October Unprocessed: Eggs Benedict & Hollendaise

You are probably familiar with Eggs Benedict:  English muffin split open, topped with bacon or ham, a poached egg on both sides, with a healthy dose of Hollendaise sauce on the top.  It's good, to be sure, but I give you Eggs Benedict, Tiffany Style --

The same basic elements are there, just swapped out for something slightly (in my opinion) better. 
Instead of English muffins, you get Sourdough.
Pork bacon is swapped out for turkey or beef bacon.
Poached eggs are replaced with fried eggs.
Some fresh avocado and tomato slices are added.
And of course, you can't forget the hollendaise (made with lime, instead of lemon).

In our house this is not a breakfast food.  Nope, we eat it for dinner.  My husband did not grow up eating eggs for breakfast and whenever I would go through the hassle of making this or scrambled eggs or even cooked potatoes in the morning, he would look at me like I was crazy and then ask, "Where is the bread?  Can I have a bagel?"  As far as he is concerned, breakfast consists of bread and coffee juice. So for us, anything egg-related is automatically dinner food.

The whole lime-hollendaise was a total accident one day, mind you.  I wish I had the creative genius to think this up, but I do not.  Instead, it was a little misunderstanding that led to this gem.  I asked my husband to pick up two "lemons".  He, being a native Portuguese speaker, went and got two "limons" -- or limes.  I didn't realize the mistake (which, honestly, makes complete sense if you hear the similarities between the words) until we were at home and I had no lemons to make hollendaise sauce with.  Well, that was alright in the end because it turned out to be the best hollendaise sauce I had made!  Isn't it nice when "Oops!" turns into "Yes!!!" ? 

Speaking of Hollendaise...

It is really quite simple, and tastes way better than the store bought stuff.  This is one "unprocessed" thing I have been able to do for quite some time.  I get really intense and focused when I am making it because it can easily curdle, but it really isn't that hard as long as you have all your ingredients ready to go. 

DIRECTIONS:
First, take 2 egg yolks, 1/2 stick of butter cut into thirds, and 1 T of lime (or lemon) juice.  Set in a place where they are ready to go.  Using a double boiler (or in my case, make one out of a pot and similar size pan -- see below), put 1 T of water plus the eggs and the lime juice on the top and whisk.  Add one piece of butter at a time until all are melted.  Add a pinch of salt and ta-da!  Really, that's it.  Just keep whisking away while you are doing it so that the eggs don't curdle.  (This covers 3 Eggs Benedicts.)

Since I am not all fancy enough to have a double boiler, this is what I use.  It works just fine.

COST: $5.80             PER SERVING (3): $1.93