Recipe Index

Ingredients

• 2 large free-range egg yolks
• 1½ tsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 3oz unsalted butter, cold and diced
• splash white wine vinegar
• 4 free-range eggs
• 2 English muffins, split, toasted and buttered
• 4 slices smoked salmon
• snipped fresh chives, to garnish
• salt and white pepper

Method

1. Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water without letting it touch the water, add the egg yolks, white wine vinegar and a teaspoon of the lemon juice and whisk until frothy and thickening.
2. Whisk the cold diced butter into the yolks a cube or two at a time, adding more as the sauce thickens, and take the bowl off the heat for a few minutes if it starts to look oily.
3. Season the finished hollandaise with the remaining lemon juice, salt and white pepper and leave the bowl over the turned-off pan to keep warm, laying greaseproof paper on its surface to stop a skin forming.
4. Fill a saucepan with about 4 in of water and a splash of white wine vinegar, bring it to a gentle simmer and have a large bowl of cold water ready.
5. Drain each egg briefly in a small sieve, stir the water into a whirlpool and tip the egg into its centre as the swirl fades, poaching it for 2 minutes among small gentle bubbles.
6. Lift each poached egg into the cold water and repeat until all four eggs are done, keeping the poaching water at a gentle simmer.
7. Lay a slice of smoked salmon on each buttered muffin half, warm the eggs back through the poaching water for 30 seconds and set one on each piece of salmon.
8. Spoon the hollandaise over the eggs, thinning it with a splash of cool water if it has become too thick, garnish with snipped chives and serve the eggs royale straight away.

Prep: 30 min · Cook: 30 min

Nutrition (per serving, where published)

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient data