Eggs Benedict

April 16: National Eggs Benedict Day

Highlander’s brother Stuart P., is the designated cook for a family favorite—Eggs Benedict—whenever everyone gets together for a rare reunion or holiday visit.  While in the kitchen, he has an assembly line to toast the English muffins, fry the Canadian bacon, poach the eggs and blend the Hollandaise sauce. He is surprisingly efficient in churning out a hearty brunch for a hungry crowd in a timely manner.

When we make Eggs Benedict for the two of us at home, we divide the duties between us. Islander prepares the Eggs Benedict components while Highlander makes the Hollandaise sauce, or visa versa. Because it is a rich and filling food, we sometimes eat Eggs Benedict for lunch or even dinner!

Whether for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, Eggs Benedict make a good meal, especially on National Eggs Benedict Day.

Recipe

(From Highlander’s Family)

For the Eggs Benedict

• Canadian bacon or thick-cut ham
• Tomato, large (optional)
• English muffins
• Butter or margarine
• Eggs, poached

Directions

Fry the Canadian bacon/ham in a skillet till lightly browned. Slice the tomato into thin rounds. Toast the English muffins and butter them. Keep the Canadian bacon/ham and muffins warm until ready to assemble the Eggs Benedict.

Poach the eggs. If using an egg poacher pan, boil the water on the bottom, lightly grease the wells/cups, crack an egg into each cavity and cover. Cook for a few minutes until the whites are set but the yolks are soft. Carefully remove from the egg poacher pan.

If using a microwavable egg poacher, mist the wells/cups with cooking spray, place ½ teaspoon water in each cavity, crack an egg, pierce the yolks and whites and cover. Microwave for 30 seconds on high, let stand and microwave in 20 second intervals until the whites are set but the yolks are soft. Carefully remove from the microwavable egg poacher.

For the Hollandaise Sauce

• ½ cup (1 stick) butter
• 3-4 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons hot water

Directions

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter slowly, taking care not to brown or burn the bottom of the pan. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Stir in the lemon juice. Add the salt and cayenne pepper.

Slowly pour the melted butter and two tablespoons hot water into the mixture and keep stirring to avoid cooking the egg yolks. Transfer everything back into the saucepan and mix well on low heat until thickened. Keep warm or use immediately. Yield: About one cup.

Assemble the Eggs Benedict by placing a slice of tomato (optional) on top of a buttered and toasted half of an English muffin. Layer with one or two slices of Canadian bacon/ham. Add poached egg on top. Pour hot Hollandaise Sauce over the egg. Sprinkle chopped parsley and paprika (optional) and salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Notes

• Traditional Eggs Benedict do not include a slice of tomato in the layers. But Highlander’s family adds it for color contrast and extra flavor. This then is a variation of the similar Eggs Blackstone, which substitutes the Canadian bacon or ham with bacon.
• Stuart uses a blender to mix the Hollandaise sauce. But we were lazy and just used a hand whisk so we did not have to wash up too many dishes.
• Plan ahead when preparing Eggs Benedict and the Hollandaise sauce. Some components of the recipe may be kept warm while cooking the other ingredients.
• We purchased our pans to make poached eggs from JC Penney and Williams-Sonoma. We bought our microwavable plastic egg poacher from Walmart for significantly less cost!

HI Cookery is 2!

April 11: HI Cookery Blog Anniversary

Wow! Thank God for helping us persevere and reach our second year of food blogging and “cooking the calendar” with ethnic and eclectic recipes. Although we are not able to post every single day, we make an effort to do so at least once a week. Today, in lieu of a recipe, we reflect on HI Cookery’s second blog-o-versary (April 11, 2011-2012).

Domain Name. HI Cookery went from https://hicookery.wordpress.com to http://www.hicookery.com. Thanks to Islander’s brother, Kahuna B., who gifted us with the domain name on our wedding anniversary last July 13.

