Possibly the most popular brunch dish out there, eggs Benedict is simple to DIY at home – right down to the Canadian bacon. Admittedly, this project takes longer than a weekend, but the prep work is so minimal, it can easily be accomplished in just a few minutes at the start of your week.
There are four elements to a classic eggs Benedict: an English muffin, Canadian bacon, a poached egg and luscious hollandaise. Pick up a pack of your favorite English muffins (or go all-in with the DIY concept) and some farm fresh eggs (try our plastic wrap method for a perfect poach every time). This weekend, tackle a finicky mother sauce and fire up the smoker (or not) to make Canadian bacon.
The five mother sauces, as defined by the great Auguste Escoffier, are espagnole (roux and brown stock), velouté (roux and blonde stock), bechamel (roux and dairy), tomato and hollandaise. Hollandaise is considered the most difficult because it contains both egg yolks and butter. If your mixture is too hot, the yolks can become scrambled eggs, and the butter can separate if you aren’t careful. Our method uses a simple double boiler for near foolproof results.
What Americans call “Canadian bacon” is a cured, smoked pork loin; the rest of the world refers to this as “back bacon.” What Canadians actually consider Canadian bacon isn’t smoked at all. The pork loin is called “peameal bacon,” named so because the cured meat was rolled in ground, dried yellow peas to prevent bacterial growth.
Today, Canadians use cornmeal instead of ground peas, but the name remains. The only difference between Canadian bacon and peameal bacon is what you do with the loin after it is cured: smoke it or dredge it in cornmeal. We provide both options below.
The Gameplan Prep: Brine the pork loin for the Canadian or Peameal Bacon.
Day 1: Prepare the Peameal Bacon or smoke the Canadian Bacon.
Day 2: Make the Hollandaise Sauce. Assemble the Eggs Benedict.
The Shopping List* ½ cup grade-B maple syrup
4 cloves garlic
4 sprigs thyme
20 sage leaves
2½ tsp. pink salt or Insta Cure No. 1 (optional)
1 6- to 8-pound pork loin
½ cup corn meal
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
½ tsp. white pepper
¼ tsp. paprika
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
7 fresh eggs
2 English muffins (DIY English muffins here)
*This list assumes you have salt and a lemon at hand in your kitchen. If not, you will need to purchase those items, too.
Canadian or Peameal Bacon
Makes 6 to 8 pounds
1 quart water
½ cup kosher salt
½ cup grade-B maple syrup
4 cloves garlic, smashed
4 sprigs thyme
20 sage leaves
2½ tsp. Insta Cure No. 1 or pink salt (optional)
1 6- to 8-pound pork loin, cut in half
½ cup corn meal
• Prep: In a large stockpot, combine all water, salt, maple syrup, garlic, thyme, sage leaves and Insta Cure No. 2, if using. Bring to a boil over high heat to dissolve the salt. Remove from heat and pour into another large stockpot and add 1 quart ice. Let cool until the ice melts.
• Place each of the pork loin halves in a 1-gallon zip-top bag. Pour about 1 quart brine into each bag to cover the meat. Divide the garlic, thyme and sage leaves evenly between the bags. Seal and remove all the air. Place the bags on a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate at least 5 days.
• Day 1: Place a baking rack on top of baking sheet.
• Remove the meat from the brine and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the brine. Place the pork loin on the racks and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
• To make Peameal Bacon, pour the corn meal on a large plate or rimmed baking sheet. Dredge the meat in the corn meal, coating it completely. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Peameal Bacon will keep refrigerated up to 1 week.
• To make Canadian Bacon, preheat a smoker to 225 degrees. Smoke the pork loin until a thermometer inserted in the center of the meat reaches 145 degrees, about 3 hours. Let cool. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Canadian Bacon will keep refrigerated up to 1 week.
Hollandaise Sauce Makes 2 cups
4 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. white pepper
¼ tsp. paprika
3 egg yolks
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature, diced
Juice of ½ lemon
• Day 2: In a small saucepan, add the water, vinegar, salt, pepper and paprika. Bring to boil over high heat and reduce by half, about 1 to 2 minutes. Pour into a large metal or glass bowl and set aside.
• Prepare a double boiler by filling a 4-quart saucepot with 2 inches water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
• Place the bowl over the saucepot, add the egg yolks and whisk until smooth and silky, about 30 seconds.
• Remove the bowl from heat and whisk in ¼ cup butter until smooth. Return the bowl to the heat, add another ¼ cup butter and whisk until incorporated. Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk in the remaining ½ cup butter. Return the bowl to the heat as needed to melt the butter and emulsify the sauce, but take care not to overheat the hollandaise or the sauce will break.
• Remove from heat and whisk in the lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and lemon juice. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside. Rewarm over the double boiler before serving if needed.
Eggs Benedict 4 servings
8 ¼-inch-thick slices Peameal or Canadian Bacon (recipes above)
4 fresh eggs
3 Tbsp. white vinegar
2 English muffins, split and toasted (DIY English muffins here)
Hollandaise Sauce (recipe above)
• Day 2: Preheat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the Peameal or Canadian Bacon until browned, 2 to 3 minutes, then flip and fry 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Fill a large saucepot with 2 inches water and the vinegar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Gently add 2 eggs to the water and poach 3 minutes, until the whites are just set, but the yolks are still runny. Remove with a slotted spoon and let dry on paper towels. Repeat with the 2 remaining eggs.
• Place 1 English muffin half on each serving dish. Top each with 2 slices Peameal or Canadian Bacon and 1 poached egg. Spoon the desired amount of Hollandaise Sauce over each Benedict and serve.
-photos by Michelle Volansky
This article appears in May 2015.