How to make Hollandaise Sauce & Eggs Benedict

A superfast and easy version of eggs benedict

By Cookbad


Hollandaise is so easy, I could make it hungover - and I will, next time because Eggs Benedict is a potent hangover cure.

All it is is butter, egg yolk, salt, pepper and lemon. It is a lot like mayonnaise, but made with clarified butter instead of oil.

In theory, it could be pretty easy to fuck up because you are trying to get the hot butter and eggs to emulsify without cooking he egg yolks, which cook pretty damn easily.

Here is my pretty hard to fuck up method:

Makes about 1.5 cups

4 egg yolks
1 1/4 cup butter
salt, pepper to taste
the juice of 1/2 - 1 lemon

Beat the egg yolks until they are pale.
Heat the butter in a small sauce pan and skim the white foamy stuff off the top. Keep it pretty hot but do not let it bubble. Let the milk solids in the butter sink to the bottom.

Melted butter after most of the foam has been skimmed.

discarded butter foam

Keep beating the egg yolks and very slowly pour in a bit of hot butter. Let it emulsify, then add some more, then a bit more until the butter is gone. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice, and you're done. Serve immediately. If you can't and you want to keep it hot, put it over a very low double boiler and stir often.

the finished unbroken product

It didn't break? Did it.

Now to put it to good use:

Eggs Benedict:

Makes 1 serving

Toast up an English muffin. If you don't have one, a nice thick piece of toasted good bread will do. If you want to make some english muffins, go here.

Poach 2 eggs.

Fry up some canadian bacon, ham or rashers of bacon. If you are making rasher and have some asparagus laying around, toss it in the pan with the bacon, It takes them about the same amount of time to cook and the asparagus is nice side.

Make the hollandaise.

Place ham on bread or muffin, place poached egg on pork, slather with hollandaise.

Eat.

Atethat, who lives in the UK told me that there are no English muffins there (makes sense!) and also, she had only seen eggs benedict at restaurants that cater to tourists.

I think that is a crime.

How to make Mayonnaise

Delicious homemade mayonnaise

By Cookbad

Just testing out the recipe we are using in the upcoming Fresh Eggs Don't Float book.

And hooray! It's good.

Makes about 2 cups:
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard or 1/4 teaspoon of dry mustard
1.5 cups of virgin olive oil or canola oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
salt, pepper

You can make it in a blender, with a hand mixer or a standing mixer. You can make it by hand if you think your arm will hold out.

It's good to have all these ingredients as well as the bowl and whisk at room temperature, but I didn't and it worked out just fine.

Whisk the egg yolks and mustard until they are pale yellow. Put your oil into something that will allow you to pour it very slowly. While the egg yolks are being beaten slowly pour 1/2 teaspoon on oil into the yolk. When if has emulsified add another 1/2 teaspoon and so on. Towards the end, you can start to pour in the oil a bit faster, but if you incorporate it too quickly, the mayonnaise will break. Add salt, pepper, the juice of 1 lemon and 1/2 -1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar.

All told it took me about 30 minutes to make. I wouldn't have had that sort of patience or stamina if I wasn't using the standing mixer.

From mayonnaise you can make all sorts of sauces and spreads:

Aioli
Andalouse
Bacon Mayonnaise
Blue Cheese Dressing
Cambridge Sauce
Chantilly Mayonnaise
Gloucester Sauce
Green Goddess Dressing
Gribiche
Curry Mayonnaise
Remoulade
Rouille
Sauce Vert
Tartare Sauce
Thousand Island Dressing
Sauce Vincent

If you want very quick recipes for each of these sauces, click onto the mayonnaise family tree chart, find you sauce and add on to mayonnaise whatever ingredients are called for. Here is the chart. Click on it to see a much LARGER version:

double click for a bigger verison

All the chart recipes are the ingredients listed + 1 cup of mayonnaise

Joy of Cooking says that you cannot make mayonnaise in a thunderstorm, because it will not bind. I am so looking forward to testing that theory out.

Let me know if that chart is weird or hard to understand or just plain wrong.

Garlic and Rosemary Lamb Chops with a Balsamic Reduction

For balsamic syrup
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1/8 teaspoon black peppercorns

For chard
1 bunch Swiss chard (1 lb)
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon water

For lamb chops
8 rib lamb chops (1 1/4 lb total), trimmed of all fat
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Preparation
Make syrup:
Simmer syrup ingredients in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart nonreactive saucepan (see cooks' note, below) over moderate heat until just syrupy and reduced to about 1/4 cup, about 8 minutes. Pour through a sieve into a small bowl, discarding rosemary and peppercorns.

