the sauce warm while poaching the eggs.


To poach the eggs, the water must be boiling gently. Break one egg into a bowl, and swirl the water to create a vortex. Slip the egg into the center of the vortex and let it cook about 2 minutes. Remove it with a slotted spoon onto a warm plate, and continue cooking the eggs.


Now, for the assembly process:


Split the biscuits on a large plate (or a toasted English muffin). Top with a slice of ham, and 2 poached eggs. Arrange some broccoli attractively on the plate, and drizzle the entire dish with about 1/2 c. hollandaise sauce. Dig in and enjoy!


What a way to start out 2010! Let's hope it will be a happy, healthy and prosperous year!