Orange Rosemary Waffle Eggs Benedict

Orange Rosemary Waffle Eggs Benedict: Light and tender savory waffles topped with ham, a perfectly poached egg and a lighter tangy version of easy blender hollandaise with fresh squeezed orange juice and fresh rosemary.

Every Sunday the mister makes us waffles. It is his meal, the only one I haven’t taken over. He used to make dinner from time to time but when he cooks we eat late. After three or four midnight meals (really!) I started making dinner every night. Sometimes I get up early and have a morning snack on Sundays but waffles remain his domain.

Last weekend we only had time for half a waffle each so I put the batter in the fridge where it has been staring at me ever since. Yes staring, your leftovers don’t cast accusatory glances? Mine do. Maybe that container of leftover rice just has resting bitch face but I don’t think so, I think that rice is judging me for using up the waffle batter instead. I’m glad I did.

Waffle

I wish I could give you that recipe because the waffles were delicious. I could it would go something like this: combine two cups of five-day old waffle batter (the joy of cooking recipe) with ¼ cup finely diced yellow onion and a teaspoon of minced fresh rosemary. Stir to combine and then add approximately two tablespoons of refreshed sourdough starter and some fresh ground black pepper. Thoroughly combine and then bake the waffles. The starter was perky enough that it gave the batter some rise and the gluten had relaxed enough (five days in the fridge will do that) that the waffles were incredibly light and tender. Just enough savory to accompany the orange hollandaise or be the perfect side for fried chicken. Since I was cutting them into hearts I took the scraps and dunked them in the hollandaise sauce.

Hollandaise

The hollandaise sauce pictured with the waffles could have been a little smoother. I was trying out a lighter version because anyone who had ever made homemade hollandaise knows two things. 1) hollandaise is freaking delicious and so 2) you shouldn’t know how much butter and egg goes in there. But once you make it at home you can’t forget. I’m not afraid of butter or eggs but hollandaise startles me-it’s a once a year sort of thing. In the first version the flavor was there but the technique seemed overly fussy. So I made hollandaise again today. Thank goodness it’s a lighter version. I made the second batch using the blender. Much easier and had a much nicer consistency. Here is an excellent video from Ina at Food Network that outlines the process.

Poached Eggs

This video from the kitchn is an awesome primer on poaching eggs. The most important thing I learned was to use a shallow pan, so much easier to get the egg in and out. And four minutes is perfect for a cooked white and a runny yolk. Being able to just set the timer and prep other things makes poached seem much easier than it used to.

Orange Rosemary Waffle Eggs Benedict

instructions/suggestions for timing and assembly 

1. Take your eggs out of the fridge for the hollandaise and bring them to room temperature.
2. Prepare the waffle batter.
3. Make the hollandaise.
4. Get the spinach or ham ready for assembly
5. Preheat the waffle iron and start the water for the poached eggs.
6. The waffles and the eggs take about the same amount of time but the egg will hold better so start the eggs and then about midway through start the waffles.
7. Once the waffles are done work fast and assemble. Use warm plates if possible.
8. Waffle, ham or spinach, egg, sauce. Serve.

Easy Blender Orange Rosemary Hollandaise Sauce

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Ingredients

  

• 1 egg yolk at room temperature
• 2 Tbs Fresh squeezed mandarin orange or tangerine juice
• pinch of cayenne
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary finely minced
• 2 Tbs ultra hot melted butter
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup milk

Instructions

 

• combine egg yolk, orange juice, cayenne, salt and pepper in blender or use an immersion blender, blend for 15 seconds
• combine milk and yogurt and heat to just below a simmer, turn off heat. If this gets too hot and separates don’t fret the blender will recombine.
• heat butter and rosemary together in microwave or on stove top until bubbling hot
• add butter to yolk mixture, process for about 30 seconds.
• add hot milk mixture and process until until smooth.
• Serve immediately
• Or if the mixture is still too thin for you, you can return it to the stove top and thicken with 2 tsp tapioca powder or 1 tsp cornstarch (just remember to add water or a bit of the sauce to the powder to make a smooth slurry before putting it in the sauce) heat over medium low, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and serve.

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