Sauté chard:
Cut stems and center ribs from chard, discarding any tough portions, then cut stems and ribs crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Stack chard leaves and roll into cylinders. Cut cylinders crosswise to make 1-inch-wide strips.

Cook onion and garlic in oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to soften, about 4 minutes. Add chard stems and ribs, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until stems are just tender, about 6 minutes. Stir in chard leaves and water and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes.

Broil chops while chard cooks:
Preheat broiler. Sprinkle chops with garlic, salt, rosemary, and pepper, then broil on a lightly oiled broiler pan, 4 to 5 inches from heat, turning over once, for medium-rare, 6 to 7 minutes total. Serve chops and chard drizzled with balsamic syrup.

Cooks' note:
Stainless steel and enameled cast iron are nonreactive, but avoid pure aluminum and uncoated iron.


I got this recipe from Epicurious. It’s a really great website for recipe ideas.

I chose this one for Valentine’s day because lamb chops are good and pretty festive, and also because this recipe looks and sounds really impressive, even though it’s super easy and fast.

It worked out great.

I couldn’t find any Chard, so I used some other greens instead. They came out really wonderfully. The balsamic reduction takes no time at all, but tastes really good like a fancy sauce.

This was a great dish. It was tasty and easy to make and it felt very special. Perfect Valentine’s day fare.

One Sauce base, and three sauces

Sauce Chasseur


Sauce Piquant


Madeira Sauce




Sauce Espagnole is what is commonly known as a “mother sauce”. Almost all of the thousands of French sauces are based on one of five “mother sauces”. This was a very easy version of the Sauce Espagnole. Really I should have started by making the stock myself and all that, but still, this gave me a very good base.

It takes hours to make, but it’s a great thing to try. If you are going to be home one day, make a big batch of this, and when it is done and cooled off, divide it into portions (about 1 cup each), and freeze them. That way when you want a quick mid-week meal, you can defrost the base, add a few things to it, and you’ll have an amazing and fancy sauce that has the benefits of being cooked for hours and hours, but you’ll have it in minutes.

I was so pleased with how well this worked out, that I have vowed to always have some in the freezer. Next time I will even make the stock myself too.

The sauce variations that I tried were:

Sauce Piquant
I loved this one. It’s made with capers and pickles, so it’s very unique. It was easy to make and it tasted fabulous. We used this sauce for cold leftover pork roast, and I think that it works particularly well with cold meat. I will use this sauce again and again. What a great way to dress up leftovers.


Sauce Chasseur
This one had a lot of good stuff in it. It had tomatoes and mushrooms and onions, and all kinds of good flavorings. It was also easy to do, and it was also fabulous. This one goes best with pork or chicken I would think. It is flavorful and lovely and makes a really refreshing change from plain old gravy.


And Madeira Sauce
This one was a bit of a disappointment. There was nothing wrong with it, but it wasn’t outstanding like the other two were. It’s a classic sauce, so there’s a good chance that I just need to find a better recipe for it. Someday I will try this again from another book.

And here are the recipes (they are all from Joy of cooking
…

Sauce Espagnole
Melt, in a large sauce pan over medium high heat:
8tbsp butter, or ½ cup beef drippings
Add and cook, stirring until the vegetables are caramelized and browned
½ cup finely chopped onions
½ cup finely chopped carrots
½ cup finely chopped celery
Reduce the heat to medium and add, stirring:
½ cup all purpose flour
Cook, stirring constantly, to make a brown roux, about 10 min. Gradually stir in:
8 cups cold brown beef stock
2 cups drained canned peeled tomatoes
½ cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley, including stems
1 bouquet garni
Bring just to a simmer. Immediately reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered, at a bare simmer, stirring occasionally and skimming the fat and any skin that forms on the surface, until the sauce is reduced by half, 2 to 2.5 hours. It should be the consistency of heavy cream, no thicker. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Stir the sauce occasionally as it cools to prevent a skin forming. Refrigerate, make into another sauce, or season to taste and use on it’s own.


