Brown butter yoghurt Benedict

Bank holiday coming up, which means late mornings and brunch, no?

If you’re not heading out for a mildly disappointing restaurant experience, save yourself from twenty minutes of high stress, sweat and swearing as you split the hollandaise (twice), mess up the poached eggs and burn the toast.

Instead, get some decent muffins under the grill, soft boil your eggs (6 minutes for fridge cold, medium-sized), and savoury-up some yoghurt by stirring nutty brown butter through it.

Job’s a good’n. Easily as satisfying as a classic eggs Benedict, and barely 10 per cent the stress and labour. No better way to start the weekend.

This recipe was commissioned by Borough Market and published on their website. Read my words, and a great deal more, over at boroughmarket.org.uk

Muffins-eggs-and-brown-butter-yoghurt

Brown butter yoghurt Benedict

Serves 4

  • 100g salted butter
  • 8 quality medium sized eggs
  • 4 English muffins
  • 260g full fat Greek yoghurt
  • Juice from 1/4 lemon
  • 1 bunch of watercress, picked and divided into four
  • 250g sliced cooked ham

Make the brown butter yoghurt first by putting 80g of the butter in a medium sized frying pan. Place this over a high heat and watch it melt, then froth, and then that froth die back. When it’s quiet, golden brown and smells nutty, remove from the heat.

Put a saucepan of water on to boil for the eggs, and switch your grill on.

When the water is boiling, add the eggs and cook at a feisty simmer for 6 minutes.

Put the yoghurt in a bowl, and scrape the now slightly cooled brown butter, and all its sediment, on top. Add the lemon juice, mix well and set to one side.

Slice the muffins in half and toast under the grill, spreading them with the remaining 20g of butter whilst still warm. Lay the ham on top and put these onto warm plates, placing a good few sprigs of watercress next to the muffins.

When six minutes is up, transfer the eggs into a bowl of cold water. They’ll remain warm, but this stops them overcooking and to make it easier for you to peel.

Peel the eggs, place them on the ham and put a good spoonful of yogllandaise over each of the eggs. Eat immediately (delegate the coffee and orange juice to one of your fellow diners).