Eggs Atlantic with a Florentine Twist

Summer is over, not only have we officially moved into Autumn, but the sun has definitely got the memo. It is rainy and cold here in Western Australia. Not that I am complaining. We don't have mains water, so any rain we get is filling up the water tanks and ultimately means I can enjoy a deep bath rather than a speedy shower!

But rainy days during the school holidays are not all fun and games, the boys spend far more time on technology than they do outside and tempers get frayed far more easily. Although currently they are both sat happily colouring and reading. Watch me jinx that! So today is a lazy day, and lazy days call for brunch and oodles of coffee for me! If anyone says the words brunch to me I usually think of smoked salmon and eggs. Okay so I also think of Croque-Monsieur, Strata, Bloody Marys and Bagels. But smoked salmon and eggs are amongst the best brunch contenders!

Having shared my hollandaise recipe with you, I thought today I would share one of my favourite ways to use it. It has to be termed one of my favourite ways as I honestly couldn't pick just one. If you didn't see the list of the many ways I love hollandaise sauce then check out my post from earlier in the week. I went a bit crazy with the options 😉

On the list was Eggs Benedict, the classic brunch dish of a sliced English muffin, topped with ham, poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce. My Dad always enjoyed a classic Eggs Benedict as a brunch or supper dish and it is definitely a great choice if you see it on the menu. But there are several variation of this classic, there is the Scottish version; Eggs Hebridean, where the ham is replaced with a thick slice of black pudding, I enjoyed this in a restaurant just outside of Edinburgh called the Howgate, I remember it well as I got a free refill on my coffee! Not sure if that is standard or if I just looked like I needed it! As it was the morning after a wedding!

Today I am sharing a hybrid of two great variations. Eggs Atlantic (also called Eggs Royale) which replaces the ham with smoked salmon, and Eggs Florentine which uses spinach instead of ham. So we have Eggs Atlantic with a Florentine twist.

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INGREDIENTS 

Per serving

• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• Bowl of iced water
• handful of spinach (fresh or defrosted and squeezed of water)
• 2 slices of smoked salmon
• 1 thick slice of sour dough bread (or your favourite bread)
• 2-3 tablespoon hollandaise sauce
• freshly cracked black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and add the vinegar.
2. Break the egg into a small cup. Swirl the boiling water to create a vortex, gently slide the cup into the water and tip out the egg. Cook the egg for 3 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon.
3. Immediately plunge the egg into the bowl of iced water. Leave the egg in the water to cool.
4. If you are making this for more than one person (or want more than one egg) cook all the eggs in the same way and leave them in the iced water whilst you proceed with the recipe.
5. Make the hollandaise as per the recipe.
6. Place the slices of bread on a baking tray and cook under preheated grill for about a minute a side until toasted to your liking.
7. Remove the eggs from their water bath and reheat in a pan of boiling water for 1 minute.
8. Top the bread with spinach and slices of smoked salmon, place an egg on top and drizzle over the warm hollandaise sauce.
9. Season generously with black pepper and enjoy.