Award-Winning Oak Smoked Irish Organic Salmon
The smoked salmon eggs Benedict is a fixed point on the brunch menu of every decent café in Ireland and Britain. It’s also one of the dishes that home cooks worry about most, and they shouldn’t. Three components, ten minutes, one of which is the hollandaise. If you can hold your nerve at the stove, you can do this. Mother’s Day, a wedding-anniversary breakfast, a Saturday with no other plans.
Start with the hollandaise. Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. The bowl must not touch the water.
Whisk the yolks and lemon juice in the bowl until pale, foamy, and thick enough to leave a trail, around 3 minutes.
Take the bowl off the heat. Trickle in the warm melted butter in a slow stream, whisking the whole time. The sauce should thicken to the consistency of double cream.
Season with salt and cayenne. Cover and keep warm over the residual heat of the pan with the water turned off.
Bring a separate wide pan of water to a gentle simmer. Add the vinegar. Crack each egg into a small cup, then slide it in. Poach for 3 minutes.
Toast the muffin halves. Lift the eggs out with a slotted spoon and rest them on kitchen paper.
Plate up. Muffin halves, two each. Fold the salmon over the muffins. Egg on the salmon. A generous spoon of hollandaise over the top. Chives, black pepper.
