Eggs Benedict

Our very first recipe post! We deciding the first meal of the day would be fitting as the first recipe post and what better way to start a weekend than with a decadent Eggs Benedict. Eggs Benedict is simply a English muffin with a gooey poached egg over Canadian bacon or regular bacon and slathered with Hollandaise sauce. We normally reserve Eggs Benedict as our go to breakfast during typhoons. It helps pass the time and gives us a feel good start to our day spent indoors. This is a great recipe for couples to make--one can handle the sauce and the other can poach the eggs. It looks like it would be difficult to make but it's so simple.

EGGS BENEDICT
Ingredients:
- 4 eggs for poaching

- 1 teaspoon white vinegar

- 4 strips of bacon cut in half

- 4 English muffins (toasted and buttered)

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

- 5 small/medium egg yolks
- 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice

- pinch of white pepper

- pinch of salt
- pinch of paprika

- 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

- 1 tablespoon water

- 1/2 c melted butter

BACON
Normally Eggs Benedict is made with Canadian bacon but we didn't have any and the great thing about cooking is you can make it your own.
Cut your four strips of bacon in half and cook it to your liking.
We put our bacon under the oven broiler so we don't have to deal with grease spatter and it keeps our stove top free.
Another bonus is that you can put your buttered English muffins in the oven at the same time to toast.

DOUBLE BOILER

If you've invested in a double boiler that's great! We definitely do not need to double boiler anything enough to justify buying one. Our homemade version: a pot and a stainless steel mixing bowl. 

Fill your pot with water but make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.

Bring the water to a slow simmer, not a rolling boil. 

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

Separate five small/medium eggs reserving the yolks.
Make sure your double boiler is on a gentle simmer

Mix into your double boiler bowl:
 - 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice

- pinch of white pepper

- pinch of salt
- pinch of paprika

- 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Gradually add the egg yolks to the mix. Whisk quickly! If you don't whisk fast enough or if your boiler is too hot your eggs will start to scramble.
Slowly add your melted butter--Don't stop whisking! Cut the heat. Then add the water--Whisk!
 If your sauce is too thick add a half tablespoon of water at a time until it's the consistency you desire.

This recipe usually creates a little extra sauce. Add it to your vegetables at dinner. The sauce can go into the fridge but you will need to use a double boiler to warm the sauce again.

POACHED EGGS

Using a sauce pan, fill it 1-2 inches high with water and simmer the water. Once the water begins to simmer add the teaspoon of vinegar.
To make pretty rounded poached eggs use a metal ring such as a cookie cutter or a stainless steel biscuit cutter. Otherwise, slowly and carefully drop the egg into the water. Make sure you are as close to the water as possible when you drop it in. Don't worry if the egg doesn't look pretty or it has spread apart it is not going to affect the taste.
To keep the yolk nice and gooey cook it for 3 minutes.

Use a spoon, preferably with straining holes, to remove it from the water.

Kadena Steps Diving

For the past few years Kadena Steps has been our go to location for easy diving. Kadena Steps is located north of Kadena Marina. You can turn left at the first or second light after Naval Kadena and you'll end up at the sea wall. There's a short set of stairs up and then the steps down to the water. If timed correctly, at high tide you can go down the stairs straight into the water, if you go during low tide you'll be walking on rocks and potentially on newly forming coral. This location is fairly easy to judge whether it's safe to get in. It can get to around 60 feet deep during high tide. We've spotted lion fish, moray eels, trumpet fish, small schools of fish, baby squid, cuttlefish, and a few other things here. The schools we've seen have never been more than around 50 members. Rumor has it you can spot rays here, we have yet to see one. 

The H's at Hamahiga Island

 Sunset photo shoot with the H's on Hamahiga Island in July. We had great weather, calm seas. The conditions made for a great shoot not to mention how adorable these to parents-to-be are. Special thanks to Ms. M for pampering their cute dobbie off camera.

Hamahiga Island

Hamahiga Island. Beautiful, calm, and islandy. Hamahiga is a great escape from the crazy paced life of Okinawa. There is almost always no waves at this beach on the eastern side of the island. Rarely a huge crowd there, it's one of  the perks of living on the east coast of the island.

Ikei Island

Stumbled upon a random beach on Ikei Island. Quiet, secluded it was beautiful. The bottom was sandy with smoothed rocks but like most Okinawa beaches, water shoes are a big plus. The current was strong and carried us from one end of the beach to the other on our float. We created a routine of floating down to the end of the beach and walking back to the other end where all our things were. The umbrella is glorious right? It's 2.5 meters wide! It's giant! You can find them for very cheap at Makeman right now. Nope, I am not providing directions to this beach. Go out. Adventure.