Eggs a la Golden Rod

Also Known As: What to do with all of those damn easter eggs.

A family tradition for dealing with easter eggs. Servers 4-6.

The Bechamel sauce is used not only for creaming foods like vegetables and fish, but as a base for many other sauces.

Ingredients:

Bechamel Sauce:

• 6 Tablespoons butter
• 2 cups of milk
• 1 dash of Tabasco (optional)
• 3-4 Tablespoons flour
• salt and pepper to taste

High Altitude Bechamel Adjustment:

• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 5 Tablespoons of flour
• 2.5 Cups of milk

At 7500 feet the trick was to reduce butter and add flour until it looked like the doughy low altitude flour / butter mixture. From there, slowly add milk until desired consistency. First attempt resulted in separated butter and flour that then burnt, turned brown, and smelled like burnt popcorn.

Main:

• 2 cups bechamel sauce
• 6 English muffins
• 1 dozen hard boiled eggs

Instructions:

Melt the butter over low heat. Do not brown. Add flour, and blend over low heat for 3-5 minutes. Stirring constantly, add the milk in VERY SLOWLY, a small amount at a time. The roux will thicken up quickly at first, and look like it’s going to be a big lumpy mess, but as you keep SLOWLY adding the milk, it will be fine. If you put the milk in too quickly, you will have a lumpy sauce. Yuk. If that happens, though, try putting it through the blender.

Cook and stir the sauce with a wire whisk or wooden spoon until thickened and smooth. Place in a 350 oven for 20 minutes to cook slowly.

Meanwhile, peel the eggs, separate the yolks out, and chop both whites and yolks into small pieces. Add egg whites to béchamel sauce, pour sauce over toasted muffins, sprinkle yolks over sauce.