Step 1

First, bring a pot of water to a boil. While the water’s boiling, place the English muffin halves and an equal number of Canadian bacon slices on a cookie sheet. Lightly butter the English muffins and place the sheet under the broiler for just a few minutes, or until the English muffins are very lightly golden. Be careful not to dry out the Canadian bacon.

Step 2

Now if you do not have an egg poacher you can poach your eggs by doing the following: With a spoon, begin stirring the boiling water in a large, circular motion. When the tornado’s really twisting crack in an egg. The reason for the swirling is so the egg will wrap around itself as it cooks, keeping it together. Cook for about 2 ½ to 3 minutes. Repeat with the remaining eggs.

Step 3

In a small saucepan, melt 2 sticks of butter until sizzling. But don’t let it burn! Separate three eggs and place the yolks into a blender. Turn the blender on low to allow the yolks to combine, then begin pouring the very hot butter in a thin stream into the blender. The blender should remain on the whole time, and you should be careful to pour in the butter very slowly. Keep pouring butter until it’s all gone, then immediately begin squeezing lemon juice into the blender. If you are going to add cayenne pepper, this is the point at which you would do that.

Step 4

Place the English muffins on the plate, face up. Next, place a slice of Canadian bacon on each half. Place an egg on top of the bacon and then top with a generous helping of Hollandaise sauce. Vegetarian variation: you can omit the Canadian bacon altogether, or you can wilt fresh spinach and place it on the muffins for Eggs Florentine, which is divine in its own right. Top with more cayenne, or a sprinkle of paprika, and chopped chives if you like.