Eggs Benedict Casserole

According to urban-lore, a drunk Wall Street broker created the dish in 1894. Lemuel Benedict made an order for two poached eggs on buttered toast with slices of bacon and a large helping of hollandaise sauce at the prestigious Waldorf Hotel in New York City. Its extremely high calorie content was an obvious choice, given that the alcohol might have had an effect on him the night before.

The head chef of the restaurant, Oscar Tschirky, noticed this peculiar request and quickly placed a permanent order for its inclusion. He gave Benedict credit by naming the dish after him. Instead of the traditional English muffin and Canadian bacon, the breakfast meal is now made with crispy toast and bacon.

Another account of the Eggs Benedict from the 1860s mentions Legrand Benedict, a Wall Street agent who went out with his wife at the well-known Delmonico's restaurant in Lower Manhattan. This recipe was created by the head chef, Charles Ranhofer, in response to Mrs Benedict's request for a change in the menu after a prolonged period of monotony. Ranhofer wrote about this incident in his 1984 cookbook, The Epicurean and termed the recipe Eggs a la Benedict.

Eggs Benedict is typically thought to have been served in Pope Benedict XIII's Vatican kitchens as early as the 18th century. The Catholic Encyclopaedia, a thorough history of that era, does not, however, make any mention of the existence of such a dish. This is probably why the story has remained unverified, as a culinary discovery like this would undoubtedly be noteworthy.

Customers are increasingly choosing inventive options like an Eggs Benedict Pizza, the Naughty Benny (which essentially replaces the bacon for mortadella and adds onion jam), or even the Eggs Benedict Casserole, where the entire dish is made within a flour coating and covering.