There’s no better meal than breakfast. I wake-up hungry, and though a simple slice of Arnold’s Oat Bran toast with melted Irish sweet butter sprinkled with organic sugar mixed with Saigon cinnamon will usually suffice, there’s nothing like a real breakfast. Yes, the kind you sit down and linger over, savoring each bite, wishing the egg yolks filling the English muffin crannies would never empty.

I make a killer precision soft boiled egg breakfast. But what I’ll share with you now is even better. (And no, there’s absolutely no fruit in the vicinity so I guess I get no bonus points.) But this recipe is to die-for delicious. A pain in the ass to make, to get all the pieces done at the same time.  But divine. And low calorie and inexpensive! Ok, I’m totally lying about that. But really, there’s way too much talk about calories and money after the holidays. Enough already.

Make this dish for a special friend, linger over it and revel in its glorious goodness. Or just make it for yourself; indulge and enjoy. You’ll be full for hours and happy for days. If you hate crab, skip it, and substitute salmon, Canadian bacon, or regular bacon. It’s the hollandaise sauce that will sing to you, the runny egg – so daring, so cavalier – that will make you sigh.

I’ve actually had all versions; I’m an eggs benedict connoisseur, and there aren’t too many of us. People shy away from eggs benedict. It’s too pricey, too fatty, too indulgent, too big, too fancy, and besides, you might get salmonella.

Nonsense. Eggs benedict is the filet mignon of breakfasts. It’s the standard by which all other egg dishes are judged. The fact that it’s hard to make just adds to its awesomeness.

Never would I attempt to make such a dish – just like I don’t make filet mignon – except for my encounter and break-up. I was introduced to crabby eggs benedict at the Princeton Diner by a Princeton boyfriend. It was love at first bite. I ditched the guy, but I could not – would not – break up with my crabby eggs benedict. Princeton was 90 minutes away; I had no choice but get used to long turnpike drives, or learn how to make my beloved dish.

^{The Ballantine house, Newark Museum, NJ. Guessing she
lost her head over the crabby eggs benedict.}

There’s something about the buttery goodness of the hollandaise that perfectly complements crab. It remains the gold standard of breakfasts in my book of breakfast standards. And my book of standards means something since breakfast is the only meal I truly care about. Deny me lunch. Give me a dollar menu item for dinner. But don’t mess with my breakfast. 

I’ve since encountered crabby eggs benedict closer to home. In fact, the Renaissance Hotel in Rutherford does a Cajun Crabby Eggs Benedict that’s beyond replication. It’s pricey, and you have to get there before 11 a.m., but you won’t be disappointed.

But make this dish and be happy for days, maybe even weeks. Really! It’s not so hard. Email me if you have questions or something doesn’t work out. Not only do I know this dish, my sister is a professional, and she consulted on the hollandaise. No one cooks better than she does. If she didn’t get all distracted with kids and such, she’d have her own cooking show for sure.

CRABBY EGGS BENEDICT

Total ingredients

2 egg yolks
2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup salted butter
Pinch cayenne
Pinch salt
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
4 large eggs
2 English muffins
1 1/2 cups of crab meat (I use uncooked Chris Crab Cake meat from Whole Foods but any will do. But if you can, get Chris’s; it’s amazing.)

 Hollandaise sauce
The KEY to this not curdling is very low heat. You don't need a double boiler, but if you have one, by all means …

 3/4 c. salted butter, cut up into about 6 pieces
2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp water
1-2 Tbsp lemon juice (or to taste), fresh preferred but concentrate will work too
salt to taste

 - In a 2 qt pot whisk together the egg yolks and water (without any heat)
- Turn the heat on low and add the butter pieces.
- Slowly whisk the butter and eggs together until melted; you must babysit the pot, don't leave, don't answer the phone, don't talk to your kids, if you get distracted it will curdle.
- Finally whisk in the lemon juice and salt (easy on the salt as the butter is salted, give it a taste first
- Continue to whisk the sauce until it thickens, you may need to turn it up a bit, but just a little, or it can still curdle.
- When it's at the desired thickness it's ready to serve.

 Get the English muffins in the toaster when you’re about half-way through the crab-cooking process below.

Sautee the crab meat in some extra virgin olive oil, cayenne and salt, about 10 minutes, if you’re using uncooked, but prepared, crab cake meat. If you have left over crab, sautee with same ingredients until heated through and season with extra cayenne and salt as desired. If using canned or any other type of crab, follow cooking instructions.

Poach 4 eggs in an egg poacher if you have one. If not, here’s a cheat: Fill a 10-inch nonstick skillet half full of water. Add white vinegar to the cooking water. Bring to a slow boil. Gently break 1 of the eggs into the water taking care not to break it. Repeat with remaining eggs. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook 3 1/2 minutes until the egg white is set and the yolk remains soft. Remove with a slotted spoon, allowing the egg to drain.

Butter the English muffins with Irish butter if you have it. Add the crab on top, then the egg, and pour on the hollandaise.

For the totally clueless – and I would be if I’d never eaten this out -- what you basically end up with is four English muffin halves, each topped with an egg, some crab meat and hollandaise sauce. Really fancy people put asparagus on the side, which also goes nicely with hollandaise.

 But I’m not fancy, and I have no clue how to buy or cook asparagus. But I’ve eaten it out topped with just so-so hollandaise. So if you have a clue, go for it. You’ll have hollandaise leftover, and it’s so good you’ll eat it alone with a spoon before letting it go to waste.