Poached Egg with Hollandaise Sauce over Hash Browns

This recipe has so many shortcuts that there is absolutely no reason or excuse not to make this one because you're intimidated of 1) poaching eggs, 2) making hollandaise, or 3) preparing crunchy hash browns.

My wonderful friend, Marian, gave me the new easy way to prepare poached eggs.  In a mug.  In the microwave! If you have a mug, saucer, water, an egg, and microwave, in one minute you can have a poached egg.

Ina Garten provides the simple blender method for preparing hollandaise which can be made ahead, put in a small bowl over simmering water and when the eggs are ready, the sauce is ready to be spooned over the eggs.

The hashbrowns are frozen and ready to go in a hot cast iron skillet. Don't worry about trying to keep them in square or circles. Go the Waffle House route and scatter them while they're cooking. You'll have a great crunchy texture on more of the potato pieces instead of the square of hashbrowns being crunchy on the outside and pale and blah on the inside.

Ready?  Let's make breakfast.

I always start with the potatoes, because as they cook, I can make the hollandaise and eggs. This is when your multi-tasking skills will come in to play. If you're not good at multi-tasking, recruit someone to keep an eye on the hashbrowns while you make the sauce and eggs.

In a large, cast iron skillet, over medium-high heat, add enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the skillet. When the oil shimmers, add enough of the frozen hashbrowns to cover the bottom of the skillet in about 1/2 inch layer. Let potatoes begin to brown and then start flipping them with a spatula to allow them to continue to brown. Lower the heat to medium and continue cooking until the hashbrowns are browned throughout and are nice and crunchy! Remove to a paper towel-lined plate.

Now for the hollandaise:

2 egg yolks

1 T. lemon juice

dash of salt

dash of cayenne

1 stick butter, melted

Place egg yolks, lemon juice, salt, and cayenne in a blender. Cover. Pulse 5 or 6 times to blend. Remove the top portion of the blender (you know, the plastic or glass part that's removable, not the entire lid). With the blender set to the low setting, SLOWLY pour in melted butter. The sauce will begin to thicken. Stop blender, scrape down sides and pulse a few more times to blend.

Place sauce into a glass or metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water while you cook the eggs. If sauce thickens too much, whisk in a teaspoon or so of water.

Let's poach the eggs!

You'll need a bowl or mug that has a capacity to hold at least 1 cup water.

Add 1/2 cup water to bowl or mug, and carefully crack the egg into the water. Cover the bowl or mug with a saucer. Place into the microwave and cook for 1 minute. You may need to carefully turn the egg over with a spoon and cook for another 15 seconds or so if the white is not quite set. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on top of a serving of the hashbrowns. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and black pepper and top with a serving of the Hollandaise sauce. Top with chopped parsley.

Repeat with fresh water in the bowl or mug with remaining eggs. 

For this recipe, you'll have enough hashbrowns and sauce for three or four eggs.