Poached egg with hollandaise sauce and spinach
1 serving
15 minutes
This is a simplified version of a dish called "Eggs Florentine". In the original, you also need to mix spinach into the sauce and cauterize the egg under the sauce on a salamander.
1
First of all, you need to poach an egg. Poaching is a delicate process that requires skill, which comes with experience. There are tricks to it, but experience is the most important. You need to boil salted water with vinegar (1 tbsp) in a pot. Vinegar is said to help the egg white coagulate, but many disagree, believing that hot water (egg whites coagulate well at 63 degrees) and a barely noticeable simmer are more important. The temperature of the egg is also crucial; it's better if the egg is very cold, almost frozen. You should crack the egg into a cup without damaging the yolk and gently release it into the barely boiling water. White, jellyfish-like protrusions of coagulated egg white will form around the egg. Leave the egg in the water for 3 minutes (it will reach a 'liquid pouch' state). Then, remove it with a slotted spoon and place it in ice water to stop the cooking process. Instead of a cup, you can use a small ladle, which you should submerge in the water with the egg and leave it there.
- Salt: to taste
- White balsamic vinegar: 5 tablespoon
- Chicken egg: 1 piece
2
In another pot, heat vinegar (4 tbsp) and add finely chopped onion, black peppercorns, and reduce the contents of the pot by two-thirds. Strain the residue and cool. Whisk the egg yolks with a pinch of salt and the sauce made from vinegar, onion, and pepper into a thick, homogeneous liquid.
- White balsamic vinegar: 5 tablespoon
- Shallots: 2 pieces
- Black peppercorns: 10 pieces
- Egg yolk: 2 pieces
- Salt: to taste
3
Place in a water bath and whisk warm melted butter into the yolks in a thin stream. In the end, it will resemble a warm creamy mayonnaise, to which lemon juice should be added, and salt and pepper to taste. This is Dutch sauce, or hollandaise. It is important not to overheat it while whisking, otherwise the yolks will turn into unpleasant lumps, and not to overdo the intensity of the added butter, otherwise the sauce will not emulsify and will not have a creamy texture.
- Melted butter: 100 g
- Lemon: 0.5 piece
- Salt: to taste
- Ground white pepper: to taste
4
Sauté finely chopped garlic with spinach in butter for 1 minute. Warm the poached egg in hot water. Place it on a bed of spinach, drizzle with sauce, and serve.
- Butter: 50 g
- Garlic: 1 clove
- Spinach: 200 g