So, what is eggs Benedict, and how did it come to be? In 2005, food historian Mary Gunderson made eggs benedict in honor of Pope Benedict XVI. Initially, I thought it was British because, frankly, it sounds british. However, it’s a patriotic dish of pride, as American as burgers, fries, and anything oversized. 

Poached Eggs, Canadian Bacon (I used chipped ham), English Muffin (I used toast), Hollandaise Sauce, Paprika, Himalayan Pink Salt, Fresh Chives.

Poach the eggs by gently cracking them in a pot of simmering water. Add some vinegar (I used distilled white vinegar and it worked great) to keep the egg white from separating too much. The eggs should float to the top of the water, and when they do, let them keep cooking for about a minute and a half before carefully scooping them out of the water.

I ended up using a store bought powder mix for the Hollandaise sauce, to which I added milk and butter; however, it can be made from scratch with an egg yolk, lemon juice, butter, milk, and salt and pepper to taste. Regardless, to cook the Hollandaise sauce, let it simmer in a small saucepan until it is the desired consistency. It’s important to constantly stir the sauce so it doesn’t scorch, from the high heat. 

The ham was simply cooked on a cast iron skillet until it was a bit crispy, and the toast was put in the toaster until it was toasted. 

Assembly was fairly simple: first I put the toast on a plate, followed by the ham, then the poached egg. The Hollandaise sauce was poured on top and then lightly garnished with the chives, salt, and paprika. 

Typically with eggs Benedict, the hardest part is cooking every piece of the meal at once, but since I had to bring it into school in tupperware containers, there was no point in timing everything to be completed at the same time. Freshly cooked eggs Benedict tastes much better than how I had to serve it, but after microwaving the ham, Hollandaise sauce, and serving everything else as is, it still turned out very well. 

I would rate typical eggs Benedict a 3½ out of 5 in terms of difficulty. Poaching eggs sounds simple, but it’s a little deceptive, as getting the eggs just right is easier said than done. Everything else is very easy, but again, it’s difficult to cook everything at the same time. 

However, making eggs Benedict in this fashion is super beginner friendly. Taking the time to prepare each part of the meal individually made things much simpler, and is a great way to learn how to cook the dish. I totally recommend doing each part on its own for beginners. But if you decide to do this, remember at least one thing: DO NOT MICROWAVE THE POACHED EGGS. If you do, it will scramble the yolks and ruin the eggs. 

5 brave Knoch students and one teacher volunteered their taste buds, and shockingly, none of the students had ever had eggs Benedict.

As senior Josh Martin said, “You don’t see this everywhere”. So, according to them, how did this eggs Benedict turn out?

Most students included the word “egg” in their description.

Senior Paige Duke said, “Egg, very egg. It’s good. Just tastes like egg, but it’s really good”. There were also many praises to the combination of flavors, as Jake Santora (our vegetarian representative) says, “I love the flavors, especially the paprika. That added a special touch to it, a little zing”. Frau Karns was our only tester who had eaten eggs Benedict before, and describes the flavor as, “Fantastic! Salty, creamy”.

To make the dish taste better, a few of our taste testers suggested more bread to make it a sandwich. This would of course change the dish into an eggs Benedict sandwich, but it’s still a cool idea. Senior Bryn Krayson believed it would have been better with an egg white, instead of the poached egg, topped off with a little crispy spinach.

All of our students said they would try the dish again! 5 students had never tried eggs Benedict, and all 5 are willing to try it again. I’d say that’s a pretty good reason to try some yourself.

Bryn Krason put it best: “I don’t really like eggs but I didn’t find this that bad.” If a dish is mostly eggs, and someone who doesn’t like eggs is a fan, then the results speak for themselves. Plus, as Frau Karns said, “Eggs Benedict is my favorite breakfast dish”.

Sure, I may be a little biased since I’m the one who made it. To be completely honest, this is a killer breakfast food. There’s just something about the savory, earthy flavors coming together in an open faced amalgamation. Especially as a chef, doing all the work to prepare each ingredient carefully, and finally cutting it open and seeing a perfectly poached egg yolk split, all of the hard work paying off is such a rewarding feeling. I’ve made eggs Benedict many times with multiple people cooking it at once, and this packaged-up version wasn’t far off from how it’s supposed to be. So whenever you’re craving something unique for breakfast, try making some eggs Benedict. Even if you aren’t the most skilled chef- even if you don’t like eggs- you just might end up a fan of it too.

Just remember rule #1 of the kitchen: get it while it’s hot.