National Culinary Review

InterContinental Chicago Magnificant Mile

Zest’s "Holstein" Schnitzel Benedict has a base of butter/parsley potatoes topped with a breaded veal tenderloin, a poached egg and Choron sauce.

Balloo offers the benedict at brunch on Saturday and Sunday, selling between 30 and 40 orders per day for $12 each, with a 28% food cost.

PUSH THE ENVELOPE
“Eggs Benedict is one of those great
comfort foods, but let’s be honest and
admit it’s not one of the healthiest foods
to eat on a regular basis,” says Trotter.
“Every once in a while is OK, for special
occasions dining out or when you’re
ordering room service.”
sauce is brought to the table in case the
guest wants to add more. Zest offers the
benedict every day, selling 20-25 at $14
each, with a 25%-30% food cost.

Trotter serves two versions of eggs Benedict that have pushed the envelope on recipe development for weekend corporate brunches. The first is duck-themed and includes a single poached duck egg, shredded duck confit and a crispy duck-skin hollandaise sauce on a whole-grain English muffin, garnished with black truffles. The other is a cold dish—a hard-boiled egg, sliced and wrapped in smoked salmon, served on an English muffin cornbread and topped with a copious amount of osetra caviar. It’s finished with a room-temperature hollandaise/mayonnaise sauce.

SPANISH-INFLUENCED Timon Balloo, executive chef at Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill, Miami, says, “As society grows and cultures mix, we start to see chefs interpreting traditional recipes in new ways.” He prepares a Spanish-influenced Steak ‘n’ Eggs Benedict with ciabatta bread, oxtail cheek/tail stew, two poached eggs and sherry-splashed hollandaise for $12, with a 28% food cost.

He uses a 1½-inch hearty ciabatta bread (one slice cut in half on the bias) that holds up and helps not only soak up the egg yolk but the oxtail stew, as well. “The base, be it a muffin, a slice of bread or a potato cake, is meant to soak up the yolk as it bursts, as well as the hollandaise sauce,” Balloo says.

The ciabatta is first lightly seasoned with olive oil and salt and pepper and cooked on the griddle to slightly toast the outside. Oxtail stew (1½ oz.) is ladled on each ciabatta toast half, and two poached organic grade AA eggs are added. On top of each egg, ½-1 oz. of Choron sauce is ladled, and the dish is garnished with chives.