Brunch restaurants put creative twists on eggs Benedict in Vancouver

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      You can’t go wrong with a classic eggs Benedict: an English muffin topped with ham or back bacon, a poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. But Magavon Toby, executive chef at the charming Thyme to Indulge Bistro + Catering (2858 Main Street), wants to make it even better. He and a number of other chefs around town offer some standout variations that will make you reconsider your usual brunch order.

      In his slight twist on the classic, Toby uses house-made focaccia since “it doesn’t soak up as much moisture as the traditional English muffin. It’s also lighter.” He spreads Parmesan aioli on it, then tops it with pancetta and poached free-range eggs from a Delta farm. “The yolk is a lot more orange. It has a lot more flavour to it,” he explains during a phone chat. And don’t forget the hollandaise, made especially decadent by incorporating duck fat. (Toby notes that a lot of restaurants use a powder mix to make their hollandaise.) Also worth ordering are a Benny with house-cured gravlax, fresh dill, citrus hollandaise, and crispy deep-fried capers, and a version made with Dungeness crab cakes.

      Tyler Dallner, chef de cuisine at Edible Canada (1596 Johnston Street), soft-poaches Rabbit River Farms free-run eggs to order for roughly a minute and a half. “You want the water to be at a low simmer. You want the water moving a bit so the eggs don’t stick together. A lot of vinegar keeps the eggs tight and makes sure the white binds to the yolk,” he says during a phone interview.

      These perfectly poached eggs are then placed on top of breaded and pan-fried cakes made of a mixture of local Dungeness crabmeat, roasted fish (arctic char, Pacific cod, and halibut), mashed potatoes, onion, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, and fresh herbs such as parsley, tarragon, and chives, all bound together with egg.

      His hollandaise begins with egg yolks and a reduction of apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, shallots, garlic, fresh thyme, and white wine, to which he gradually adds almost boiling clarified butter. “The trick is to add water while you add the butter—it makes it super fluffy. Every time the hollandaise seizes up, add some water,” he recommends.

      A different take on eggs Benny can be had at El Camino’s (3250 Main Street), which subs chili-flecked cornbread for the English muffin, and pulled pork—slow-cooked for eight hours—for the usual ham or bacon. The fat-rich pork is seasoned with an achiote paste made up of a blend of spices including cumin and cinnamon, so it makes for an incredibly tasty addition.

      Spanish hot smoked paprika kicks up the hollandaise. “It gives the hollandaise a vibrant, yellowy-red colour and smoky flavour, which works with the cornbread,” explains chef Jason Carr over the phone. Pickled jalapeño on top adds a final bit of heat to the dish. Carr also suggests another eggs Benedict they have on the menu that uses Two Rivers Specialty Meats chorizo, sautéed tomatoes, and Venezuelan-style guacamole that includes white onion and lots of cilantro. A veggie option features slow-cooked black beans spiced with cumin, coriander, and ancho and chipotle chili powders on an English muffin with sliced tomato and avocado.

      You’ll be happy to know that eggs Benny doesn’t have to be a weekend treat. “We offer brunch seven days a week. I find that it’s hard to find eggs Benny during the week,” says Corey Sullivan, chef and co-owner of the Twisted Fork Bistro (1147 Granville Street). Sullivan tends to make batches of hollandaise twice daily, using a white-wine reduction with tarragon and shallots as well as Tabasco sauce, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce.

      His Benny also uses house-made brioche because, well, frankly, Sullivan is more confident making that than English muffins. As well, “I find an English muffin is actually a little more dense. Brioche is quite light. With the butter and egg in the brioche, it gives a more buttery taste. It’s a little bit richer,” he says during a phone interview.

      Even better, the restaurant offers seven Benny choices, including ham, Portobello mushroom and red pepper compote, and smoked salmon. Sullivan’s favourite is the roasted tomato since, as he explains, “the acidity from the tomatoes cuts into the richness of the brioche and the hollandaise and the eggs.”

      Or, you could go for the bacon (just saying).

      Comments

      1 Comments

      Buxbuster

      Apr 17, 2014 at 12:41am

      Thyme to indulge is AMAZING!!!! If you haven't been you need to go!! I live 35 mins away and have been twice a month in the last 6 months. It is so worth it. Chef knows what he's doing.