Eggs Benedict with homemade English muffins and blender hollandaise

Combine 140 g warm water, 4 g instant yeast and 100 g poolish.

Twelve to 24 hours ahead, combine 50 g warm water, a pinch of instant yeast and 50 g all-purpose flour, stir, and ferment covered on the counter overnight.

Add olive oil, all-purpose flour and salt.

Mix with the dough hook on high speed for six minutes.

Flip into a bowl, round into a ball, cover and ferment 90 minutes.

Turn out and divide into six roughly 85 g pieces.

Shape each tight by degassing, folding the sides in two or three times, flipping onto the folds and rolling until the surface has tension.

Roll each in medium-grind cornmeal to coat.

Cover with another sheet tray and proof 45 to 60 minutes until more than doubled.

Melt the clarified butter in a hot 12 inch pan until shimmering and just about to smoke.

Fry three muffins at a time on the first side for 60 to 90 seconds over medium-ish heat until golden brown, then flip and fry the second side 60 to 90 seconds.

Transfer all six to a wire rack sheet tray and bake at 350F for 15 minutes.

Melt 140 g butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; it should be about 175F.

Into the blender jar put the egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and cayenne.

Add the Worcestershire and Dijon mustard.

Spin the base, then stream in the butter slowly over about 45 to 60 seconds until emulsified, opaque and thickened.

Add 25 g water and spin about 45 seconds more, using the friction of the blades to warm the sauce to about 130F.

Cover the sauce and hold it on a back burner over very low heat.

Bring a shallow high-sided pan of water up to just below a boil, about 185F.

Add a tablespoon of white distilled vinegar, then slide in two eggs cracked into small containers, without stirring or making a vortex.

Poach undisturbed for at least two minutes, then check: the white should be fully set and the yolk still liquid.

Return the eggs for another 30 seconds, to about two and a half minutes total, then lift them onto a paper towel.

Punch rounds from thick slices of smoked ham with a ring mold and crisp them in a heated non-stick pan over medium-high, flipping once, about a minute and a half in total.

Toast the English muffin halves to crisp and warm them, then smear each cut side with softened butter.

Lay four slices of crispy ham on each muffin half and set a poached egg on top, dunking the eggs in the hot water first to reheat.

Spoon warm hollandaise over each egg, loosening the sauce with a splash of water over very low heat if it has thickened.

Finish with a few minced chives.