Post by chrisg on May 11, 2014 17:35:23 GMT 10
I kinda prefer Bearnaise for most things but being Mother's Day breakfast/brunch and step-daughter coming to visit thought I'd glam up the family favorite of poached eggs on toast with some real Hollandaise and make Eggs Benedict.
So, already had some smoked salmon, picked up some fresh spinach and being time poor settled for Lawson's country bread because mine would not have been ready in time. If you need bread for something in a hurry Lawson's is pretty good.
I think all of the Hollandaise family of sauces intimidate many cooks but really it's not THAT hard.
Once upon a time I used to make them from scratch with a whisk but a food processor makes for carefree whisking, or a stab mixer, or a blender. I kinda prefer the old methods but a bit of electric muscle doesn't go astray sometimes
Separated three eggs, enough for sauce for three, actually had some left over, and put the yolks in my small processor, it's Cuisinart, honestly the old Sunbeam Oskar was better but mine died and they don't make them any more, but the C is not bad.
Gave the yolks a good process until they were a nice slightly thickened deep yellow mix ( large eggs, never seen the reason for small ones )
Melted three generous tablespoons of butter, salted, but up to you, in a butter warmer, which is really just a small thin pan that has a stand to put it over a tealight but today I just chucked it on the gas with a simmer plate under and raised the heat once it had melted until it was just bubbling but not spitting. The classic recipe says add the butter gradually but you don't really need to for small quantities, if you do your electric helper needs a chute. I just added it in one pour to the yolks, tossed in some sea salt and white ground pepper and gave it a thorough process before adding about half a tablespoon of lemon juice and processing again.
This produces a somewhat thin emulsion but that's fine, give it a taste, if it needs some more lemon add it and process in.
Now I poured the sauce back into the butter warmer pan and put it back over a very low heat on the gas, whisking every few minutes.
It reduces and thickens, don't want it anywhere near boiling, just pull it off if the guests are late (ours was) and again whisk it well from time to time, just a small hand whisk or fork to prevent a skin forming and to pick up any treacherous egg wanting to settle on the bottom. I added a bit more pepper to taste but otherwise it was there, a lovely rich yellow delicious sauce that amped the whole meal. Gently warmed it again whilst whisking before pouring.
( The meal itself was buttered toast, wilted spinach leaves, smoked salmon, poached eggs, a purist would coddle, warm hollandaise poured over and a good grate of black pepper, in layers. )
Two things can go astray with this and most all buttery sauces that involve anything acidic, they can get too thick, which is not so bad, or they can crack, the latter can be too much heat or an acidic reaction. The solution for both is an ice cube or iced water and whisk.
Now, that wasn't hard
There is a pic, on step-daughter's 'phone will post it when I get it
It vanished pretty fast so guess it was fine
BTW, the hot butter raises the temp quite enough to remove any fear of salmonella infected eggs although ours here have not had that problem.
These sauces seem to have a sort of mystique, the French love to make cooking mysterious
In reality they are just a case of a bit of care and keeping heat low.
Cheers
So, already had some smoked salmon, picked up some fresh spinach and being time poor settled for Lawson's country bread because mine would not have been ready in time. If you need bread for something in a hurry Lawson's is pretty good.
I think all of the Hollandaise family of sauces intimidate many cooks but really it's not THAT hard.
Once upon a time I used to make them from scratch with a whisk but a food processor makes for carefree whisking, or a stab mixer, or a blender. I kinda prefer the old methods but a bit of electric muscle doesn't go astray sometimes
Separated three eggs, enough for sauce for three, actually had some left over, and put the yolks in my small processor, it's Cuisinart, honestly the old Sunbeam Oskar was better but mine died and they don't make them any more, but the C is not bad.
Gave the yolks a good process until they were a nice slightly thickened deep yellow mix ( large eggs, never seen the reason for small ones
)Melted three generous tablespoons of butter, salted, but up to you, in a butter warmer, which is really just a small thin pan that has a stand to put it over a tealight but today I just chucked it on the gas with a simmer plate under and raised the heat once it had melted until it was just bubbling but not spitting. The classic recipe says add the butter gradually but you don't really need to for small quantities, if you do your electric helper needs a chute. I just added it in one pour to the yolks, tossed in some sea salt and white ground pepper and gave it a thorough process before adding about half a tablespoon of lemon juice and processing again.
This produces a somewhat thin emulsion but that's fine, give it a taste, if it needs some more lemon add it and process in.
Now I poured the sauce back into the butter warmer pan and put it back over a very low heat on the gas, whisking every few minutes.
It reduces and thickens, don't want it anywhere near boiling, just pull it off if the guests are late (ours was) and again whisk it well from time to time, just a small hand whisk or fork to prevent a skin forming and to pick up any treacherous egg wanting to settle on the bottom. I added a bit more pepper to taste but otherwise it was there, a lovely rich yellow delicious sauce that amped the whole meal. Gently warmed it again whilst whisking before pouring.
( The meal itself was buttered toast, wilted spinach leaves, smoked salmon, poached eggs, a purist would coddle, warm hollandaise poured over and a good grate of black pepper, in layers. )
Two things can go astray with this and most all buttery sauces that involve anything acidic, they can get too thick, which is not so bad, or they can crack, the latter can be too much heat or an acidic reaction. The solution for both is an ice cube or iced water and whisk.
Now, that wasn't hard
There is a pic, on step-daughter's 'phone will post it when I get it
It vanished pretty fast so guess it was fine
BTW, the hot butter raises the temp quite enough to remove any fear of salmonella infected eggs although ours here have not had that problem.
These sauces seem to have a sort of mystique, the French love to make cooking mysterious
In reality they are just a case of a bit of care and keeping heat low.
Cheers
