Oscar Chapa
I made Mackerel fish cake eggs Benedict, with roasted tomato, sautéed spinach, jalapeño mustard and honey infused hollandaise sauce and chopped bacon and chives. Served with a side of sweet potato hash, cilantro and avocado slices.
There are so many things one can do with fish (even if it is canned Mackerel) and as I was thinking to go with a Mediterranean dish, the spicy jalapeño mustard really stretched my culinary creativeness. Thought of a Mack Burger but it just didn't have the layers/profile I was looking for. And I'm generally more creative with breakfast/brunch recipes, and so I started putting together the eggs Benedict in my mind, layer by layer to have a well-rounded dish.
The toughest ingredient to incorporate by far was the spicy jalapeño mustard because it is really spicy, and a little bit goes a long way. I knew the mackerel was not going to be a favorite ingredient either, but it resembled a mix of canned tuna in texture and presentation but closer to cooled salmon in taste.
Highs: The presentation. Very complete and balanced dish in every sense. The crunch from a toasted English muffin, the decadence, and richness from the egg yolk and hollandaise sauce with a very mild hint of the jalapeño at the tail end of the taste profile. The creaminess of the avocado and the fluffiness and sweetness of the sweet potato hash.
Lows: Poaching the eggs to make them appealing proved difficult. I went through a dozen eggs to get the right look!!!! And it wasn't until I tried a kitchen hack that involved anti-stick cooking spray, a cup and cling wrap.
Tried the Jalapeño mustard and it was pungently spicy by itself, so the right measure and the right counterbalance ingredient led me through agave nectar and eventually to organic raw honey from Michigan. That was the only compromise I could come up with to dial down the heat to the right levels.
What was the response of your testers? The comments and looks for the mackerel were hilarious. The recipes we put out for the burger and eggs Benedict got a very close split voting. Eggs Benedict edged the burger by only one vote within our social network. The presentation of the eggs was voted 3 to 1 over the burger.
Any surprises? That mustard was spicy! I like spicy, but this was "Woah!" spicy. This really tested my patience and depth. That's all I can say about this challenge.
This challenge really tested me, wore me out. But in the end, I think this dish is a winner.