Crab Cake Benedict

I am an absolute sucker for a good eggs benedict and I don’t typically make it at home as it can be a little tricky.  BUT,  if you saw my post yesterday you know I had a great crab cake mixture and I could not resist reserving some of that mixture to make crab cake benedicts for breakfast! These were really, really good! The crab mixture can be made the night before and kept in the refrigerator until you make the benedicts in the morning.

INGREDIENTS
4 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon white vinegar
Two english muffins

FOR THE CRAB CAKE
10 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup of onion, chopped
1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cloves of garlic, minced
16 ounces crab meat
30 buttery (Ritz) crackers
1/2 cup panko
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon old bay seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil for cooking

FOR THE HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
(This was made in a Vitamix blender)
4 egg yolks
1 stick of melted butter
juice of 1/2 of a lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper (white pepper if you have it)
dash of cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS

STARTING WITH THE CRAB CAKE
Heat five tablespoons of butter in a skillet until melted, add onion and saute until soft.  Add bell peppers, add the additional butter, wine and garlic cooking until tender about 4-5 minutes.  In a large bowl add crab meat , onion mixture, cracker crumbs, panko, pepper, old bay, salt and red pepper.  Mix until well combined,  cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, but up to 24 hours. When you are ready to make the crab cakes remove the mixture from the fridge and form the mixture into four patties.
In a large skillet heat three tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot add your crab cakes to the oil and cook on both sides so it forms a nice brown crust on each side.

FOR THE HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
In the blender add the lemon, the egg yolk, salt , pepper and cayenne. Remove the center of the blender lid and with the blender on its lowest setting blend on low for 20 seconds. Add the butter in a slow and steady stream with the blender still going. As soon as it is mixed,  stop the blender.

TO POACH EGGS
In a two quart saucepan add enough water to fill the pan three quarters of the way up the pan, Add 1 teaspoon of salt and two teaspoon of white vinegar. Bring this mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile crack one very cold egg into a small bowl and using a spoon to quickly stir the water in one direction until it is smoothly spinning around, carefully add the egg into the center of the whirlpool. Turn off the heat and cover for five minutes. NO PEEKING!  Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and serve immediately or you can make ahead by removing the egg from the water, place it in a bowl with ice water and keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve. To warm the egg back up, place it in warm water until warmed through.

Toast english muffins
TO ASSEMBLE
Place 1/2 of your english muffin on a plate, top with your crab cake, add one egg and drizzle with hollandaise sauce.
Serve warm and enjoy,

Crab cake recipe is also found at www.allrecipes.com
Hollandaise sauce is from Clinton Kelly from the Chew
Poached egg instructions are from Alton Brown