Eggs Benedict on top of bacon pie layers of potatoes with cheddar, thyme and sausage

Bacon, potato and sausage pie

Ingredients 1 pound of bacon 6-8 medium potatoes, sliced thinly (peeling is optional)

1/2 pound sausage meat 1½ cups Cheddar cheese

3 fresh sprigs of thyme freshly ground pepper

Instructions Separate the slices of bacon and lay them criss-cross in a pie plate with at least one third of them lying outside the rim of the plate. Press the tall pile of bacon in the middle of the plate down, Layer half of the potatoes in a spiral on top of the bacon. Top the potatoes with half of the cheese.

Top with sausage meat

Sprinkle with thyme Layer the remaining potatoes in another pretty spiral on top of the cheese. Put remaining cheese on top of potatoes.

Add the remaining sausage meat.

Sprinkle with thyme Take the bacon that is hanging out of the plate and pull it over the cheese/potatoes as though wrapping the pie.

Take care to let the bacon overlap and cover the whole pie. Bake at 400 degrees for an hour or until potatoes are tender. If you don't slice the potatoes thinly, it may take longer.

To serve:

Cut a thick wedge and top with eggs benedict. (recipe to follow)

Eggs Benedict

Ingredients

3 tbsp white wine vinegar 4 large free range egg 1 batch hot hollandaise sauce

Method

Bring a deep saucepan of water to the boil (at least 2 litres) and add the vinegar. Break the eggs into 4 separate coffee cups or ramekins. Split the muffins, toast them and warm some plates. Swirl the vinegared water briskly to form a vortex and slide in an egg. It will curl round and set to a neat round shape. Cook for 2-3 mins, then remove with a slotted spoon. Repeat with the other eggs, one at a time, re-swirling the water as you slide in the eggs.

Serve on to of the bacon and potato pie wedge and drench with hot hollandaise sauce. (recipe to follow)

Basic hollandaise sauce

Ingredients 3 egg yolks, at room temperature 2 tablespoons water 175g unsalted butter, cut into 1.5cm cubes, at room temperature 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice Salt & ground white pepper

Method Step 1 Place a heatproof bowl over a medium saucepan that is quarter-filled with water. The bowl should fit snugly into the pan without touching the water (lift the bowl to check and remove some water if it does). Step 2 Remove the bowl, cover the pan and bring the water to the boil over high heat. Uncover and reduce heat to very low so the water is barely simmering (there should be almost no movement at all). It is important that the water is barely simmering while making the sauce - if it is too hot, the egg yolks will cook too much and the sauce will curdle. Step 3 Place the egg yolks and the 2 tablespoons water in the heatproof bowl and place over the pan. Use a wire balloon whisk to whisk the mixture constantly for 3 minutes or until it is thick and pale, has doubled in volume and a ribbon trail forms when the whisk is lifted. Step 4 Add the butter a cube at a time, whisking constantly and adding another cube when the previous one is incorporated completely. (It should take about 10 minutes to add it all.) If butter is added too quickly, it won't mix easily with the egg yolks or the sauce may lose volume. At the same time, it is important that the butter is at room temperature and added a cube at a time, so that it doesn't take too long to be incorporated - if the sauce cooks for too long, it can curdle. Step 5 The sauce will begin to thin when you start adding the butter. However, once the emulsion is established (after about the third cube), it will begin to thicken again. It will continue to thicken as the remaining butter is added. If the sauce curdles or separates it can be saved as long as it isn't grainy and the eggs haven't set. Step 6 Remove the bowl from the pan and place on a heatproof surface. The cooked sauce should have the consistency of very lightly whisked thickened cream. Whisk in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

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