Day two: The perfect hollandaise recipe
Posted on | April 16, 2009
There are a handful of items in my learn-or-die-trying list.
Omelets, sure. And mayonnaise (which I understand is the cold version of hollandaise). A spectacular salad. Shellfish. And, of course, hollandaise.
Today, I hit my first must-learn item: Hollandaise. And this is how it went.
“It’s just a stick of butter and an egg yolk.”
~ Chef Rushmore
If you had any idea how easy it is to make a hollandaise, you would totally pass out. You wouldn’t die or anything, just pass out.
If you know how much butter was in there, however, you would totally die. Or order it a lot less.
I ended up making two, not one, and both were incredibly tasty.
So I’ve got a recipe for you. I put it at the end of this post. And it is so easy you’ll wonder why you don’t do this every day. Oh, yes, all that butter. That’s why! Still, this is good to impress the boyfriend Sunday morning.
And as for my day …
So how did I end up making a hollandaise twice?
I made the first one because my team member, Stern Girl, told me to. “Here, you make it,” she said. Believing that I was more familiar with it than her.
Eating? Sure. Making? Erm, no.
Still, no complaints. It was why I was at culinary school. So I was happy to do it.
Unfortunately, however, while I was learning how to do that, she was learning how to make all sorts of eggs. Practice I could have used.
Still, my hollandaise turned out nicely.
Hollandaise, do it again for the first time
Then the chef decided we would have a hollandaise challenge; team against team.
So I got to make a second one.
(And where, you are asking, was our other team member? He went home for Easter and has yet to return.)
We made a lovely hollandaise: Light and creamy with a lovely, gentle, lemony taste. In fact, a few students said it was the best one there. So why didn’t we win the challenge? Alas, we didn’t make enough. See, we were required to make one quart and we were short by at least a few ounces.
Oh, and lemme tell you what it’s like to cook with lemons when you have a scratch on your hand. Suddenly that tiny little kitten scratch feels about leopard deep. Yow!
“There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich.”
~ Bubba (Forest Gump)
Now that I’ve worked with Stern Girl in the kitchen, I can tell you I think she is going to be great.
How great? Well, while I was getting a head start on our first hollandaise, she was running around getting all our mise en place. Without me having to tell her to do so. And without me having to tell her what to get. And, when she brought me lemons and I told her they needed to be squeezed, She did it so quickly I didn’t even see her do it (“Hey, where are those lemons?” “They’re there, behind your bowl.”)
Excellent.
The only thing she does is speak loudly, very loudly, and talk on and on (Later on, when we were talking about strawberries, she did the fruit version of Bubba from Forest Gump. Who knew there was that much to say about strawberries?) Still, I can deal with a little talking from anyone who is that organized and hard-working.
“It’s a cluster fornication.”
~ Chef Rushmore
And, pray tell, what does the future hold?
We are developing a breakfast menu, some of which we will have to cook to order in a few days. Our missing team member, who was supposed to confer with us via email, is not responding to any of our messages. So Stern Girl (who is called that only because she looks stern) and I have done all the work ourselves.
All the work being creating a menu we are, in part, required to cook. So this included everything from menu creation (including naming the dishes, describing them, and setting a price on them) to recipe resourcing / adapting / creating for all main items, side dishes, and toppings.
There are more things to do, including plating diagrams (what food goes where), but we haven’t discussed that in class. yet.
Then, when all this is done, we are going into the kitchen and the chef will order off the menu and we’ll have to cook whatever he orders.
The team that cooks the most plates, wins.
Recipe for hollandaise sauce so good he (or she) will totally propose on the spot
First, you need some clarified butter. If you don’t have any around (and who, outside of a chef, ever does?), then just plunk a least two cups of butter into a pot and put the burner on low, low, low. You don’t want a simmer or any type of violent cooking; you want to let those milk solids gently sink to the bottom of your pan. Then, once your butter is melted and your milk solids are on the bottom of your pan (you can see them down there, looking all milky), just ladle out the froth on top (discard this), ladle out the top layer of butter fat (this is your clarified butter), and throw away the milk solids on the bottom.
Put that clarified butter into a waiting pot at a very low heat.
Next (or while you are waiting for your butter to melt so you can make clarified butter) make your reduction.
This is just white wine vinegar, crushed white peppercorns, white wine, and minced scallions. You want to use, oh, say half an ounce, each, of the liquids and about 1/4 teaspoon of the peppercorns and one or two scallions. You pop these into a pot and simmer them until you are left with about a tablespoon or two of the liquid.
Got your clarified butter? Got your reduction? Good! Then take this time to bring a pot of water to a simmer. You will put a bowl, within which you will mix your hollandaise, on top of this pot, but off the heat. You do this to keep your hollandaise warm. So get a pot that can hold your bowl.
Okay, now you are ready to do the hollandaise boogie.
Put your pot of water on your counter (use a trivet, if needed) and your bowl on top of your pot. Put two egg yolks into your bowl and a tablespoon or so of your reduction.
Whip those egg yolks. Now, most places tell you to whip them until you get ribbons. To see those ribbons, lift your whisk above your bowl. Your whipped egg yolk should run off your whip and into your bowl in a nice ribbon. I, however, find it easier to look for a color change. See, you are whipping air into your egg mixture, so it will, of course, lighten. When it changes from dark orange (yolk color) to pale yellow (butter color), then that is the equivalent of ribbon.
Your eggs are also thickening at this point.
Now, is time to start drizzling in your butter. Do this a few drops at a time, whipping continuously and making sure all butter is absorbed into your mixture before you add more.
Once you have put about four ounces of butter in there, and whipped it so it is incorporated with your egg, then you have an emulsion. At this point, you can start to add your butter faster and faster, more and more at a time.
Keep going until you have used all of your butter. Then, add whatever flavorings you like. I put in freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt, and a few drops of Tabasco. My chef also adds Worchestire sauce, just a few drops, but I preferred it without.
Pour over poached eggs or asparagus or whatever you like and keep a clean napkin handy to wipe away those tears of joy.
Comments
4 Responses to “Day two: The perfect hollandaise recipe”
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April 17th, 2009 @ 2:51 am
hollandaise is so easy to do and it’s so good!
i’m always doing maybe one time week
April 17th, 2009 @ 4:14 pm
I gotta try that.
April 17th, 2009 @ 9:28 pm
Oh that sounds heavenly! You might have inspired me to give it a try! I have some lovely asparagus that is just begging for some!
May 18th, 2009 @ 6:39 pm
Thanks! I am so interested in trying this one. Yum!