Hollandaise sauce

By: Margaret Fulton
From: The Margaret Fulton Cookbook
Photographer: Geoff Lung

A piquant sauce, creamy yellow in colour, and made of egg yolks, butter and lemon juice. It is served with vegetables, such as asparagus and broccoli, and with grilled or poached fish and poached eggs.

The main point to remember when making hollandaise sauce is to heat the egg yolks slowly and gradually. It is best to cook the egg yolk mixture in a basin over a saucepan of hot water, or in a double-boiler. Butter is added very gradually to the egg yolk mixture, rather in the way oil is added to mayonnaise, incorporating each small amount before adding the next. If added too quickly, the sauce will not thicken. Unsalted butter is the first choice for making these sauces, but you can also use salted butter.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
125g	unsalted butter
1-2 teaspoons	lemon juice, strained
3	egg yolks
2 teaspoons	water
A pinch	salt
	freshly ground white pepper

Method

Have the butter at room temperature, and cut into small pieces, each equivalent to about a teaspoonful.
Put a piece of butter with the lemon juice, egg yolks and water in the top half of a double-boiler, or in a bowl. Beat well for 1 minute, until combined. Place over a saucepan of barely simmering water, mix in the salt and pepper, and beat until it thickens to a smooth cream.
If the sauce thickens too quickly, and becomes lumpy, immediately stand the bowl or pan in cold water, then return to the heat, and beat until thick and smooth. Turn off the heat, or remove from the stove, and add the butter one piece at a time, stirring briskly until each piece is well incorporated. For perfect smoothness, it is essential to keep beating without stopping between additions of butter. Taste and correct seasoning, if necessary.
Serve warm, not hot, as soon as possible. If sauce is to be kept, keep it no longer than 1 hour, put over a pan of lukewarm water and, just before serving, beat in 1 teaspoon of tepid water.

Tags:: The Margaret Fulton Cookbook; Margaret; Fulton

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