hollandaise

Something healthy for today... ok, or not. Hollandaise is certainly a guilty pleasure of mine. Unfortunately, it is not one of those things when you make it at home, you feel better about eating so much of it. Hollandaise is butter; butter and egg yolks, and that's pretty much it. The upside is that making hollandiase leads to a feeling of accomplishment. I've now made it twice, both times being totally successful and yummy, and both times I started with a feeling of dread that all that butter and all those eggs would go completely to waste. When that doesn't happen and the result is perfect, accomplishment ensues.

Luckily Julia Child stepped in and I read her section on hollandaise as if it were a text book, which it very well is. I won't go into all the tips and details here, but I will leave you with the recipe I used both times which worked beautifully for me. If you are looking to figure out how to squeeze a little more butter in there or the science behind the method, please, go read Julia Child, but if you just want to know a great recipe/ method for making the sauce, read below.

One benefit of making this sauce by hand is that your arm (ok, I should say my arm, because I have quite literally no upper body strength, so this may be different for everyone) may be a little sore after all that whisking. A benefit?, you might ask. Think of all those burned calories... more room for more hollandaise!

p.s. so, I posted poached eggs for you, and now hollandaise. though, believe it or not it wasn't in the plans, how about I make and post some homemade english muffins for you, for a full-on homemade eggs benedict? You in??

hollandaise sauce

adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

**add corn starch only if needing the sauce to hold warm for a long period of time. I have made this with and without the corn starch and the results were very similar in taste and texture. With the corn starch, the sauce did hold for > 2 hours over a pan of warm water

12 Tbsp (6 oz) unsalted butter, melted

3 egg yolks

1 tsp arrowroot or cornstarch** 

1 Tbsp cold water

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

large pinch of salt

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold

salt, pepper, more lemon juice, to taste

Melt 12 Tbsp butter in a small saucepan and set aside. Add an inch or so of water to a medium size saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Turn heat down so water is barely simmering.

In large glass bowl, whisk egg yolks for one minute until they become thick and sticky. Wisk in corn starch, if using. Add in cold water, lemon juice, and salt and whisk for 30 seconds. Add in 1 Tbsp cold butter then place over simmering water.

Stir egg yolks with whisk until they thicken into a smooth cream, 1 to 2 minutes. The yolks are thick enough when you can see the bottom of the pan between strokes and the mixture forms a light cream on the whisk.

Remove from heat and whisk in the other 1 Tbsp cold butter.

Whisking the entire time, add the melted butter by droplets (1/4 tsp full, approximately) until sauce begins to thicken into a heavy cream. At this point, butter can be added a little faster, while whisking. Once all butter is incorporated, season sauce to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Serve hollandaise warm. I keep mine warm by turning the heat off the simmering water then placing the bowl of sauce back on top, stirring occasionally. It could also be kept warm in a thermos.