This post is a part of  the mega Blogging Marathon and A-Z challenge. I have chosen ‘popular American dishes’ as my theme.

It’s a good thing that we all love eggs, else the choice for the letter E would have been tough indeed. I was planning on eggplant Parmesan initially, but then again change of plans landed me in the egg world with Egg Benedict’s cousin Eggs Florentine.

Eggs Benedict is a very popular American breakfast/brunch. It has toasted muffins with bacon or ham, poached eggs and topped with hollandaise sauce. But it has many variations. In each version some or the other component is changed and is given a new name. The spinach instead of bacon is the Eggs Florentine. Most recipes for Eggs Florentine also use hollandaise sauce. But since its full of butter, so I chose a version with creamy spinach sauce.

Compared to filling a bowl with cereal and adding milk, these are a little more time-consuming. But the good thing is that the sauce and the eggs can be made ahead making it easy in the morning. Poached eggs need to be simmered until they are warm again and the sauce can be heated up too with a dash of milk to loosen it up. Then all that’s left is the toast and assembling. That is perfectly manageable, even for me!

I found these itself to be filling, but you can pair it with breakfast style potatoes for a heavy brunch. I am sure the man will like that!

 

Pictorial:

Step 1: Poach the eggs. Bring 1 cup of water to simmer. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to it. As the water starts simmering, add one egg to it. With a wooden spoon, slowly cover the yellow with the white. Wait for about 3-4 minutes for the eggs to cook. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside in paper towels. I take two eggs per person.

Step 2: Prepare the spinach sauce. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil. Add three crushed garlic pods and one small chopped onion. Add about 3 cups of chopped spinach.

Add salt and pepper and about 1 cup of fresh cream. Cook until the sauce thickens. Taste test and adjust the seasoning. Keep aside.

Step 3: Toast and assemble. Heat a pan and grill two slices of tomato per person. Slice an English muffin into two and toast it. You can use two pieces of bread per person also.

Assemble the eggs Florentine. The toasted English muffins or bread is the base. The grilled tomato goes on top of that. You can keep the poached eggs on top of that and top it with the spinach sauce. I switched to spinach sauce topped with the eggs :D. Sprinkle paprika on top and serve as brunch.

Recipe adapted from: Food Network

Ingredients:

Serves two

For the poached eggs

• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vinegar/lemon juice
• about 1 cup water

For spinach sauce

• 1 teaspoon oil
• 3 pods garlic
• one small onion
• 3 cups spinach
• 1 cup fresh cream
• salt and pepper

For putting together

• 2 English muffins, slice across into two*
• 4 slices of tomato
• butter for toasting, if preferred

*You can use toasted bread as base.

Method:

1. Poach the eggs. Bring 1 cup of water to simmer. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to it. As the water starts simmering, add one egg to it. With a wooden spoon, slowly cover the yellow with the white. Wait for about 3-4 minutes for the eggs to cook. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside in paper towels. I take two eggs per person.
2. Prepare the spinach sauce. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil. Add three crushed garlic pods and one small chopped onion. Add about 3 cups of chopped spinach.Add salt and pepper and about 1 cup of fresh cream. Cook until the sauce thickens. Taste test and adjust the seasoning. Keep aside.
3. Toast and assemble. Heat a pan and grill two slices of tomato per person. Slice an English muffin into two and toast it. You can use two pieces of bread per person also.Assemble the eggs Florentine. The toasted English muffins or bread is the base. The grilled tomato goes on top of that. Add the spinach sauce and top with the eggs. Sprinkle paprika on top and serve as brunch.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63