Crab Benedict with an Exotic Winter Fruit Salad

Breakfast for dinner! Or, at least, very gourmet breakfast for dinner. One of my favorite brunch places prepares absolutely delicious eggs benedict with crab cakes, so I decide that I had to try to re-create it. I leave out the full-fledged crab cakes and instead use jumbo lump crab meat. The jumbo lump gets quite pricey, but you do not need a ton of it here to create a delicious meal, so splurge on the good stuff and then just use less of it. This dish also forced me to try poaching eggs for the first time. Growing up, I had those silly plastic dishes that allowed me to poach by microwaving, but here I went the genuine route. It's surprisingly easy, and actually quite fun to see how the egg cooks. I recommend giving it a whirl right away, even if you're not making this meal!

To complete the idea of breakfast for dinner I paired this meal with a winter fruit salad, full of some staples and some more exotic varieties of fruit, but don't be limited by my recipe below. Add in more options and write in the comments below if something works especially well. The fruit is dressed in a simple lime-honey sauce, very light, to add a little extra pizazz. And, of course, breakfast would not be complete without some good ol' potatoes so I roasted up some fingerlings to serve as a "breakfast potato" type item.

Difficulty: easy
Time: 30 minutes
Cost: $24.22



Exotic Winter Fruit Salad
Time: 15 minutes

You'll want to make this first so that the flavors have time to meld before serving!

Ingredients:
1 pomegranate - seeded (you will only use the seeds)
3 clementines, peeled
1 mango, peeled and diced
2 pears, sliced
3 kiwi, peeled and diced
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp honey
1/8 tsp salt

Wash and prepare all of your fruit. You'll need to pick out pomegranate seeds, peel your clementine and separate the wedges, thinly slice your pears, and peel and dice your kiwi and mango. When all of the fruit is prepared put it in a bowl and toss well to evenly mix.

In a separate small bowl, mix together the lime juice, honey and drop of salt. Whisk to combine and then drizzle over the fruit. Toss well to evenly coat and then let the fruit sit for 20 minutes or so as you prepare your dinner. That way the flavors have time to soak into each other a little.

This also makes great leftovers the next day for lunch!

Servings: 4
Serving size:
Nutrition: calories 196; carbs 51g; fat 0g; protein 2g; sodium 111mg

Crab Benedict
Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1/4 c low fat buttermilk
1/4 c fat free mayonnaise
2 tsp lemon juice (fresh)
1/4 tsp grated lemon rind
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp black pepper (divided)
1 tsp butter
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
4 large eggs
2 English muffins
4 oz jumbo lump crabmeat (all shell pieces removed)
1 tbsp chives, diced

First, you'll be preparing a lower fat version of a Hollandaise. Place the buttermilk, mayo, lemon juice, lemon rind, Dijon mustard, and 1/2 tsp black pepper into a small pot. Heat it over low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring nearly constantly with a whisk. It should thicken very slightly. Add the butter and continue to whisk until it melts. Cover and keep over the lowest heat possible, just enough to keep the sauce warm, as you continue with the rest of the meal.

Fill a pan about 2/3 full of water. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer. It should be a constant but fairly gentle simmer. Add the vinegar and let the water continue to simmer.

Now is the time to put your english muffins, cut in half, into a toaster to start getting toasty and warm. When they are toasted, put them on two plates and divide the crab evenly among them, placing the crab on top of each english muffin half.

Once you do that, you'll need to finish poaching the eggs. One at a time, crack the egg carefully (you do not want to break the yolk) into a small cup or bowl. Then pour the egg very gently into the simmering water. (You do not want to crack the egg directly into the water since the egg water is more apt to run all over the place. Doing it this way hopefully plops the egg in at once and keeps the white close to the yolk. The more tight and round, the better, but you'll get a few characteristic whisps.)

Simmer for 3-4 minutes and then carefully remove the egg with a slotted spoon, letting all of the water drain back into the pan. Place the egg on the crab on each half of the english muffin. Continue so each of the 4 english muffin halves have jumbo lump crab meat with a poached egg on top.

Divide the Hollandaise sauce evenly, pouring it over each of the 4 eggs. Sprinkle the eggs with the chives and the rest of the 1/2 tsp black pepper. Serve right away.

Servings: 2
Serving size: 1 english muffin and 1 egg
Nutrition: calories 371; carbs 30g; fat 15g; protein 30g; sodium 1223mg