12/12 Champagne Brunch
Happy Meatless Monday. Today we are celebrating the most civilized of all meals, champagne brunch. I love champagne and I love brunch. Together they create an experience, a coming of age for breakfast. Brunch is more like a beloved guest you would invite rather than just the meal you would consume. It is fancy and genteel……and much easier than you think.
Sandy has always loved Eggs Benedict. It was her breakfast/brunch item of choice when dining out. It never occurred to me that it could be veganized, but where there is a foodie, there is a way. Sandy found a recipe for Eggs Benedict in the Blissful Bites cookbook by Christy Morgan and you would have thought she had found a bag full of money buried in our back yard. She was thrilled, but cautiously optimistic. I asked her to share her experience with you.
Sandy and her beloved Brunch:
I would say that my most celebrated meal is brunch. It is that occasion that conjures excitement and promise, especially if we are going out somewhere very special. For many reasons, it holds a particular place in my heart of joy and of feelings of decadence. In my pre-vegan days, it was frequently full of quiche or omelettes or french toast and other such whimsical dishes. The one specialty plate that was reserved for a rare circumstance, usually an expensive meal out, because I never prepared it for myself, was Eggs Benedict.
Photo By: S. Duquet
It could be served with spinach or Canadian bacon or salmon or even in places like south Florida or Maine, with lobster. Eggs Benedict is that brunch entree that I didn’t learn to put on my own plate, mostly because of my fear of the delicate Hollandaise sauce. That sauce, notorious for being drenched over Eggs Benedict held me at bay from preparing it. Over the years, I’ve tasted and enjoyed multiple variations, with added herbs, some with cheese renditions, others with a peppery flair and of course the tried and true French egg yolk laden, buttery original. It didn’t matter which one, I was afraid of them all in my own kitchen. Until now.
This is perhaps one of life’s strange ironies, but the very first time I launched into making a Hollandaise sauce was after becoming vegan, where neither eggs nor butter reside in our home. There are several vegan alternatives for these ingredients and we use and appreciate the ones we’ve tried, but Hollandaise felt a little daunting even for our trusty Ener-G egg replacer.
As it happens, a new cookbook in our kitchen, Blissful Bites by Christy Morgan has an Eggs Benedict recipe in it that I could seriously sink my teeth into. We have really enjoyed this cookbook and its innovative yet usable recipes. It would make a beautiful holiday gift for someone you love/like/tolerate/a co-worker. The book is also full of photos which I love.
Vegan “Eggs” Benedict:
Original recipe by: Christy Morgan and slightly modified by S. Boulton
Ingredients:
8 slices of bread of your choice (we used English muffins)
2 tomatoes sliced (we omitted these in our version)
1 bunch kale (we lightly sauteed ours in balsamic vinegar, garlic and liquid aminos and set it aside to add to the “eggs” after cooking)
Tofu scramble (your own favorite or see Exploits version in 12/13 post)
Hollandaise Sauce Ingredients (Thank you Christy!)
1 pkg Silken tofu (approx 15 oz)
1/2 C nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp white or yellow miso (we used white paste)
2 Tbsp tamari
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 tsp turmeric
Dash black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp arrowroot
Unsweetened non-dairy milk as needed to thin sauce (we started with 1/4 C and ended up closer to 1/2 C)
Make it Happen:
Put all of the Hollandaise sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until very smooth. It should be pourable, but not runny. Set aside. Prepare the tofu scramble. Meanwhile, wilt the kale in a saute pan for 3-4 minutes (we then added it to the scramble, the original recipe calls for layering it separately). Toast the English muffins. Top the muffins (open face) with kale and tomatoes, then add the tofu scramble. Generously pour the Hollandaise sauce over top. I lightly warmed the sauce in the microwave before pouring. Serve with a side of tempeh bacon (recipe later this week) and a sparkling flute of bubbly.
Thank you Christy for tackling Hollandaise sauce and helping me finally prepare my beloved Eggs Benedict in my own
kitchen. —– Sandy.
Warning: Do not make this dish for holiday guests unless you are prepared for them to demand a return visit to your home. They will create fake reasons to visit just to have your mind boggling Eggs Benedict. It is egg free, oil free and amazingly decadent. Kale for breakfast?? Yes please.
Consider having this for dinner tonight. It is what we had last night…champagne and all. It felt very sophisticated.
Have a delicious day.
Tags: Blissful Bites, Christy Morgan, compassionate eating, dairy free, Meatless Monday, Meatless Monday recipe, plant based diet, trying vegan, vegan challenge, vegan eggs benedict, vegan experience, vegan hollandaise sauce, vegan recipe, vegan transition, vegan wannabe
