I think the single most important sauce to commit to one’s memory is the hollandaise. It is the perfect accompaniment for Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, poached eggs, hash, steak, chicken, fish and of course, right now, those beautiful fiddleheads and asparagus spears. Hollandaise can turn any simple meal into a stellar feast, rich in beneficial nutrients. Don’t be discouraged if your sauce gives you trouble at first. Hollandaise can seem fickle. With a little practice, you will develop a sixth sense about persuading egg yolks to thicken and absorb butter, and you will move through the steps easily, drawing effortlessly on the rescue remedies below to coax the sauce along without giving it a second thought. Before starting, I recommend having a glass of cold water on hand in the event you need some of it for the rescue tip mentioned below (when the egg yolk gets too hot).
Serves 4
8 tablespoons cold butter
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 pinch fine sea salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
Melt 6 tablespoons of the butter and set aside (keep warm). Cut the remaining butter into small pieces and set next to your stove. Place the egg yolks in a saucepan and whisk vigorously until they have turned lemon yellow and have thickened slightly. Whisk in the lemon juice, salt and pepper, and set the saucepan over a very, very low flame (or, if you prefer, over a double boiler). Whisk the sauce continuously as the egg yolks heat, watching it very carefully. After a few minutes, you will start to see the bottom of the pan between your strokes. Promptly remove the egg yolks from the heat and whisk in the cold butter, a few pieces at a time. Once the cold butter has melted into the sauce, slowly drizzle in the melted butter, whisking all the while.
Rescue tips:
If the sauce appears too thin, you have probably not given the egg yolks enough time to cook and thicken. Return the pan to low heat and whisk steadily until it starts to thicken. When you are able to see the pan clearly between your strokes, promptly remove from the heat and add some additional cold butter to the sauce.
If the egg yolks get too hot, the egg will start to cook and the butter will be forced out of suspension, causing the sauce to have a curdled appearance. If this starts to happen, quickly whisk in a tablespoon of ice water, adding additional ice water until the sauce recovers.
If the sauce is too thick, slowly whisk in warm water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it reaches your preferred consistency.
Leftovers: Promptly store unused hollandaise in the refrigerator. Leftovers will keep up to two days. You can use it in place of 1 or 2 of the eggs required for the Hearty Macaroni and Cheese in Chapter 8. It could also be blended into any béchamel sauce to make it richer. If you’d prefer to use the sauce again as a hollandaise, place a saucepan over very low heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the leftover hollandaise and whisk steadily. Once the sauce has softened, gradually whisk in the remaining hollandaise, one tablespoon at a time, until the entire mixture is once more the creamy warm dressing you so fondly remember.