Today I think I really outdid myself.  I made the best eggs Florentine I have ever produced.   There has been a lot of trial and error over the years and this is the best hands down which is why I have to share it!

I love to make gourmet meals, especially homemade gourmet versions of meals that scare me in restaurants, because you never really know what’s in them!  Take Hollandaise sauce for example.  In the restaurant I work at, ingredients include MSG and some other pretty nasty stuff.

For example, Knorr brand Hollandaise sauce mix that you can buy at your local grocer lists the following as ingredients:

Modified Food Starch (Corn, Potato), Maltodextrin, Wheat Starch, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Whey Protein Concentrate (from Milk), Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Lactose (from Milk), Fructose, Salt, Citric Acid, Onion Powder, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Guar Gum, Spices (Including Paprika), Turmeric (for Color), Caramel Color, Natural Flavor, Garlic Powder.

I mean, SERIOUSLY?  What the hell is that stuff?  Is it even “food?”  Guess what the ingredients are in a classic Hollandaise sauce? Water, egg yolks, butter, and lemon juice.  Four ingredients, none of them artificial.  FOUR natural foods – not EIGHTEEN chemicals!

Eggs Florentine with Potato Latkes (serves 2)

Classic Hollandaise Sauce

• 2 tbsp water
• 2 egg yolks
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Place a mixing bowl on top of pot of barely simmering water.  Make sure the bowl is not submersed in water. The idea is to “steam cook” the Hollandaise.  Place 2 tbsp of water and 2 egg yolks in the bowl.  Mix with whisk until mixture becomes thick.  Then slowly add the melted butter while stirring constantly.  When mixture is combined and thick, slowly add the lemon juice while stirring.  Set aside.

Other Ingredients:

• 2 large handfuls of spinach
• 1 handful of feta (optional)
• Green onion for garnish, diced

You can use a steamer to cook the spinach. Alternatively, put a bit of water in a non-stick frying pan and place a lid over top and steam it that way.  Once spinach is cooked, place it on a plate covered with paper towel until ready to use.

Set feta and diced green onion aside until ready to assemble Eggs Florentine.

Potato Latkes

• 2 medium Yukon gold potatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp gluten free all purpose flour
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• Pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup coconut oil for frying

Dice the onion and grate the potatoes, placing them into a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients (except oil) and mix well.  You may have to add more flour depending on how wet the mixture is.

Separate the mixture into 4 equal portions and heat oil to medium-high.  As you get ready to place the potato pancakes in the oil, squeeze out any extra moisture.  Make a pancake shape and carefully place them in the pan.  Fry until golden brown on both sides, turning as little as possible.  Once done, place them on paper towels to drain.

Poached Eggs

• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• Pot with roughly 2 inches of barely boiling water

Poaching eggs is an art.  It has taken me a long time to learn to poach the perfect egg, so be patient and don’t worry about perfection at first!  I break my eggs, one at a time, into a small bowl and slowly pour them into the boiling water.  I find this way easier than breaking an egg so close to boiling water because this way I don’t burn myself!  And, the fresher your eggs, the better they poach.

Place your pot on the heat source and add the white vinegar.  When the water is just boiling, turn the heat down to medium (or whatever your barely boiling temperature is).  Add the eggs, one at a time to the water.  Once in, take a wooden spoon and carefully move the egg white over the yolk.  Hold for about 10 seconds.

By the time I have my 4 eggs in the water, it is usually time to take the first one out because I like my eggs runny.  I think they’re in the water for 3-4 minutes at this point.  Using 2 wooden spoons, I take each egg out and place them in one small bowl.  This way, they stay warm while you are putting together the rest of the ingredients.

Putting It All Together

Place 2 potato latkes on each plate.  Cover with spinach and optional feta.  Place one egg on each mound and spoon over Hollandaise sauce.  Garnish with green onion.  Serve!

Final Notes

This recipe takes some time management skills at first.  I generally make the Hollandaise first, and set it aside.  I then steam the spinach and make the potato latkes.  While the Latkes are frying, I start the poached eggs (using the water used in making the Hollandaise sauce) and set the eggs aside while the potatoes are finishing.

“Eggs Benedict” recipes traditionally use English muffins as a base, but my objective is always to use as many whole food ingredients as I can. Enter the potato.  Once you have tried these potato pancakes you will be addicted! Obviously, frying them in oil is a nutritional “no-no” but sometimes you’ve got to take one for the team, right?