FOOD BLOG WEEK: PIONEER WOMAN'S EGGS BENEDICT

The Internet is positively boiling over with gorgeous, expertly done food blogs -- many of which illustrate the construction of a dish in well-photographed, step-by-step recipes. One of the more popular of these blogs is The Pioneer Woman (http://thepioneerwoman.com). Its author, Ree Drummond, lives on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma, where she cooks up mouthwatering dishes such as Eggs Benedict.

Do yourself a favor and view this recipe in its full Pioneer Woman glory on her site before making it.

INGREDIENTS

Eggs

Butter

The juice of one lemon

Cayenne pepper

Canadian-style back bacon

English muffins

DIRECTIONS

First, bring a pot of water to a boil. While the water's boiling, place a few English muffin halves and an equal number of Canadian bacon slices on a cookie sheet. Lightly butter the English muffins and place them under the broiler for just a few minutes, or until they are very lightly golden. Be careful not to dry out the Canadian bacon.

Now, if you do not have an egg poacher, you can poach you eggs by doing the following: With a spoon, begin stirring the boiling water in a large, circular motion. When the tornado's really twisting, crack in an egg. Or two. Or three. The reason for the swirling is so the egg will wrap around itself as it cooks, keeping it together. Cook for about 2 ½ to 3 minutes.

In a small saucepan, melt 2 sticks of butter until sizzling. But don't let it burn. Separate three eggs and place the yolks into a blender. Turn the blender on low to allow the yolks to combine, then begin pouring the very hot butter in a thin stream into the blender. The blender should remain on the whole time, and you should be careful to pour in the butter very slowly. Keep pouring butter until it's all gone, then immediately begin squeezing lemon juice into the blender. If you are going to add cayenne pepper, this is the point at which you would do that.

Place the English muffins on the plate, face up. Next, place a slice of Canadian bacon on each half. Vegetarian variation: You can omit the Canadian bacon altogether or you can wilt fresh spinach and place it on the muffins for Eggs Florentine, which is divine it its own right. Place the egg on top of the Canadian bacon and then top with a generous helping of Hollandaise sauce.

Note: To ensure that everything is hot at the time when it's ready to served, plunge the poached eggs back into the hot water just before serving and make the Hollandaise at the very last minute.