Eggs florentine

Method

1. Begin with the muffins, as they need time to prove. Mix the water, milk, yeast and oil in a jug and set aside for 10 minutes to activate. Sift the flour into a bowl, stir in the salt and make a well in the centre. Slowly pour in the liquid, stirring with a fork to incorporate the dry ingredients, until you end up with a rough dough. Gather it into a ball with your hands, then knead for 5 minutes on a lightly floured worktop until smooth and springy. Return to the cleaned bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour (or in the fridge overnight).
2. After this first prove, the dough should have roughly doubled in size. Carefully tip it onto a lightly floured worktop and roll out to a 3cm thick sheet. Use an 8cm round cutter to cut out 5 muffins – the fifth will probably need to come from re-rolled offcuts. Sprinkle half the semolina over a large oven tray, put the muffins on it, then sprinkle the remaining semolina over the top. Cover the tray with a towel and prove for 30 minutes more.
3. Meanwhile, make the hollandaise. Put the vinegar, shallot, tarragon (or thyme) and peppercorns in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for a few minutes until reduced by around half, then leave to cool. Melt the butter in the microwave or in a saucepan, then leave to cool until lukewarm.
Recipe continues after advertising
Advertisement
4. Once the muffins have completed their prove, put a large frying pan over a medium heat. Cook the muffins for 5 minutes on each side. They need a full 10 minutes to cook through, so keep an eye on the temperature of the pan – you don’t want them to start burning before they’re cooked through to the centre. Set aside.
5. Bring a small pan of water to a simmer and put a heatproof bowl over the top (make sure it’s not touching the water). Add the egg yolks and whisk for 1-2 minutes until pale, doubled in size and at ribbon stage (thick enough to leave a trail when you lift out the whisk and the sauce drops off the whisk back into the bowl). Strain the cooled vinegar reduction through a fine sieve, then add 1 tbsp of the reduction to the eggs (you shouldn’t have much more than this, if any).
6. Remove the bowl from the heat and put it on a tea towel to help keep it stable. Have a small amount of water in a cup to hand, then very gradually trickle in the butter while whisking continuously. If the mixture looks like it’s about to split (if it turns grainy or suddenly turns thinner instead of thicker), add a little of the water to bring it back together. There will be white solids at the bottom of the jug as you’re nearing the end of the melted butter – stop before you get to those. Taste and season the hollandaise with salt and lemon juice, then stir in most of the chopped chives. Put the bowl back over the hot water to keep warm – on the lowest heat, as the sauce doesn’t like being reheated and could split.
7. For the eggs, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and add the vinegar, then turn down to a gentle simmer. Set up a tray lined with kitchen paper. One by one, crack the eggs into a fine sieve set over a bowl to strain off the watery part of the white, then transfer the egg to a small dish or ramekin. Whisk the water in a clockwise motion to create a vortex, lower the dish as close to the simmering water as you can, then plop the egg right into the centre of the vortex. Cook for 3½ minutes. You’ll probably need to work in batches to fit in all the eggs. Lift out the eggs with a slotted spoon and transfer to the paper lined tray to drain. Season with salt and pepper.
8. While the eggs are cooking, halve, toast and butter the muffins. Put the spinach in a frying pan over a high heat, cover and leave for just a minute or two until it begins to wilt (don’t wait until it’s fully wilted as it’ll continue to cook off the heat and you could end up with a soggy mess). Arrange the parsley leaves on top of each other, roll up tightly, then slice as finely as possible. Toss the spinach and parsley together with a pinch of salt and pepper.
9. Top each muffin half with spinach, an egg, then plenty of the chive hollandaise. Finish with the reserved chopped chives.