If you like eggs benedict and want to serve something somewhat similar that’s rich with holiday green and red colours, I’ve cooked up a recipe for you to try.
I say somewhat similar because, to make it, you will top split English muffins with poached eggs, a type of breakfast/brunch meat, and a sauce, as you would when making eggs benedict. But, instead of using hollandaise sauce and Canadian (back) bacon, as you would traditionally do for eggs benedict, you’ll be switching them out for ingredients Southwest in style.
For example, blending ripe pieces of avocado with stock, olive oil, lemon juice and seasonings is how the sauce for the eggs is made. The end result is a vibrant green sauce with a consistency and richness similar to hollandaise, minus the eggs yolks and clarified butter. For the meat, fresh chorizo sausages were used and turned into sausage patties by removing the sausage meat from their casings and forming it into thin rounds that were fried.
To assemble the dish, split English muffins were toasted and buttered, each topped with a chorizo sausage patty and a poached egg, adorned with the avocado sauce, and then garnished with bits of cherry tomato and sprigs of cilantro (or parsley).
If you don’t want to use chorizo sausage, the Eric’s option part of the recipe provides alternatives.
Poached Eggs on English Muffins with Chorizo and Avocado Sauce
Poached eggs are set on toasted egg muffins with chorizo sausage and a rich, vibrant green avocado sauce for a Southwest- style breakfast or brunch dish.
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: about 10 minutes
Makes: four servings
4 fresh (each about 90 to 100 grams) chorizo sausages (see Eric’s options)
1 ripe medium avocado, quartered, pulled apart, pitted, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup chicken and vegetable stock, plus more, if needed
1 Tbsp lemon juice
4 Tbsp olive oil (divided)
1/8 tsp garlic powder
• salt and hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco, to taste
1 Tbsp white vinegar or cider vinegar
8 large eggs
4 English muffins, each halved
• soft butter, to taste
8 ripe red cherry tomatoes, cut in small cubes
• small sprigs of cilantro or parsley, to taste, for garnish (optional)
Line a wide plate with plastic wrap. Remove each sausage from its casing. Discard the casings. Divide each sausage into two roughly equal pieces. Moisten your hands lightly with cold water, and then press and form each piece of sausage into a thin patty. Set the patties on the plate, cover and refrigerate until needed. They can be readied many hours in advance.
Place the avocado, 1/2 cup stock, juice, 3 Tbsp of the olive oil and garlic powder in a food processor, or in the cup that came with your (immersion) hand blender. Puree until very smooth. Use a small spoon to gauge the consistency of this sauce; it should be something you can spoon over poached eggs as you would hollandaise. If it’s too thick, blend in another 1 to 2 Tbsp of stock to achieve that consistency. Season this avocado sauce, to taste, with salt and hot pepper sauce. Transfer sauce to a bowl, cover and set it aside for now.
Fill a very large and wide pot two thirds full with water (my pot was 12-inches round and five-inches tall). Add the vinegar and bring water to a simmer over medium, medium-high heat.
While the water is heating up, place 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet, set over medium, medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add the sausage patties and fry until cooked through, about two to three minutes per side. Remove skillet from the heat.
Set an oven rack six inches below your oven’s broiler. Turn your broiler to high. Set the halved English muffins, cut side up and in a single layer, on a baking sheet.
When simmering, swirl the water and then crack eggs into it. Return water to a simmer and poach eggs to the desired doneness (about three minutes for soft poached).
While eggs poach, set the English muffins under the broil and cook a minute or two, until lightly toasted on top. Remove English muffins from the oven. Turn oven to 200 F. Spread the top of each muffin lightly with soft butter. Now set a chorizo sausage patty on top of each English muffin. Set the English muffins back in the oven to keep warm until the eggs are ready.
When the eggs are ready, set two half English muffins on each of four plates. Lift eggs out of the water, drain well, and set one on each muffin. Top each egg with some of the avocado sauce, and then garnish with the cubed cherry tomatoes and cilantro (or parsley) sprigs, if using. Serve any leftover sauce on the table for diners to spoon on their eggs if they desire more of it.
Eric’s options: Fresh chorizo sausages are sold in the meat department of many grocery stores and at butcher shops. If you can’t find them, replace with similar sized fresh Italian sausages. If you did not want to use sausage, you could replace it with something that would also work well with the eggs and avocado sauce, such as sliced smoked salmon, hot pieces of cooked lobster or crab meat, baby arugula or wilted spinach.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
