Easy Hollandaise

Ah, we've gotten past the big food feast of Thanksgiving and I have a little breathing room until Christmas is upon us. Just ask my kids...I won't even discuss Christmas for two more weeks. I torture them with lectures about how Advent is a season of waiting, not celebrating. "Do we celebrate your birthday a month before your birthday?" I ask them. They usually give up just around the time I plan to get the tree out -- in two weeks.

Anyway, I'm back with a recipe I tried on my husband's birthday, two Sundays past. He loves Eggs Benedict and usually asks for it for his birthday. I always groan because it is not an easy recipe to make for a crowd, and even when it's just us, that's a crowd, especially when it comes to poaching eggs, toasting English muffins and keeping the hollandaise from separating. When I made it this year for his birthday, I used a new recipe. It was so easy peasy, I will be making hollandaise much more often -- steamed asparagus here we come. I made four plates of Eggs Benedict -- that's four separate batches of poached eggs -- and the sauce never separated. Amazing. You're going to love it. I simply placed the blender down in a pot of hot water and it was perfect a good 20 minutes after I blended it. The recipe came from Simply Recipes and it is so simple. Simply Recipes offers the option of adding cayenne pepper, but I did not.

 

Easy Hollandaise

makes a bit more than 1 cup of sauce

Printer Version

3 egg yolks 

1 T. lemon juice

1/2 t. salt

10 T. unsalted butter (if using salted butter, skip the added salt)

Melt the butter slowly in a small pot. Try not to let it boil – you want the moisture in the butter to remain there and not steam away (I used the microwave for this step)

Place the egg yolks, lemon juice, and salt into your blender. Blend the egg yolk mixture at a medium to medium high speed until it lightens in color, about 20-30 seconds. The friction generated by the blender blades will heat the yolks a bit. The blending action will also introduce a little air into them, making your hollandaise a bit lighter.

Once the yolks have lightened in color, turn the blender down to its lowest setting (if you only have one speed on your blender it will still work), and drizzle in the melted butter slowly, while the blender is going. Continue to buzz for another couple seconds after the butter is all incorporated.

Turn off the blender and taste the sauce. It should be buttery, lemony and just lightly salty. If it is not salty or lemony enough, you can add a little lemon juice or salt to taste. If you want a thinner consistency, add a little warm water. Pulse briefly to incorporate the ingredients one more time.

Store until needed in a warm spot, like on or next to the stovetop (or in a pot of very warm water). Use within an hour or so.

Source: Simply Recipes

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