New Orleans Brunch — Cook

Ingredients

8 eggs, very fresh
8 artichoke bottoms, large, fresh or canned; if fresh, outer leaves and choke removed, boiled until tender
For the creamed spinach
500 g fresh spinach, wilted, squeezed thoroughly dry, then chopped
250 ml béchamel or heavy cream, for binding
1 tsp salt
For the hollandaise
3 egg yolks
225 g unsalted butter, clarified
1 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 tbsp white wine vinegar, for the reduction
For poaching
2 litres water, held at 85–90 °C
1 tbsp white wine vinegar, to tighten the whites
Optional
4 slices ham or anchovy fillets, to garnish

Method

1
Prepare the artichoke bottoms. If using fresh artichokes, strip all outer leaves and remove the choke to expose the broad, concave disc. Boil in salted water until a skewer meets no resistance. If using canned bottoms, drain and rinse. Warm the bottoms gently in a low oven or covered pan before plating. They are ready when a skewer passes through without resistance and they sit flat and stable.
2
Make the creamed spinach. Wilt the spinach in a dry pan, drain, and squeeze with both hands until no further liquid can be extracted — squeeze thoroughly, as wet spinach will dilute and thin the cream layer. Chop the dried spinach finely. Bind in béchamel or a reduced cream over low heat, stirring until the mixture holds its shape on a spoon without weeping liquid. Season with salt. Keep warm.
3
Make the hollandaise à la minute — no more than 20 minutes before service. Reduce the vinegar by half in a small pan; cool slightly. Whisk the egg yolks with the reduction over a bain-marie at gentle heat until the mixture thickens to a ribbon and leaves a trail. Remove from heat and whisk in the clarified butter in a slow, steady stream until a loose, flowing emulsion forms. Add lemon juice and season. The emulsion is correct when it flows slowly — it must not sit in a mound. Do not reheat. Do not hold beyond 20 minutes.
4
Poach the eggs. Hold the water at 85–90 °C — barely simmering, not boiling. Add the vinegar. Crack each egg into a small cup and slide it into the water. Poach 3–4 minutes. This is the step on which the dish lives or dies: the white must be just set and opaque, the yolk fully liquid beneath a thin veil of white. Lift the egg; it should tremble perceptibly when touched. A firm yolk removes the internal sauce that defines the dish.
5
Plate on warmed — not hot — plates. Set two artichoke bottoms on each plate. Spoon a bed of creamed spinach into each bottom, filling the concave vessel. Lay a poached egg on the spinach within each bottom. Place optional ham or anchovy alongside if using. Ladle hollandaise over each egg immediately, enough to drape and flow. The hollandaise must be shimmering when the plate reaches the table. Serve at once.