Eggs Benedict

Method

1. clarify5 min
   low, then hold warm
   butter melted gently and the white milk solids skimmed and left behind — those solids carry water, and water is what thins a finished hollandaise into a puddle. Hold the butter warm but not hot: above roughly 160°F it cooks the yolk on contact instead of dispersing into it.
2. whisk4 min
   bowl over barely-steaming water, off the boil
   egg yolks + 1 tbsp water + lemon juice, whisked constantly until the mixture triples and leaves a visible ribbon. The water and acid are insurance — they dilute the yolk proteins so they set at a higher temperature, which is the whole margin you have to work in. If the bowl is too hot to rest your palm on, lift it off the pot.
3. emulsify5 min
   off and on the heat, drop by drop at first
   + warm clarified butter, added in a thread so slow it feels absurd. Yolk lecithin can only coat so much fat per second; pour faster than it can wrap the droplets and the fat coalesces and the sauce breaks into greasy curds. If it does break, whisk a fresh teaspoon of cold water into a clean bowl and rebuild the broken sauce into it a spoonful at a time. + salt + cayenne = hollandaise. Cover and hold at room temperature — reheating is what kills it.
4. toast4 min
   medium-high, cut side down in butter
   split english muffins, buttered and griddled until the cut faces are crisp and gold. A soft muffin turns to paste under a poached egg and a spoonful of sauce; the crust is structural, not decorative.
5. sear3 min
   medium-high, dry pan
   ham slices, until the edges cup and brown in spots. Canadian bacon is already cooked and lean, so this is purely for browning — another minute past color and it goes rubbery.
6. poach4 min
   185°F, bare tremble, no rolling bubbles
   water + white wine vinegar, then eggs slid in one at a time. Crack each egg into a fine sieve first and let the loose, watery outer white drain away — that thin white is what feathers into rags in the pot. The vinegar drops the pH and helps the remaining white set fast around the yolk. A rolling boil tears the whites off entirely, so keep it at a shiver. Lift at 3 minutes for a fully liquid yolk, 4 for a jammy one, and rest each egg briefly on a towel so poaching water does not run down the stack.
7. top2 min
   warm plates
   toasted muffin halves + seared ham + drained poached egg + hollandaise spooned over so it just slumps down the sides + chives, paprika, cracked pepper. Serve immediately — the sauce is a held emulsion, and it will be perfect for about ten minutes and then not.