Herby Smoked Salmon Poached Eggs Food

EGGS BENEDICT WITH SMOKED SALMON & CHIVES

Steps:

• First make the hollandaise sauce. Put the lemon juice and vinegar in a small bowl, add the egg yolks and whisk with a balloon whisk until light and frothy. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk until mixture thickens. Gradually add the butter, whisking constantly until thick - if it looks like it might be splitting, then whisk off the heat for a few mins. Season and keep warm.
• To poach the eggs, bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the vinegar. Lower the heat so that the water is simmering gently. Stir the water so you have a slight whirlpool, then slide in the eggs one by one. Cook each for about 4 mins, then remove with a slotted spoon.
• Lightly toast and butter the muffins, then put a couple of slices of salmon on each half. Top each with an egg, spoon over some hollandaise and garnish with chopped chives.

SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH SMOKED SALMON

Steps:

• Reserve 2 slices of salmon for garnish. Chop the remaining salmon into very small pieces.
• Whisk your eggs and cream together. Add 1/2 of your chopped chives and season eggs with salt and pepper. Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Melt butter in the pan and add eggs. Scramble eggs with a wooden spoon. Do not cook eggs until dry. When eggs have come together but remain wet, stir in chopped salmon. Remove pan from the stove and place on a trivet. Garnish the eggs with remaining salmon and chives and serve right out of the warm pan.
• Note: If you are serving these eggs with the other recipes provided as a brunch, a platter of store bought fruit filled dainties will complete your elegant brunch. Allow 1 dainty per person but halve dainties so that guests may mix and match varieties.

SMOKED SALMON WITH POACHED EGGS AND ASPARAGUS

Steps:

• Whisk the dressing ingredients together.
• Assemble this recipe on individual dinner plates. Put a piece of toast on each plate. Arrange the salmon and asparagus on each piece of toast. Top with the egg. Drizzle the dressing over the egg and asparagus. Garnish with dill.

POACHED EGGS AND SMOKED SALMON WITH TARRAGON BEARNAISE

Steps:

• Blender Tarragon Bearnaise: Combine ingredients through peppercorns in a small saucepan and simmer over low heat until reduced to 1 T; sieve, let cool and set aside.
• In a blender, blend eggs, water, hot pepper sauce and salt on high speed for 1 minute; with machine running, add butter in a slow, steady stream; sauce should be thickened, if not, process another 20 seconds.
• Add reserved wine reduction to taste and blend; taste and adjust seasoning and add tarragon, blend just to combine; serve immediately or keep warm by submerging blender jar in warm (not hot) water.
• Poached Eggs and Salmon: Poach eggs; plate 2 crumpet halves per person; lay a slice of salmon over each toasted crumpet half; place an egg on top of each and pour bearnaise over.

PARCEL-POACHED SALMON WITH HERBY MAYONNAISE

Steps:

• The salmon fillets need to be skinless and boneless, so if you can't get your fishmonger to do it, you'll need to do it yourself: to remove the pin bones, stroke your hand along the flesh side of the fillets and use tweezers or pliers to pull out any bones you come across. Then, to remove the skin, you'll need a very sharp knife, preferably a filleting knife. Take each fillet in turn and place skin -side down on the board with the narrowest end facing you. Slide your knife in between the skin and the flesh from the tail end, and wiggle your knife to loosen and pull away the skin. Firmly take hold of the tail skin you have loosened and, working away from yourself, cut along the length of the fish, while moving the knife side to side. Keep the blade of your knife as flat and close to the skin as possible so as not to leave any flesh on the skin. Repeat with the second fillet.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Take a very large sheet of extra-wide foil (turkey foil works well), and lightly brush with olive oil. Place one salmon fillet on the foil and scatter over the sliced lemons, dill and half the fennel, and season generously. Place the second salmon fillet on top, domed side up. Season and drizzle with the wine.
• Top with a second sheet of greased foil and fold up the edges to enclose the salmon in a parcel. Make the parcel quite loose so there is room for the steam. Lift onto a large baking tray and cook for 1 hr then remove and allow to rest in the foil for 10 mins.
• While the salmon cooks, make the mayonnaise. Place the yolks and the mustard in a medium bowl, adding a pinch of salt, if you like. Pour the oil into a jug as you will need a controlled steady stream. Briefly whisk the eggs and start to drizzle on the oil very slowly, starting with a few drips at a time while continuously whisking.
• Continue adding the oil. When the mayonnaise starts to come together, you can add the oil slightly quicker. Continue until all the oil has been added. If the mayonnaise curdles at any point, you can rescue it by cracking another yolk into a clean bowl and whisking the curdled mayonnaise into the fresh egg. Continue doing this then add any remaining oil.
• When your mayonnaise is made, slowly stir in the vinegar and enough of the lemon juice to your taste - add more if you like it quite lemony. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in the chopped herbs. Keep chilled until the salmon is ready.
• Mix the cucumber with some of the dill and the rest of the fennel. When the salmon has rested, cut the foil open and use two fish slices to carefully transfer the fish to a long serving platter. Sprinkle with the dill and garnish with lemon cheeks. Serve with the herby mayonnaise and cucumber salad.