Erika's Eggs Florentine

Brunch Today for my girl Mirs, Erika's Eggs Florentine*

I made my version of Eggs Florentine for Mir this morning for brunch. I am now going to share this recipe with you.

Start with corn bread (yes, corn bread) I used the recipe below
1 cup of corn meal
1 cup of organic all-purpose flour
1/4 cup of organic sugar
3 tsps of baking powder
1 tsps sea salt
1/4 cup of organic salted butter
1 cup of organic whole milk
1 organic brown egg
1/2 cup of frozen corn kernels rinsed to thaw out

Pre Heat oven to 425 and grease with butter an 8X8 glass baking dish

Mix the dry ingredients in a larger bowl and the wet ingredients in a small bowl. When the flour mixture is completely mixed, add the milk mixture and stir with a wooden spoon.

Pour the batter in the greased dish and back for approximately 25-30 minutes. This can be made a day ahead. Since I used day old corn bread, I fried it slightly in olive oil. You may not need to do this with just made bread. You'll get really thick slices, be sure to cut them in half, length-wise for your Eggs Florentine.

On a side note, it's amazing with butter and honey as an indulgent snack.

...so back to the Eggs Florentine.

You will need
about two handfuls of spinach rinsed
about a handful of mushrooms (i used portabella)
salt
pepper
garlic powder (to taste)
3 egg yolks
about a stick and a quarter of butter
Cheyenne pepper
extra virgin olive oil.

I started by sauteeing the spinach. Make sure to sprinkle some of the olive oil in a saute pan. Let the oil heat a bit before adding the spinach to the warm oil over medium heat. I used about three twists of fresh ground pepper and a sprinkling of salt and garlic powder before covering the spinach with a glass top and reducing the heat slightly. You want the spinach to wilt, but to remain bright green. Depending on your stove it should take about 3-5 minutes.

...meanwhile, you'll want to oil another saute pan with more olive oil to saute the mushrooms-same process, essentially, but you want to let these sit for a bit before reducing the temperature. The heat should be medium/high-ish but you don't want it too hot. Let them rest before messing with them, about 5 minutes then flip them with a fancy wrist flip or with a spatula. The mushrooms should be golden-brown. Make sure to sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and garlic as well.

At this point you can combine the spinach with the mushrooms and keep covered on the lowest heat setting.

To make the Hollandaise sauce...
You'll need a lemon
about a stick and one quarter of butter
Cheyenne pepper
3 large eggs
rubber spatula
a large slotted spoon

Start by putting a medium to large sauce pan on medium heat. Add all of the butter, cut into cubes and whisk butter until it's completely melted. Make sure you do NOT let the butter burn or boil in any way. When butter is completely melted turn off heat.
In small bowl separate your egg whites from your yolks (you only need to yolks) and whisk them together, lightly, until they are smooth.

Back to your melted butter, squeeze the juice from one whole lemon into butter mixture, making sure not to get any seeds in. A slight sprinkling of lemon zest is also good if you have a fine grater or microplane. At this time you can also sprinkle in some Cheyenne pepper. Mir likes her things spicy (she's a Texan, after all). Add a bit more lemon juice if your sauce is too thick.

Bring your heat up slightly but still on low. Add the egg yolks to the butter mixture and whisk until you have a thick and smooth sauce. Whisk lightly here, don't take out morning aggression out on your Hollandaise or you'll get a lumpy and gross scramble.

Poached Eggs...
You'll need a large-ish pot to boil some water. Add salt and a bit of lemon juice or vinegar to keep your eggs together. Depending on how you like your eggs (slightly runny, runny, or very runny) you'll have to edit your poaching time.
You want your water to be boiling, softly, not violently. I added my eggs one at a time. The whites got a little out of control and a bit foamy when adding the vinegar and lemon juice.
Mir says you only need to boil them for a few minutes, but she likes "very runny" eggs, I like mine a little on the jelly-like/slightly runny side, so I'd say poach them for about 3 minutes, give or take your stove.

Time for assembly.
Start with the toasted corn bread on the bottom, add warmed spinach and sauteed mushrooms, your yummy poached eggs and last, but not least your Hollandaise sauce...Enjoy!

I made some mimosas and bacon on the side...


*Next time I'll remember to post pictures