What sauce? Hollandaise. It’s an emulsion. Like mayo. You know. Oil and some acidic liquid like vinegar or lemon juice mixed with egg yolks to thicken the mixture to the consistency of cream. But with Hollandaise, instead of oil, butter is used. What is it for? Well, I found some English muffins in the supermarket last weekend and decided I’d make Eggs Benedict for breakfast the following day. So, I did.
The thing is, I fell in love with Hollandaise sauce so badly that I decided it is worth a separate entry because I will be making more dishes using Hollandaise sauce and I’d be referring to the how-to-make-Hollandaise part all the time.
Ingredients
- 1/3 c. butter, at room temperature, cut into three portions
2 egg yolks
juice of half a lemon
cayenne pepper
Instructions
- If you don’t have a double boiler like me, just place a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Barely simmering. Meaning, the water should be hot but not boiling. For best results, the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. Mine did and I had a difficult time keeping the sauce smooth because the egg yolks were forever threatening to cook and curdle.
Place one portion of butter into the bowl.
Add the egg yolks.
Working fast, whisk until the butter is melted.
Add another piece of butter.
Whisk again.
Then, the last piece of butter.
And whisk again.
Now here’s the part where I have to explain why the next two photos are over-exposed. The camera was on a tripod and I was operating it with a timer. The sun decided to show itself from behind the clouds, I couldn’t leave the sauce in the pan to change the camera’s settings, so, never mind that all the photos from that point were overexposed.
So, add the lemon juice, whisking as you do.
Finally, the cayenne pepper.
The entire process shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes. If the sauce is exposed to heat for too long, the egg will cook and separate from the butter. So, remove the bowl from the pan and cover the sauce while you prepare the dish you’ll be needing it for. I don’t know if Hollandaise sauce will keep in the fridge. When I get to try that, I’ll let you know.
Cooking time (duration): 10 minutes
Number of servings (yield): 1/2 c. of Hollandaise sauce
sauce hollandaise yum
hmmmm…. correct me if I am wrong, isn’t it that you should have pour in melted butter in a thin line to let it incorporate one at a time? 
Some do it that way but it’s problematic for people who don’t like eating raw eggs. In this procedure (found in a Better Homes & Gardens cookbook), the eggs do get cooked.
I don’t mind hollandaise sauce but man, looking at all that butter in it I don’t know if I can do it anymore… even as an occasional thing. I say this as someone who will happily (but banned from) eat crusty white bread and butter 3 meals a day. I’m sure it’s terribly delicious, though.
This looks so much simpler than I thought. Salamat po sa mga pictures. I’ve always avoided eggs benedict b/c of this sauce.
BTW, I love your blog! At first I couldn’t read it without crying because seeing all your delicious recipes made me so homesick. (I haven’t been back to PI since ’98). But now I just look forward to trying these recipes and passing on a legacy to my kids. Thanks for all these recipes!
Sarap, I’ll use this for my brunch recipe tomorrow. I’m making chicory wrapped in bacon and Gouda cheese on a bed of potato purée! Winter comfort food! Thanks for the recipe!