Vegas Eggs Benedict - A Gambler's Breakfast

Let's go Vegas baby. After an all night gambling binge hit Bellagio Hotel's breakfast brunch Eggs Benedict!

You gotta break a few eggs to make this glitzy desert gamer's favorite. The Chef doesn't eat a lot of fried eggs and seldom an Eggs Benedict; however, when he gets the itch, he throws the dice and gets a winner's 7 or 11 with this recipe.

The most difficult part of an Eggs Benedict is getting the Hollandaise sauce right (oops it curdled; oh no, it's runny; now it's thickened too much!). But with the Chef dealing, it's a sure bet the deck is stacked in your favor. Most recipes for Hollandaise use too many egg yolks and butter; just cut those ingredients by half (who needs all those calories?).

For the Hollandaise sauce, plastic lemon juice is fine (although you only need the juice of half a fresh lemon); while butter is much more scarce, but shows up from time to time (butter keeps forever, so the Chef stocks up when he finds it).

99c only Stores always carry English muffins and usually, eggs - look in the cold deli case for sliced ham (or substitute a fist full of chopped spinach sauteed in a splash of olive oil for vegetarian).

Come on, roll the dice; you will not come up snake eyes with The 99 Cent Chef's Vegas Eggs Benedict.

Ingredients (one serving)

• 2 slices ham
• 1 English muffin, halved
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vinegar for poaching eggs
• Water for poaching eggs

Hollandaise Sauce

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp. water
• Juice of 1/2 lemon or 2 tbsp. plastic lemon juice
• 1/4 small stick butter or about 3 tablespoons when melted

Directions
Prepare Hollandaise sauce while water/vinegar for poached eggs comes to a boil. Melt butter. Separate egg yolk from whites and blender or whisk together yolks with lemon juice and water. Slowly add melted butter and finish blending. Pour Hollandaise in the pot you melted the butter in and keep warm over smallest burner and lowest setting of your stove top; it's important to continuously stir Hollandaise sauce for the first minute to keep it from curdling, and keep an eye on it, stirring frequently - add a teaspoon of water if it thickens too much.
Turn down boiling water to low/medium boil; gently break and add eggs for 3 - 5 minutes of poaching (the Chef likes runny yolks, so 3 minutes max). After 30 seconds, run spoon carefully under eggs to keep them from sticking to pot. Start cooking ham and begin toasting muffins; all cooking should finish about the same time. Drain poached egg with slotted spoon. Assemble muffin, ham, egg and top with Hollandaise sauce.