By Second week of March. Wild onion week. The ramps are still a couple weeks out. The garden is being prepped — beds turned, compost added, cover crops mowed. The early seeds will go in next week. Peas and lettuce and spinach.
Hannah and I gathered wild onions Saturday. Six pounds. The thirty-first wild onion gathering. The eighth on this property. The same ritual. Eggs Sunday morning. Bean bread. The smell.
Tuesday I drove to Turley to start working on the spring visit logistics for Terry. I cleared a path from her car to the front door — it had gotten overgrown with vines. I checked the bed I would set up downstairs at our place. I asked her what she'd need. She said: I don't need anything. I said: yes you do. She said: a lamp for reading. I said: there's already a lamp. She said: a different one. I said: I'll move one in. She said: my pillow. I said: bring your pillow. She said: my radio. I said: bring your radio. She said: my Bible. I said: bring your Bible. The list was small. The list was big.
Caleb came Saturday. We worked on a small project — making a cane for Terry, in case she needed one for the property visit. Steel and walnut, with a rubberized tip. I welded the steel. Caleb shaped the walnut. He had become a passable woodworker over the last year — he said he'd been taking weekend classes at a tool-lending library in Tahlequah. The cane took us two weekends. It came out beautifully. We will give it to Terry on the day she arrives. She will refuse it the first day. She will use it by the third.
After Hannah and I came in from the gathering — six pounds of wild onions, hands still smelling of earth and green — I knew Sunday morning would call for something worthy of the ritual. We’ve done eggs on wild onion Sunday for as long as I can remember, and this year I wanted to do them right: poached, set over good bread, with hollandaise made slow and careful, the way a morning like that deserves. It’s the kind of recipe that asks you to be present, which felt exactly right given everything else going on — Terry’s visit to plan, the cane Caleb and I were still finishing, the season turning over whether you’re ready or not.
Eggs Benedict
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 8 large eggs
- 4 English muffins, split and toasted
- 8 slices Canadian bacon or ham
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar (for poaching)
- Fresh chives or paprika, for garnish
- For the Hollandaise:
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and kept warm
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Salt and white pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make the hollandaise. In a heatproof bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water (not touching the water), whisk egg yolks with the cold water until pale and slightly thickened, about 3–4 minutes. Remove from heat and very slowly drizzle in the warm melted butter, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thick and glossy. Stir in lemon juice and cayenne. Season with salt and white pepper. Keep warm over the pot with the heat off.
- Warm the Canadian bacon. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the Canadian bacon slices 1–2 minutes per side until lightly browned and heated through. Set aside.
- Poach the eggs. Bring a wide, deep skillet of water to a gentle simmer. Add the white vinegar. Working in batches of 2–4, crack each egg into a small cup, create a gentle swirl in the water, and slide the egg in. Poach 3–4 minutes until whites are set but yolks are still soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.
- Toast the muffins. While eggs poach, toast the split English muffins until golden. Arrange two halves per plate.
- Assemble. Layer one slice of Canadian bacon on each muffin half. Top with a poached egg. Spoon hollandaise generously over each egg. Garnish with a pinch of paprika or snipped fresh chives. Serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 520 | Protein: 24g | Fat: 34g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 980mg