Recipe: Hollandaise Sauce (2) for Robert (Traditional method)

Hollandaise Sauce
Servings 2-2/3 cups

1 pound unsalted butter
4 tablespoons margarine
4 egg yolks
2 teaspoons white wine
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Melt the butter and margarnie in a 1-quart saucepan over low heat. Raise heat and bring to a rapid boil. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes. Skim foam from the top and discard. Pour butter into a large glass measuring cup and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a medium-size stainless steel mixing bowl or in the top of a double boiler, combine all the remaining ingredients. Mix together with a metal whisk until blended.

Place bowl over a pan of slowly simmering (hot boiling) water. (Bowl must never touch the water.) Vigorously whisk the egg mixture, picking up the bowl frequently to let the steam escape; whip until the egg mixture is very light and creamy and has a sheen, about 6 to 8 minutes. (This amount of beating is important so that the cooked eggs will beter be able to hold the butter.) Remove bowl from the pan of hot water. Gradually ladle about 1/4 cup of the butter mixture (use the top butterfat, not the butter solids on the bottom) into the egg mixture while vigorously whipping the sauce; make sure the butter you add is well mixed into the sauce before adding more. Continue gradually adding the surface butterfat until you've added about 1 cup.

So that you can get to the butter solids, ladle out and reserve about 1/2 cup surface butterfat into a separate container. (The butter solids add flavor and also thin the sauce.) Gradually ladle all but 1/3 cup of the bottom solids into the sauce, whisking well. (Use any remaining bottom solids in another dish.) Then gradually whisk in enough of the reserved top butterfat to produce a fairly thick sauce. (The butterfat thickens the sauce, so you may not need to use it all.) Serve immediately (or as soon as possible, keeping the sauce in a warm place, such as on top of the stove, until ready to serve).

Hollandaise Sauce

1 1/3 cup unsalted butter
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon strained freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground white pepper or a pinch of cayenne pepper

In a medium saucepan, completely melt the butter over medium-low heat. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside for 5 minutes. Skim and discard the white foam that rises to the surface of the butter. Carefully ladle or pour the clear golden butter into a container with a pouring spout. Take care not to add the milky solids and watery liquid at the bottom of the pan. Set the butter aside in a warm spot.

Fill a medium saucepan with a couple inches of water, and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the egg yolks and the cold water. Whisk until the yolks are light and frothy. Place the bowl over the simmering water and whisk constantly and vigorously until the yolks are thickened and light, about 3 to 4 minutes. (If the eggs begin to scramble or the mixture is cooking very quickly or gets too hot, remove the bowl from the heat and whisk to cool). Remove the eggs from the heat and whisk for 30 seconds to cool slightly.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and set the bowl over the hot water. Slowly drizzle the butter into the eggs while whisking constantly. Whisk in the lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste. (If the sauce is very thick add a few drops of warm water to adjust the consistency so it is creamy and light.) Serve immediately or keep the hollandaise sauce in a small bowl set over warm, but not hot water, for about 30 minutes or in a warmed thermos for about an hour.
Yield: about 1 1/2 cups