I don’t know about you, but I kind of think girls get a lot of spoiling on Valentines Day and the men are sometimes a bit left out. So ladies, this is one for the men. This is the perfect brunch to spoil the man in your life and earn you lots of brownie points. The creamy hollandaise, buttery spinach and delicious smoked salmon is sure to get his heart racing. It is a bit decadent and takes a bit of time to make, but Valentines is only once a year.
Here’s how:
Hollandaise
– 2 free range egg yolks
– 1 dessertspoon of cold water
– 100g of butter
– 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
– Salt, to taste
Buttered Spinach
– 2/3 large handfuls of spinach (washed and dried)
– 25g of butter
– Salt and pepper
– Some grated nutmeg
Smoked Salmon, Toast and Egg
– 100g of wild Irish smoked salmon.
– Four slices of white bread, cut with a heart shaped cutter.
– Butter, for toast
– 2 free range eggs
– Sprinkle of cayenne pepper
Method
This recipe serves two. In a food processor, blend the eggs, lemon juice and salt. Place the butter in a saucepan and heat until melted. Once the butter has melted and is starting to foam, put the food processor back on and slowly trickle the butter into the egg mix until all well combined. It’s important that you trickle the melted butter in very slowly as this mixture can easily spilt. The trick is to make sure the melted butter has combined with the egg before adding the next drop. Once all the butter is added, you should have creamy yellow sauce. Season with a pinch of salt. To keep the hollandaise warm, place in a bowl over a saucepan of just boiled water.
For the spinach, make sure it has been thoroughly washed before use. There is nothing worse than getting a mouthful of gritty spinach. Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan. Once the butter has melted, add the spinach. Cook on a medium heat for a few minutes. Some spinach is quiet watery, so if necessary drain away some of the excess liquid. Taste and season with salt, pepper and some grated nutmeg. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Slice the salmon into thin strips. Poach two eggs in boiling water. Once poached, leave the eggs to drain on some sheets of kitchen paper to remove excess moisture.
I used a heart shaped cutter, to cut hearts shapes from the bread. Toast the heart shaped bread pieces under the grill. They are very small so will burn easily, if you are not watching carefully. Butter the heart shaped toast. Arrange the toast on one side of the plate. On the other side of the plate, place a small bed of spinach. Lay the poached egg on top. Place a few strips of the salmon on top of the egg. Drizzle over some hollandaise and finally sprinkle on some cayenne pepper.
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