Take Your Mama Out All Night, Or At Least Make Her Breakfast
The Scissor Sisters want you to take your mama out this Saturday night and get her "jacked up on cheap champagne." That sounds like a good idea, except for the fact my mama is a teetotaler and lives three states away. I'm going to make her a mix-CD of music I know she will enjoy (blues and Texas country music—the real stuff, not that crap on the radio) and probably send her flowers. If you're lucky enough to live near your mum and she likes the bubbly, you should definitely take her and "let the good times all roll out." At the very least, you should make your mother breakfast on Sunday.
Why breakfast? Because it's Mother's Day, silly, and that's the holiday when we show our mums how awesome they are. Okay, but you ask again, why breakfast?? I'm not sure why breakfast is the meal, but something about making breakfast for someone---as opposed to dinner or lunch or barbecuing---communicates extra specialness.
For starters, breakfast at home usually means you have bed-head and you look like you just got up. No one can be judgmental about appearances at breakfast. You all look terrible and so any pretense is out the window. Second, you actually have to make the effort to get up before everyone else does to start making the food; getting up earlier to serve others is a nice gesture. Finally, moms are always the ones making the breakfast (unless its one of those Jimmy Dean commercials where My Dad, the Sun is making everyone's day brighter with frozen goodness). By making the breakfast for your mother, it’s a complete role-reversal! She'll love it!
Okay, so, you are going to make breakfast for your mama on Mother's Day. What do you make? First things first: keep it simple. If you do something way too fancy that early in the morning, you bachelors are going to burn yourselves and possible ruin your mother's kitchen. I know how you are in the morning, so just say no to the three-layer quiche or fancy goat-meat frittata. What you want to make is something that is very easy but that appears really fancy. I've got the perfect breakfast: Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise and fresh fruit! This breakfast will not win any awards from the American Heart Foundation, but, you know, it's just one meal on a very special day for your mother. Is mother worth a little Hollandaise sauce? You bet your mother she is!
For the fruit, I suggest a nice orange (blood ones, if you can find them—so good!). Cut an orange in half, and then slice each of the halves into half-moons. Arrange three or four half-moons on top of one another for a pretty presentation on the plate. The hardest part of this breakfast is the Eggs Benedict, and the real trick is poaching the eggs. I'll explain how to assemble the dish with the formal recipe, but I need to say a word or two about poaching eggs first.
I have an egg poacher pan which works really well, and some folks have had luck with the little silicon egg poachers (most cooking stores carry them, and they're pretty cheap). But if you ain't got poaching aids, here's how you do it: boil some water in a stock pot or large pan, and add about a tablespoon or three of white vinegar. The vinegar helps to pickle the egg a little so it holds together during poaching. Once your water is boiling, use the handle of a wooden spoon or a spatula and make the water spin like a tornado. As the water is spinning, crack an egg into the vortex. The water's motion will encourage the egg to wrap around itself while it cooks.
Not only is this a helpful poaching method, but it's a lot of fun and reminds me of going to the science museum as a kid and pushing the "create a tornado" button in this giant box filled with water—we would mash and mash that button, it was like our favorite exhibit next to the face mini dinosaurs.
Okay, where was I? Poaching, yes. After about 2-3 minutes remove the egg and set aside on a plate and cook another egg. The middle should still be runny. When you're just about ready to assemble the plates of food, stick the eggs back into the hot water and warm them up briefly.
Made with lemon juice, black pepper, cayenne pepper, eggs, white vinegar, Canadian bacon, English muffins, butter or margarine, salt
Serves/Makes: 4
***Hollandaise Sauce***
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 cup butter, melted and barely warm
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 dash black pepper
- 1 dash cayenne pepper
***Eggs***
- 8 eggs
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 8 slices Canadian bacon
- 4 English muffins, split
- butter or margarine
- salt to taste, optional
- capers, chives, or parsley to garnish
Preheat the broiler.
Hollandaise Sauce: Place the egg yolks in a blender and process until smooth on low speed. Slowly add the melted butter through the feeder hole in the lid. Add the lemon juice along with the black pepper and cayenne. Process until the sauce has thickened but do not overmix it.
Poached Eggs: Bring a large saucepan of water to a gentle simmer and add the vinegar, if desired. Crack one egg into a small bowl, then slide it into the water. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the white is set and the yolk is still soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well. Repeat with the remaining eggs. You can do 2-3 eggs at a time, depending on how large your saucepan is. You don't want to crowd the eggs. Set the drained eggs aside and keep warm (you can put them on a plate and cover with foil).
Place the split English muffins and Canadian bacon on a lightly greased baking sheet. Place in the oven under the broiler for 3-4 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and butter the muffins if desired.
Place two muffin halves on each serving plate. Top each with a slice of Canadian bacon and a poached egg. Sprinkle the egg with a dash of salt if desired. Pour the Hollandaise sauce over each egg. Sprinkle with capers, chives, or parsley and serve immediately.
related articles
Write a comment:
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/josh-gunn/695-mothers-day-breakfast/