Eggs Benedict “A La Dalmacija”

I am so proud of myself right now!  I just recreated the breakfast/brunch classic Eggs Benedict to suit the taste of a Dalmatian!  My victim was no other than D, a true Dalmatian, born and raised in Zadar, who likes his eggs fried with a drizzle of olive oil on top with a hunk of bread.  Fair enough, but I have been trying to get him to eat new things, especially dishes from the States that I love and he has never tried.  Before going to soccer practice tonight I ask him what he wanted for dinner.  “Fried eggs” he says.  “Uhhhhhh again” I thought, so I took it upon myself to make something different of these fried eggs of his, while taking the chance to experiment myself.

Egss Benedict has been a long time favorite of mine.  How I miss a full plate of this soggy egg and english muffin combination smothered in Hollandaise sauce.  My birthday lunch of choice for years was Eggs Benedict with a mimosa from the Cliff House in San Francisco.  I decided to make it tonight, but knew I had to modify it a bit for D’s taste.  I have made Hollandaise sauce before and it is surprisingly easy; lots of butter, egg yolks and a little lemon juice.  Instead of the butter I used olive oil, the quintessential Dalmatian cooking ingredient.  A bit hesitant at first, I poured about a cup of olive oil to use (if this doesn’t work what a shame as the olive oil is gold here), and began the process of making hollandaise sauce.  Once the egg yolks were done I slowly added the olive oil, saying a prayer after each little pour.  After about a minute I saw that this was going to work, and once the entire amount of olive oil was beaten into the egg yolks I had my Dalmatian-Hollandaise sauce.

No English muffins here in Zadar, so a thick slice of white bread with a coat of olive oil on each side then toasted in a pan is the substitute.  Instead of poaching the eggs I fried them, just the way D likes them, then pan fried a few slices of soft prsut (bresaola would also work well.)  Put this together like you would your average Eggs Benedict with a dash of paprika powder on top and viola!  It is still very reminiscent of the classic, just with a Dalmatian twist.