Breakfast Dinner: Eggs Florentine-ish, Blue Cheese French Toast w/ Pears

Eggs Florentine-ish
Makes 4 servings

4 egg yolks
~1 tbs lemon juice
~1/2 cup butter
~2 tbs mustard
pinch cayenne
salt and pepper to taste

1 clove garlic, minced
few big handfuls baby spinach
salt and pepper to taste

~4 eggs

2 English muffins (recipe here), halved

Make your hollandaise-ish sauce by whisking the yolks and lemon juice together until they get very voluminous. heat in a double boiler (1 pot over another pot of boiling water) and start whisking. stir in your mustard and then slowly drizzle in the butter, whisking constantly, letting it cook and thicken. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Turn off the heat but leave over the water to keep warm,stirring every few minutes while you prep the other components.

Heat a bit of butter in a wide pan and cook the garlic for just a minute. Toss in the spinach and cook until just wilted. Season and set aside.

Toast your English muffins and prep the eggs. Traditionally they're supposed to be poached, but that is above my cooking skill level, so I just fried them over easy in butter. Assemble your Florentines by stacking it all together and pouring the sauce over the top.


Blue cheese-stuffed french toast with pears
Makes 4 servings

~1/2 cup cream cheese or mascarpone
~2 tbs honey
~1/4 cup blue cheese

4 very thick slices of bread, preferably challah or a thick, sweet loaf bread like cinnamon swirl

2 large, ripe-but-not-mushy pears, peeled and sliced
~2 tbs butter
~1/4 cup water, pear juice, pear liqueur, brandy, or other liquid of your choice
~2 tbs brown sugar
~1 tsp cinnamon
~1 tsp vanilla

1 cup half-and-half
3 eggs
~1 tsp cinnamon

Mix the cheeses and honey, adjusting until you get a pleasing balance of pungency and sweetness. Carefully cut a wide slit into each slice of bread with a very sharp knife, making it as wide as possible without cutting any edges of the bread. Spread the filling into the middle section with a butter knife, being very careful not to tear the bread.

Prepare the pears by sauteing them in the butter for just a minute, stirring carefully so as not to break them. Stir in the liquid, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon and let simmer until the sauce is thickened. Set aside.

Mix the eggs, half and half, and cinnamon together in a wide pan. Soak both sides of each slice of bread in the mixture, then let it drain for a minute while you heat up some butter in a pan on medium. Let it cook until golden brown on both sides. Top with some pear slices and syrup - Add additional maple syrup if there's not enough to go around.