Guest Chefs. Family and friends gave us a hand (literally!) by cooking for us and we have gratefully included their recipes—and photos of their hands—on our tutorials.

• Brother Kahuna B. – Sweet and Sour Beef Stew
• Goddaughter Keira B. and family – Whoopie Pies
• Nieces Nichole and Danielle R. – Dokeyanas
• Friend Olga W. – Pierogi

Lots of Links. HI Cookery is honored to be associated with the following sites:

• LeapZeum – We tested the recipe for Leap Year Day Cake. It is simply sweet and would make a nice birthday cake for the Leapers.

• M5 Cake – Islander has a new baking and blogging buddy—Margarita F. at M5 Cake. She is a fellow member at the local cake club in South Texas. They teach each other how to make macarons and frosted sugar cookies, share recipes and resources and get together to learn more about cultural cuisines. See all her amazing cookies, cakes and confections at her site at M5 Cake.

• MacTweets – We participate in the macaron-making challenges and get ideas and inspiration from talented MacTweeters from around the world.

• Party Ideas by a Pro – Event Producer Matt James in England included our Yoda Soda in the Star Wars theme party section and showcased our Elmo macarons in the Elmo theme party section.

• Pinterest – People who found HI Cookery’s recipes interesting have “pinned” and “re-pinned” our food photos onto their online bulletin board. Thanks for the publicity and the positive blog traffic!

Yes, it has been another busy year of blogging, but we are encouraged by the support of family, friends and followers to continue our goal of cooking our way through every day. As HI Cookery begins our third year, we are committed to sharing more of our culinary and cultural experiences with everyone via the blogosphere.

Tapadh leat! Mahalo! Thanks!

Highlander and Islander

Notes

• As of today’s second blog-o-versary date, there have been 326 posts published, with Cookie Monster Cupcakes still being the most viewed for the second year in a row!
• Although we bought a new digital camera (Sony Cyber-Shot) this month, we still use Islander’s old one (also a Sony Cyber-Shot). The latter is battered from falling in batters! But Highlander took it apart, cleaned it and fixed the zoom button so we can continue to take photos for the step-by-step shots of our cooking process. We use his Canon Rebel digital camera for the final food photos.
• We admire fellow food bloggers who are able to post recipes and photos more frequently than us. We especially like the sites that show how they cooked the dishes. Those tried-and-true tutorials are most educational—and motivational!
• More recipes are scheduled to be posted.

Cinnamon-Pecan Crescent Cookies

April 10: National Cinnamon Crescent Day

We sometimes see Mexican wedding cookies served at the receptions we attend in South Texas where we sponsor couples through our church’s marriage formation program. A variation of the round cookies is the crescent shape, probably a prelude to a sweet honeymoon.

One of our couples, Sean and Kristina V., featured them as favors (the cinnamon-pecan crescent cookies were packaged in pretty plastic bags, tied with ribbons and labeled with thank-you tags).

Cinnamon-pecan crescent cookies are wonderful for weddings  and National Cinnamon Crescent Day.

Recipe

(Inspired by Sean and Kristina V.)

Ingredients 

• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• ¼ cup sugar, granulated white
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided use
• ½ teaspoon vanilla (we used Mexican vainilla)
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup pecan chips (or finely chopped pecans)
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter. Mix in the sugar and ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon. Stir in the vanilla.

Add the flour and pecans. Mix well and form into a ball of sticky dough. Pinch out a teaspoon of the dough and roll into a ball.

Form the ball into a 2 ½ inch long log and taper the ends into a crescent shape. Place onto a lightly greased, foil-lined baking sheet. Continue making the rest of the crescent cookies. Bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool. In a bowl, sift the powdered sugar with the remaining ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon. Gently cover the cookies in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and dust off the excess over the wire rack. Serve as is or package them in favor boxes.

Notes

• Roll the dough into small balls and form them into little crescents as these cookies do puff up a little when baking.
• Try the recipe for Mexican wedding cookies that we also baked for our blog.
• Search our blog for other cookie recipes.