Makes 2 cups / Prep time: 20 minutes /
Cook time: 10 minutes, plus 15 minutes cooling time
You might think this sauce looks like a great deal of work, and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong, but the luscious spoon-coating creation at the end of the process is more than worth the effort. Hollandaise does not keep longer than about 2 hours and only that long if the temperature in your kitchen is not too hot, so don’t make more than you can use in one meal. Try adding some chopped tarragon to the hollandaise if you want to make a béarnaise sauce instead.
1 & ½ cups unsalted butter
4 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons cold water
Juice of 1 small lemon, about 4 teaspoons
Pinch sea salt
1. Place a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over very low heat and melt the butter.
2. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the melted butter stand
for 5 minutes.
3. Carefully skim the foam from the top of the melted butter.
4. Very slowly pour the clarified part of the butter (it should be a clear
yellow color) into a container, leaving the milky solids in the bottom of
the saucepan.
5. Discard the milky solids and let the clarified butter cool in the container until it is just warm, about 15 minutes.
6. Put a medium saucepan with about 3 inches of water in it over medium heat until the water simmers gently.
7. In a large stainless steel bowl, add the egg yolks and 2 teaspoons of cold water and whisk them until they are foamy and light, about 3 minutes.
8. Add 3 or 4 drops of the lemon juice to the yolks and whisk for
about 1 minute.
9. Place the bowl onto the mouth of the saucepan, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the simmering water.
10. Whisk the yolks until they thicken a little, about 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the bowl from the simmering water.
11. In a very thin stream, add the clarified butter to the yolk mixture, whisking continuously, until you have used up all the butter and your sauce is thick and smooth. If you add the butter too quickly, the sauce will break.
12. Whisk in the remaining lemon juice and the salt.
13. This sauce should be used right away or held for only about 1 hour. Throw away any unused sauce.
PER SERVING (1 TABLESPOON)
Calories: 173; Fat: 17g; Protein: 5g; Carbs: 1g;
Fiber: 0g; Net Carbs: 1g; Fat 86%/ Protein 11%/ Carbs 3%