Eggs Benedict from scratch with homemade English muffins and light hollandaise

Dissolve the active dry yeast in a quarter cup of lukewarm water and leave five to ten minutes until a foamy bubbly layer forms.

Soften two tablespoons of instant mashed potatoes in half a cup of boiling water.

Combine the potatoes, the cold milk and the yeast, then add that liquid to the flour and mix about a minute to a smooth loose batter, heavier than pancake batter but not like a conventional dough.

Proof an hour and a half at 80F until risen with large bubbles on the surface; it must be bubbly however long it takes.

Stir the batter down, dissolve the salt in three tablespoons of tepid water, beat that in vigorously for about a minute, cover and rise again for over an hour until bubbly.

Heat a carbon steel griddle to moderate and butter both it and the inside of the three-inch rings.

Variation: he dusts half the muffins with cornmeal, which the recipe does not call for.

Spoon about a centimetre depth of the elastic batter into each ring.

Cook six to eight minutes on the first side until the whole top turns from wet ivory white to a dryish gray.

Turn and cook the second side; the book says under a minute, but thicker muffins need longer, to an internal temperature of 200F.

For the ten second firm up, prick the large end of each fresh egg about a quarter inch deep with a thin pin, lower it on a slotted spoon into boiling water for ten seconds, which gives the white more cohesion without sticking to the shell.

For poaching, add two and a half tablespoons of vinegar per quart of water and bring to a very early boil.

Stir the water into a vortex with a wooden spoon, drop the egg in and hold at the barest simmer four minutes, then move it to a bowl of cold water.

Cut two rounds of boiled ham with a cookie cutter the diameter of the muffin, and finely chop two tablespoons more from the leftover ham.

Finely mince the parsley and chop the hard-boiled egg.

Melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat and lightly saute the ham rounds and the chopped ham, then turn off the heat and lid it to keep warm.

For the optional topping, mix three tablespoons of parsley, one chopped hard-boiled egg, two tablespoons of the minced ham, pepper and salt.

For a half batch of light hollandaise, whisk half an egg and one egg yolk together furiously in a saucepan.

Bring four ounces of butter to bubbling hot in a second small saucepan, and a tablespoon and a half each of lemon juice and water with a quarter teaspoon of salt to a simmer in a third.

Over medium heat whisk the eggs until pale and thick, then add the hot lemon juice by droplets, stirring over the whole base of the pan until it is a foamy warm mass; take it off the heat as soon as steam appears.

Off the heat, pour in the bubbling butter by dribblets until it is thick, creamy and light yellow, then finish with salt, a couple of cracks of black pepper and a few more drops of lemon juice, and lid it to keep warm so it does not split.

Warm the poached eggs through in the simmering salted water, lift them out carefully and dry them on paper towel.

Toast and butter the English muffins.

Top each muffin with ham, then a poached egg, then a big dollop of hollandaise, a sprinkle of the optional topping and baby arugula on the plate.