Sauce Piquant
Melt in a medium saucepan over medium heat:
1tbsp butter, preferably unsalted
Add and cook, stirring till lightly browned:
2tbsp minced shallots
stir in and cook over medium-high heat until the liquid is almost evaporated:
2tbsp dry white wine
2tbsp white wine vinegar
stir in and simmer uncovered for 10 min:
1 cup Espagnole sauce
Just before serving, stir in:
1tbsp chopped fresh parsley or a mixture of fresh parsley, tarragon, and chervil
1tbsp minced cornichons or sour gherkins
1tbsp chopped drained capers (optional)
salt and ground pepper to taste


Sauce Chasseur
Melt in a medium saucepan over medium heat:
2tbsp butter, preferably unsalted
Add and cook, stirring until softened:
2tbp minced shallots or onions
Add and cook, stirring until lightly browned, about 5 min:
1 cup sliced mushrooms
add and simmer uncovered, until cooked down by half:
¼ cup dry white wine
2tbsp brandy
Add and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 min:
1 cup sauce espagnole
½ cup tomato puree (not the same as British Tomato puree, closer to chopped tomatoes)
Salt and ground Black pepper to taste
Just before serving, stir in:
1tbsp minced fresh parsley
1tbsp minced fresh chervil or tarragon (optional)
1 to 2 tbsp butter, softened (optional)


Madeira Sauce
Combine in a medium saucepan, over medium high heat, and simmer uncovered, until cooked down to 1 cup:
1 cup sauce Espagnole
¼ cup Madeira
1tsp meat glaze (optional)
Strain through a fine mesh sieve and stir in:
1/3 cup Madeira, dry sherry, or port
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Just befor serving, whisk in:
1tbsp butter, preferably unsalted, softened (optional)

Spinach sauce

800g spinach
40g butter
250ml milk
1tbsp plain flour (optional)
Salt and white pepper

Put the spinach in a large saucepan with just the water clinging to it’s leaves after washing and cook for 5 min. Drain, squeeze out as much liquid as possible, then puree in a food processor.
Melt the butter in another saucepan, and pour in the milk and the spinach puree. Season with salt. Cook over a medium heat, stirring the mixture occasionally, until thickened. If the sauce remains runny, stir in the flour and cook for 10 minutes.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and add more salt, if necessary, and white pepper to taste. If this sauce is served with pasta, hand around plenty of parmesan cheese.

Serve with short pasta, or with poached eggs.

hint: don’t use frozen spinach, the texture won’t be right.
also, if you are going to use the flour, be sure to cook for the whole 10 min. so you don’t get a floury taste

This was really good, and really fun too. It was shockingly bright green, which the boys loved. It turned out to be an excellent way to get them to eat massive amounts of spinach without complaining.

I got the recipe from The The Silver Spoon. One of the most wonderful cook books to have.

This was fast and easy and well received by all. I’d make it again.

Herb butter

7 anchovies
handful of fresh rosemary
3 cloves of garlic
pack of butter (250g)

All into the food processor and blended till it is totally smooth.

Scoop out onto some cling film, in a long tube shape, roll up, and freeze. Use as and when you need it.

This was from a Jamie Oliver tv show. It’s really handy to do, because it only takes a few minutes, and then you can keep it around for any time you want to add more flavor to something you are cooking. I used it (as he suggested), to cook some greens the other day. I tend to fall back on the same way to cook greens again and again. I sauté a little garlic, throw in the greens till wilted, add a touch of lemon juice. Now don’t get me wrong. I love greens made this way, but it’s nice to vary it a bit now and then. Jamie’s tips were to use this flavored butter, and also that you can use balsamic vinegar in place of the lemon juice.

I tried it and it was wonderful, and with the butter made up in advance, it took no time at all and was so full of flavor. I think it will come in handy for a lot of things, but even if I only use it for this, it would be worth having.

Red wine and sour cherry pan sauce

1/3 cup finely diced red onion
¼ cup dry red wine
¼ cup chicken stock or water
1/3 cup dried sour cherries
one 2-inch strip of lemon zest
1 tsp packed light brown sugar
½ tsp balsamic vinegar
½ tsp fresh thyme leaves
Salt and pepper
1tbsp butter, preferably unsalted, softened (optional)

After cooking steak, pork chops or chicken breasts, remove them to a platter and keep warm. Pour off all but 1tsp fat and heat over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook until just starting to soften and brown.
Add the wine, bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to loosen and dissolve any browned bits, and cook for 2-3 min.
Add stock, cherries, lemon zest, brown sugar, vinegar, and thyme. Cook stirring often over high heat until reduced by half and thickened, about 3 minutes. Discard the zest.
Season with salt and pepper, and swirl in the butter (if using).

This is just from plain old Joy of cooking. An underappreciated work horse of a book. I’d say that just about everybody that cooks in America has a copy of this book. I like to dip back into it from time to time.

I thought I’d try this one, because I made a balsamic and cherry dish before, and I wanted to know if a quick pan sauce would come out as well.

It was a really good sauce, and very easy. Just minutes from start to finish and you have a great way to make a boring old pork chop into a super fancy meal. It definitely gets points for that, and also for tasting so good.

It still didn’t move me the way the Chicken dish did, but it was a really wonderful sauce to have in you repetoire.