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Hollandaise sauce

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This lusciously rich and smooth sauce will make most anything better. It could be eggs Benedict for breakfast, salmon or sole for lunch, chicken or steak for dinner and steamed asparagus as a side. I have heard the request: “Just bring me a bowl of Hollandaise and a spoon” on occasion.

One of the mother sauces, the 5 base sauces in French and much of modern cooking. A mother sauce is one that can be altered with other additions to create different sauces. A few well known ones are Mousseline sauce by adding unflavored whipped cream to lighten the sauce, Fleurette sauce is made by including a high fat cream in the process of whipping the eggs and Maltaise sauce by adding juice of blood orange as well as unnamed sauces by adding various fresh herbs.

Hollandaise sauce is not my invention and even Escoffier who is credited with a lot of the foundation of cooking was not the one who invented it. He does mention that with experience the cook/chef can alter the taste and texture of the sauce to fit the purpose or taste. The sauce goes back to 1651 according to some research.

As delicious as the sauce is, it does present some challenges in making it and while various tricks may be helpful, nothing is as useful as trial and error and making the sauce over and over a number of times.

We used to serve Hollandaise sauce at most restaurants I have worked at or owned and the sauce needed to be made fresh or brought back for every lunch and dinner service and sometimes for breakfast and brunch. That is a lot of practice to build forearms like Popeye the sailorman from whisking egg yolks. I have broken, burned, scrambled, over seasoned and spilled the sauce more times then I care to recount. Time and effort has allowed me to learn how to make it and fix it sometimes at a moments notice. If I can do it, well then anyone can.

Some of my favorite ways to serve Hollandaise are:

  • Poached salmon with Hollandaise, sometimes mixing in dill or fresh horseradish
  • Steamed asparagus – I can make a full meal out of this.
  • Eggs Benedict which can be made with spinach, smoked salmon or lobster instead of Canadian bacon.
  • Sauteed chicken breast with toppings like asparagus, artichoke hearts, mushrooms or other things.
  • Veal Oscar topped with crab meat and white asparagus

And the list goes on. My recommendation is that you find out if you like it first of course, then pick a few items you would serve it on and keep making it a few times a week until you get comfortable with it. You can make a batch of the reduction to use and keep it in the refrigerator. It will be easier to just worry about the eggs and butter each time while making it.

I have included a few hints on how to fix and repair the sauce and minor mistakes at the end of the recipe.

The sauce has to be used when it it made – or refrigerated, which means redoing it next time. This is an excellent time to practice putting the sauce back together so you can fix it in case it breaks when you are making it.

A few weeks of Hollandaise sauce school and you too will have forearms like Popeye.

Hollandaise sauce

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Recipe by admin
Servings

servings
Prep time

minutes
Cooking time

minutes
Calories

kcal
Total time

0

minutes

Hollandaise sauce is one of the 5 (French) mother sauces. Mother sauce meaning that it is a base sauce on which a number of other sauces can be based by adding other ingredients.
True hollandaise sauce is made with the below reduction. There are many recipe variations and you can go without the reduction but it will be more of a lemon butter sauce – still good.
I prefer adding a little cayenne pepper to the reduction so it can be strained out and avoid little dots in the finished sauce.
Adding a little grated lemon zest to the sauce lifts the lemon flavor with the oils in the lemon peel.
If you will be making Hollandaise sauce on a regular basis, prepare the reduction in bulk and store in a jar in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

  • Reduction base for Hollandaise sauce
  • 10 whole 10 black pepper corns cracked

  • 1 large 1 bay leaf crushed

  • 1 1/2 Tbs 1 1/2 shallots, minced

  • 1/4 cup 1/4 vinegar (white, champagne or other neutral and light colored)

  • 1/8 tsp 1/8 cayenne pepper

  • 1/3 cup 1/3 water

  • Hollandaise sauce
  • 2 Tbs 2 strained reduction from above

  • 2 large 2 egg yolks

  • 4 oz 4 butter, clarified

  • 1 1/2 Tbs 1 1/2 lemon juice

  • to taste to taste salt

  • optional optional grated lemon zest

Directions

  • Reduction for Hollandaise sauce
  • Bruise or lightly crush the peppercorns and bay leaf. Mince the shallots. Place the peppercorns, shallots, bay leaf, cayenne and vinegar in a small sauce pan.
  • Heat the reduction to a simmer and reduce the liquid down dry. Pay attention not to burn it, especially at the end. It is important to slowly cook down the reduction to evaporate the vinegar, doing it slowly allows flavor to fully mix in the ingredients.
  • As soon as the liquid evaporates, pour on the water and keep simmering the ingredients. Reduce down to 2 Tbs and strain the reduction into a clean stainless steel bowl. Cool to room temperature.
  • Hollandaise sauce
  • Melt the butter either in a microwave or on the stove and remove the milk solids. Keep the clarified butter hot.
  • Place the 2 egg yolks in the 2 Tbs reduction in the bowl and whisk vigorously over a double boiler .
  • Keep whisking the egg yolks over heat until they become fluffy and foamy like soft whipped cream. Be careful not to overheat, burn and scramble the eggs or you will have to start over. Whisking over heat for 5-10 minutes stabilizes the eggs foamy and pasteurizes them. This will enable them to bind the butter to make the thick sauce and render the sauce safer to eat.
  • When the egg yolks have become thick and foamy they will be ready for adding the butter. Place the bowl on a wet kitchen towel for stability as you whisk the sauce together. Start by adding a very small drizzle of butter as you whisk vigorously to incorporate it, keep adding butter while whisking and stop adding from time to time to mix the sauce well with the whisk to avoid it breaking. The sauce will thicken as the butter is added and if it becomes too thick, start adding a little of the lemon juice. Once the butter has been incorporated, add the lemon juice, lemon zest and salt to taste.
  • Serve the sauce immediately or rinse a small thermos with hot water to preheat and keep there. Do not try to heat it back up over a flame as the eggs will cook and sauce will be ruined. See notes below for additional tips.

Equipment

  • measuring spoons, measuring cups, double boiler, sauce pans, stainless steel bowl, whisk, strainer, chefs knife, cutting board

Notes

  • Hollandaise sauce can and often will break. Once the sauce is made, it is best stored in a thermos that has been preheated with hot water. It does not keep well for longer periods of time. Attempting to reheat it usually scrambles the eggs and ruins the sauce.
  • Fixing a broken hollandaise: while the sauce can be finicky and break, it can be fixed. If the sauce is starting to break (fat is separating from the eggs), add a little very hot water while whisking and it often fixes it. If the sauce has fully broken and separated, whisk it in a bowl over a double boiler until it becomes warm taking care not to overheat it and scramble the eggs. In a clean hot bowl over a double boiler, start with 2-3 Tbs hot water and vigorously whisk as you very slowly drizzle the broken hollandaise into the bowl with the water. Work slowly and the sauce should come back together. Other ways to bring it back is by whisking it into a little dijon mustard or by starting with 1 egg yolk and whisking it like in the recipe then add the broken hollandaise to it and whisk it back together, you may need to add a little more butter.

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