Breakfast - Almost Eggs Benedict - 1.10 USD per serving

Breakfast

>> ALMOST EGGS BENEDICT <<

Why almost? hehehe..

Here's the thing, It is a Monday and It is also a public holiday here in Macau. The locals are celebrating Ching Ming Festival and guess what, most of the stores are closed. And the few ones that are open don't have fresh delivery of bread today. So yes.. No English muffin.. :( But this is not the day to just give up!

I really want to try this breakfast dish and I thought this is the only day have to mess about and get it right. So I dropped the English muffin issue and used whatever I have in the fridge (hash brown potato patties) instead.

This is the most challenging dish I have done so far. I used Gordon Ramsay's youtube video and It's like I can hear Gordon yell at me while I was cooking.. "Fix it you, Donkey! or as you say Monkey!!" lol. Funny thought! This is my first time and I must say, I'm quite proud of the result!


Cooking time :         expectation : 10 mins
                                 reality         : 70 mins
                                 
Cost per serving:      8.75 MOP
                                  1.10 USD 
                                 50.50 PHP

What we need

Hollandaise sauce:

Eggs  = 3-4 eggs (depending on the size of the eggs)  = 2.00 Mop each = 6.00 Mop

Fun bit :
I used a total of 8 eggs to make 2 sets of hollandaise sauce because I messed up the first one.. hahaha..

The rest (each):

Hash Brown Potato Patties  = 2.00 Mop
Eggs                                     = 2.00 Mop
Ham                                     = 2.00 Mop

Other ingredients:

Canola Oil
2 oz Butter
Salt
Pepper
3/4 tbsp White wine vinegar
1 tsp Lemon juice

Total may be about more or less 5.00 Mop

What I did

Basically, I just followed the instructions in this video :
Yes this is Gordon Ramsay! hehehe!

1. I used whatever cheap chinese ham we have at home and cut them in half.
2. Heat the pan, pour some oil and cook them. :)

3. Once, done, set aside.
4. For the hash browns - using the same pan, pour some more oil. (It is better to deep fry them but we don't have that luxury.. ^_^
5. Once the oil is hot enough, drench the hash brown patties.
6. When they are golden brown on the other other side, flip them.
7. Once done, remove from oil and set aside.
8. Poach the eggs according to the video. I tried my best on this.. but I think if you are making more than 2 poach eggs, consider doing Jamie Oliver's techniques.

Here is Jamie and his poached eggs! :)

9. I did the hollandaise sauce last because I know that this is going to be a bit more challenging than the poached eggs. And I followed Gordon's video the best I could.

Here is the reality! I miserably failed on the first try. :)

I overcooked it at some point. I forgot to season it.
Put too much white wine vinegar and too much lemon!
It didn't taste horrible but I was just a bit too acidic for our taste.
Total casualty : 4 eggs and 2 oz of butter :(

Fortunately, my husband had my back and told me to try again.  Good Guy Hubby to the rescue!

We took turns in whisking and pouring the butter.. aaaaaaaawww so sweet..

We fixed the acidity issue and seasoned it well.

We realized how difficult it is to work with limited tools and resource.

We only have 1 pan, 1 pot and 1 glass bowl and none of those different kinds of ladles (I used a big spoon to take out the poached eggs from the water by the way..) 

But if there is a will, there is a way, right? Glad to make all these work! yeah!

Yup, this is how we made it. 

First Attempt that failed miserably! :) 

The better hollandaise sauce! :)

10. Do the thing! Base first which are the hash brown, then the ham, then the poached egg, and then the hollandaise sauce...

Done!

Thanks to my lovely hubby for supporting me and helping me. In the end, it was a team effort and we pulled it off!  How can't I love this guy!!! <3 <3 <3

Disclaimer 
Forex rate based on Google on the day this post was published.
All prices are based here in Macau, it may be lower or higher depending on the location.

Thank you! :)
:)

ENJOY EATING AND SAVING!!!!!

Breakfast - "Sa Pula, Sa Puti" Bacon Fried Rice - 0.99 USD per serving

Breakfast

>> "SA PULA, SA PUTI" BACON FRIED RICE <<

RED OR WHITE" BACON FRIED RICE - the history of "sa pula, sa puti" is used by people during cock fights on where they want to bet their money on; on the red rooster or the white rooster. Since today is Sunday and this is the legal day in our town to held cock fights. Why not incorporate it to our simple breakfast. I miss home. :)


Cooking time :         20 mins
Cost per serving:      7.88 MOP
                                  0.99 USD 
                                 45.50 PHP

What we need

Left overs:

Cooked crumbled rice        =  2 servings  =   2.50 Mop

A typical Filipino home always have cold cooked rice (leftover) but if you don't have this, you can cook rice early on or the night before. We usually use the cold rice for fried rice or porridge for breakfast.

Frozen goodies:

Bacon                     = 8 Strips = 24.00 Mop
Mixed Vegetables

Other ingredients:

Minced garlic
Minced onion
Chopped Spring onion
Minced chili pepper (optional)
A handful or 2 of mixed vegetable
1 knob of butter


Olive oil
Fish sauce
Seasoning
Tomato /spaghetti sweet style sauce
Eggs


Total may be about more or less 5.00 Mop

What I did

1. Heat the pan, add a bit of olive oil... just a bit!

2. Cook the bacon, it will start to sweat all that excess fat.. yeaaaaaaah!!!!
3. We have 8 strips of bacon so I just did 4 strips first and set it aside to cool.
4. Cook the other 4 strips to the crisp you like.
5. Chop the first 4 strips of  bacon.
6. Once the other 4 strips are cooked, remove them from the pan and set them aside.
7. Oh yeah, all those gorgeous oil in the pan, we are going to use it..add a knob of butter.
8. Be careful not to burn the butter, lift the pan from heat if needed.
9. Once the butter is melted, toast the garlic.
10. If you are happy with how beautify brown the chopped garlic are, add the onion, chili pepper and spring onion.
11. Mix them a bit, and then add the mixed vegetables.

12. Season them well but not too salty because the bacon is a bit salty already.
13. Add in the chopped cooked bacon.

14. And in the rice.
15. Get some fish sauce in there... about 1-2 tbsp, season well.
16. Mix them all and be merry!!!! (if only i have a wok, it will be a lot easier.. hehehe)

The "White" fried rice is done! Just take out some of the fried rice and set them aside.
Leave some for the "Red" fried rice. If you are too lazy to do the red, you don't have to do this... ^_^

17. You can use tomato paste + ketchup to make the red rice but I have a sweet style spaghetti sauce lying around from the Philippines, so I used it instead.
18. Just mix that in with the rice.
 19. Season again as you wish. I added paprika because the sauce is sweet and a bit acidic so, I kicked it a bit with spice.
20. Mix well and that's it!







Do your eggs in another pan, sunny, scrambled, whichever you like..
In our case, we don't like to season sunny eggs because we like to incorporate the eggs with the fried rice. If the fried rice is seasoned well, the unseasoned egg should be a compliment. :)

Done!

The fried rice can serve up to 8.
1 plate can serve up to 4 depending on the appetite.. hehehe :) . If you have a big family, just add more bacon and eggs :)


Disclaimer 
Forex rate based on Google on the day this post was published.



Thank you! :)
:)

ENJOY EATING AND SAVING!!!!!