Sunday Brunch Benedict on Potato and Zucchini Fritter
Recipe by Courtney Flood
Sunday brunch is my favourite. Long-weekend Sunday brunch is extra special. This meal is a little finicky but worth the trouble. Serves 4.
Ingredients:
2 medium zucchini
4 large potatoes, peeled
¼ cup chickpea flour (besam)
9 eggs + 1 egg yolk (divided)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp salt (divided)
¼ – ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tbsp + 2 tsp canola oil (divided)
6 tbsp butter
2 tsp lemon juice
¼ white vinegar
2 cups chopped kale
2 tomatoes, sliced
Instructions:
Fritters – Shred zucchini on the large hole of a box grater. Add 1 tsp of salt and let sit for 10 minutes in a colander to release water. Shred potato. Squeeze zucchini to release additional liquid. Add to a bowl and mix with the chickpea flour, 1 egg (beaten), garlic, cayenne pepper, and other tsp of salt.
Heat 1 tbsp canola oil in a pan (cast iron if possible) over medium-high heat. Add ¼ cup of fritter batter to the pan for each fritter, pressing with a spatula to flatted (make sure you divide the batter into at least 8 portions). Fry until golden brown and flip (about 5 minutes each side). Transfer to a baking sheet and place in a 200°F oven to keep warm, if desired.
Hollandaise Sauce – Cut butter into small cubes.
Heat water in a double boiler to a simmer over medium-low heat (if you don’t have double boiler, use a metal bowl over a pot of water). Whisk egg yolk and lemon juice in the double boiler for about 30 second. Drop butter in, a couple cubes at a time, whisking until incorporated each time. Continue whisking for a minute or so more, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat.
Poach Eggs – Heat water in large pot to a gentle simmer (medium-low heat). Add vinegar.
Crack remaining 8 eggs, one at a time, into a small dish, and slip delicately into the water to poach. Poach eggs for another 2 minutes and remove pot from heat.
Note: I tend to keep the eggs in the water until ready at this point. The eggs will keep warm and the yolks will be medium-cooked, and just slightly runny. If you like the traditionally runny poached eggs, remove from pot to warm (but not hot) water.
Sauté Kale – Heat remaining 2 tsp of canola oil in the same pan you used to fry the fritters, medium-high heat. Sauté kale for about 3 minutes, until wilted and bright green. Remove from heat.
Slice tomato into 8 slices.
To assemble:
Place 2 fritters on each plate. Top each fritter with sautéed kale, 1 slice of tomato, 1 poached egg, and Hollandaise sauce.
Wine Pairing: Norman Hardie Unfiltered Chardonnay 2012
Wine Pairing Theory:
Eggs Benedict is a rich, creamy, and flavourful dish. The best pairing would be a rich, complex white wine, as red wine would clash with the buttery and lemony flavours, and a light white wine would be overpowered by the dish. A rich, complex, full-bodied Chardonnay would be the obvious choice. A wine that has undergone malolactic fermentation would have developed lactic acid, which would match the tangy dairy flavour of the Hollandaise sauce. I like a cool climate Chardonnay such as Ontario, as it tends to have a higher acidity that will still act to refresh the palate as well.
Courtney Flood is a wine and beer connoisseur, home cook, fitness lover, and number cruncher. She spends her days as an accountant, but also does wine and beer marketing in her spare time. Courtney likes to unwind each night by making a healthy, home-cooked meal.
