Potato Croquette Benedict with Smoky Pepper Sauce

Potato Croquette Benedict with Smoky Pepper Sauce

I love eggs benedict but this is most certainly not the poached-egg-and-Canadian-bacon-on-top-of-an-English-muffin-with-Hollandaise-sauce version. This is something I put together using leftovers from my fridge and it turned out surprisingly well. Slices of toasted French bread serve as the base and are topped with slices of creamy avocado, a crispy potato croquette, a smoky pepper sauce, and a poached egg. There’s a nice balance of textures from the creaminess of the avocado and egg paired with the crunchy from the toast and croquette.

Croquettes are mashed potatoes shaped into patties, covered with breadcrumbs and usually fried but I baked mine. You can get them crunchy like you would from frying by mixing a little oil into the breadcrumbs and spraying the tops with cooking spray before putting them in the oven. Also, the smoky pepper sauce was left over from having pork chops for dinner one night and the recipe can be found on foodnetwork.com by Giada.

Breakfast Potato Croquettes

Yields 5-6 small croquettes

2 small potatoes, mashed

3 small sausage links, chopped finely

¼ small onion, chopped finely

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

1 egg

2 tablespoons water

~1 cup breadcrumbs

Pepper

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

1. Over medium heat cook the chopped sausage until they turn slightly brown. Remove the sausage and add onions to the same pan. Cook until soft and translucent. Season with pepper.

2. Preheat the oven to 375˚F.

3. In a small bowl combine mashed potatoes, sausage, onion, and parmesan cheese.

4. Beat the egg with 2 tablespoons water. Pour about 1/3 of the mixture into the mashed potatoes and mix well.

5. Measure out 1/3 cup of the mashed potatoes for each croquette. Use your hands to shape each one into round disks, kind of like patties.

6. Drizzle about 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil over breadcrumbs in a shallow dish or pie pan. Gently pat and coat each one with breadcrumbs. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes, or until golden brown. (For extra color on your croquettes try spraying cooking spray on top of each one)

Potato Croquette Benedict with Smoky Pepper Sauce

Serves 2

4 Breakfast Potato Croquettes

4 eggs

1 tablespoon vinegar (for poaching the eggs)

4 slices French bread

½ avocado

1 cup smoky pepper sauce, or substitute with tomato sauce

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1. Begin by poaching the eggs.

-Line a large dish with paper towels or napkins and set aside for the finished eggs.

-Bring water to a simmer in a medium pot and add 1 tablespoon vinegar.

-Crack one egg into a small bowl and be careful not to break the yolk.

-Then create a “vortex” by using a wooden spoon to swirl the water and carefully pour the egg in.

-Use the wooden spoon to keep the whites together. Fish the egg out after about 2 ½ minutes and set to drain on the dish lined with paper towels.

-Repeat with the three other eggs.

2. Toast slices of French bread until golden brown. Put slices of avocado on each piece of bread.

3. Place a potato croquette on each slice of bread, followed by the pepper sauce and then a poached egg. Garnish with chopped parsley.