Hollandaise (and Variations)
Why I Love This Recipe
It's the perfect Hollandaise!!
Ingredients You'll Need
1/4 cup Egg Yolks - This is approximately 3 Large Egg yolks
1/4 Tsp Sugar
1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper -or- a Dash of Tobasco
1 TB freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
12 TB (1 1/2 sticks) Unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
Directions
Utilizing a glass bowl, whisk yolks, sugar, salt, cayenne and lemon juice together, until the yolk begin to pale & thicken slightly.
Place the bowl over barely simmering water and continue whisking until the mixture becomes smooth, creamy and thick enough to leave a clear line in the bottom of the bowl when the whisk is drawn through.
Do not heat the yolk mixture too much or you will end up with scrambled eggs; the proteins will re-bond with each other if the yolks get too hot.
Remove from heat and begin adding the butter 1 piece at a time, continuing to whisk until each addition to allow for a slow melt of the butter.
It is important that the butter be cold, and added in small quantities to allow the yolks time to exercise their emulsifying powers without giving the butter a chance to pool into the bottom and “break” the sauce.
If your sauce begins to cool to the point that the butter is having difficulty incorporating you can return the bowl briefly to the simmering water to warm the sauce again.
Place the sauce in a thermal carafe to keep it warm.
VARIATIONS:
Sauce Mousseline – 1/4 cup Heavy cream whipped stiff folded in to Hollandaise.
Sauce Maltaise - Orange zest and juice of blood orange - Add 2 TB Orange Juice 1/2 tsp Orange Zest
Sauce Noisette - Hollandaise made with browned butter (Beurre Noisette). Add 2 oz Browned butter
Sauce Bavaroise – Heavy cream, horseradish, thyme - 2 TB heavy Cream 1 tsp fresh grated horseradish 1/4 tsp Thyme
Sauce Anchois - add 1 T. anchovy paste, add to sauce.
Sauce Câpres - add 2 T. drained refrigerated capers, add to sauce.
Sauce Chantilly - add 2 T. crème fraîche, add to sauce.
Sauce Citron - add 2 T. lemon zest to sauce.
Sauce Divine - in a small sauce pan add 3 T. sherry and reduce by half, then add to Chantilly recipe.
