Avocado Eggs Benedict with Chipotle Hollandaise

Don’t worry, I’m not getting all fancy on you. This dish may sound complicated, but really, it’s so simple. It puts a spin on traditional eggs Benedict by replacing the Canadian bacon with traditional bacon, adding avocado, and adding spicy chipotles in adobo to the hollandaise sauce. It. is. so. good. I could eat it every day for breakfast (or lunch or dinner, for that matter) for the rest of my life without ever getting sick of it.

Let me break the components down for you. First: a crispy English muffin, full of nooks and crannies for catching all the delicious bits of flavor. Next: avocado, mashed with a bit of lime juice – cool, creamy, tangy. Then: bacon, crispy and salty. Next: a perfectly poached egg with a velvety, runny yolk. Finally: a silky, spicy, creamy, rich hollandaise sauce. If you get all of these elements together in one bite…Well, you’re really in trouble, because you won’t ever want to stop eating it.

I’ll admit that it took me a couple of tries to get the hang of poaching an egg. I’d never done it before, and my first two attempts resulted in broken yolks and disconnected whites. But by the end, I was a pro at it. The most difficult part about this meal turned out to be, for me, the timing of everything. Everything has to be done at the last minute (toasting the muffins, poaching the eggs, making the hollandaise), so it’s a little difficult to time it all. But I’ll make this again in a heartbeat, despite the stressful timing issues, because it’s just so darn good.

Avocado Eggs Benedict
slightly adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

2 English muffins
8 slices bacon
1 avocado
Juice of half a lime
Salt and pepper
4 eggs
Chipotle hollandaise sauce (recipe follows)

1. Heat a sauce pan with 2 inches of water to a simmer.

2. Split the English muffins in half and toast until browned.

3. Cook the bacon to a crisp and set aside.

4. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, and scoop the flesh into a bowl. Add a pinch of salt and lime juice and mash with a fork.

5. Spread the avocado over the toasted English muffin halves and top with the bacon.

6. Crack 1 egg at a time into a separate small bowl or cup. Stir the simmering water with a spoon and gently pour the egg into the swirling water. Repeat with additional eggs.

7. Cook the eggs for 2 1/2 minutes, until the whites are cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and let drain for a minute before placing on top of the bacon. Season each egg with salt and pepper, and top each serving with chipotle hollandaise.

Chipotle Hollandaise
slightly adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

2 egg yolks
Juice of 1 lime
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon chipotle in adobo puree
1 stick of butter, melted

Place egg yolks, lime, salt, chipotle and adobo sauce in the blender. Blend for 30 seconds before streaming in the melted butter. Serve immediately.