christmas party friday :: {recipes}

So, the lovely Critty Joy is holding a Christmas Party over the next three weeks. Today's linkup is our favourite food or food tradition over Chrissy. Ours is a pretty simple one before all the roasts & veggies & cold cuts & well, massive amounts of food come out for Christmas Day - a lovely family breakfast consisting of ham, eggs & chocolate milk! Now, because ham & eggs may sound so-so to all of you out there, I thought I would do a little variation on the norm. Without further ado (and after much scouring of recipe websites!):

Eggs Benedict with Creamy Hot Chocolate

Ingredients
(serves 4)

8 50g free-range eggs
Pinch salt
8 slices ham
1/2 baguette (French stick), thickly diagonally sliced
50g butter, at room temperature (optional)
1/2 bunch fresh chives, cut into 5cm lengths

Easy hollandaise sauce
200g unsalted butter
3 egg yolks
1 tbs fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
2 tbs hot water
Ground black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Preheat grill on high and line a baking tray with foil. Poach eggs.
2. To make the easy hollandaise sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Use a metal spoon to skim any foam from the surface. Pour the clear yellow butter into a heatproof jug. Discard milky residue. Place egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and 1/2 the hot water in a blender. Blend on high until mixture is pale and thickens slightly. With the motor running, add hot butter in a thin, steady stream. Add remaining water to thin the sauce slightly. Season with pepper, and extra lemon juice and salt, if necessary. Half fill a large bowl with warm water (if water is too hot, the sauce will curdle). Pour sauce into a small bowl and place in the large bowl.
3. Place the ham on the lined tray. Cook under preheated grill, turning once, for 4-6 minutes or until crisp. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
4. Place the baguette slices on the lined tray and cook under preheated grill, turning once, until toasted. Spread with the butter, if desired. Turn the grill off and cover the bread with foil to keep warm.
5. Reheat eggs by bringing a clean pan of water to the boil then removing it from heat. Add eggs. Stand, covered, for 1 minute. Remove and drain on a plate lined with paper towels.
6. Place toasted bread on serving plates and top with ham and eggs. Stir hollandaise sauce and drizzle over the eggs. Sprinkle with chives and serve.


Creamy Hot Chocolate

Ingredients
(serves 6)

1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
125g good-quality dark chocolate, broken in pieces
300ml pure (thin) cream, plus whipped cream to serve
3/4 cup (75g) good-quality cocoa powder, plus extra to dust
1L (4 cups) milk

Method

1. Place the sugar and 1/2 cup (125ml) water in a pan over medium-low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for 2 minutes until slightly thickened. Add the chocolate and stir until melted, then whisk in cream, cocoa and 1/3 cup (80ml) milk. Transfer to a jug.
2. Meanwhile, warm remaining milk in a pan over medium-low heat to just below boiling point. Divide among mugs and let guests add warm chocolate mixture to taste, then serve topped with whipped cream and extra cocoa.

So there you have it!

Don't forget to link up at lovely Critty's for some Christmas food fun!