How tO MaKe hOlLaNdaiSe sAuCe ? ? ?

 

How To Make Hollandaise Sauce

Here's what you'll need for this Hollandaise sauce recipe:

• 1 cup clarified butter (about 2½ sticks before clarifying). The butter should be warm but not hot.
• 4 egg yolks (see tutorial on how to separate eggs).
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice (the juice from 1 small lemon)
• 1 Tbsp cold water
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Cayenne pepper (or a dash of Tabasco sauce), to taste

METHOD :

Combine Egg Yolks and Cold Water

 

Whisk the Egg Yolks and Water Until Light and Foamy

Whisk the Egg Yolks and Water Until Light and Foamy

Whisk for a minute or two, until the mixture is light and foamy. Whisk in a couple of drops of lemon juice, too.

 

Set the Bowl Over the Simmering Water

Set the Bowl Over the Simmering Water

Set the Bowl Over the Simmering Water

Set the bowl directly atop the saucepan of simmering water, thus creating a sort of double-boiler effect. Note that the water itself should not come in contact with the bottom of the bowl. It's the steam, not the water, that should be doing the heating, so don't overfill the saucepan.

Whisk the Yolks Until Slightly Thickened

Whisk the Yolks Until Slightly Thickened

Whisk the Yolks Until Slightly Thickened

By gently heating the egg yolks, we're altering the proteins in a way that makes them bond more effectively with the fat droplets in the clarified butter we're going to be adding. This creates a more stable emulsion, meaning your hollandaise is less likely to curdle.

At the same time, though, we don't want to get the yolks too hot, either. Egg yolks lose their emulsifying powers when cooked, which is why we use this gentler, less direct method of warming them.

Remove From Heat and Begin Slowly Adding Butter

Remove From Heat and Begin Slowly Adding Butter

Remove From Heat and Begin Slowly Adding Butter

Add the melted butter slowly at first, a few drops at a time, while whisking constantly. If you add it too quickly, the emulsion will break.

The Sauce Will Thicken As The Butter Is Added

The Sauce Will Thicken As The Butter is Added

The Sauce Will Thicken As The Butter Is Added

As the sauce thickens, you can gradually increase the rate at which you add the butter. As you can see here, the sauce has thickened quite a bit.

 

Whisk In Lemon Juice and Season To Taste

Whisk In Lemon Juice and Season To Taste

Whisk In Lemon Juice and Season To Taste

Whisk in the remaining lemon juice and season to taste with Kosher salt and cayenne pepper (or a dash of Tabasco sauce). The finished hollandaise sauce will have a smooth, firm consistency. If it's too thick, you can adjust the consistency by whisking in a few drops of warm water.

 

Serve Hollandaise Sauce Right Away

Serve Hollandaise Sauce Right Away

Serve Hollandaise Sauce Right Away

Hollandaise is a wonderfully rich, lemony and buttery sauce that goes beautifully with eggs, vegetables and poached fish.

You can hold a hollandaise for about an hour or so, provided you keep it warm. One way to do this is to set the bowl atop the saucepan of warm water you used earlier. Letting it cool can cause it to break, although it can be rescued by whisking in some hot water. Likewise, it can break if it gets too hot (hollandaise is a bit like Goldilocks), in which case whisking in some cold water can sometimes save it.

In no case, though, should you keep it longer than a couple of hours; after that, you should just toss it.

 

SOURCES : http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/buttersauces/ss/hollandaise.htm