Recipe: Hollandaise Sauce

I learned to make this while watching Tyler Florence on Food Network. Then with Jamie Oliver on YouTube and Gordon Ramsay on MasterChef. Anything cooked in a double boiler sounds complicated for an ordinary home cook like me. It's a lot to take in considering I'm used to just putting plain mayonnaise on eggs. Hehehe. Well now it's time to learn and level up your sauces, girl. This is great with eggs benedict, poached, steamed or pan fried fish and also with veggies like blanched asparagus. This is best when made fresh on the moment when its served. I store unused hollandaise in the fridge for a few days only since it contains semi cooked egg yolks. I don't recommend pre-making this sauce days ahead. This recipe serves 4 for individual dishes like eggs benedict.

Hollandaise Sauce

• 4 egg yolks
• Juice of half a lemon
• Pinch of garlic powder (Optional. Traditionally there is none but I like the garlic flavor.)
• Pinch of cayenne powder
• Pinch of salt
• Dash of white pepper (pictured is black pepper since I don't have white pepper at that moment.)

Procedure:

1. Whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a stainless steel or glass bowl and until the mixture is slightly doubled in volume.
2. Place the bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water (or use a double boiler).Careful not to let the water touch the bottom of the bowl.
3. Continue to whisk rapidly and be careful not to let the eggs get too hot or they will scramble. (Remove from heat if it feel its too hot and continue to whisk vigorously. Add a few drops of water to  bring the temperture down and to prevent it from splitting)
4. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter and continue to whisk until the sauce is thickened and doubled in volume.
5. Remove from heat, whisk in garlic powder, cayenne, salt and pepper.
6. Cover and place in a warm spot until ready to use.
7. If the sauce gets too thick, whisk in a few drops of warm water or milk if preferred before serving. It should have a pourable consistency like a syrup

Happy Eats!

Note: If you are used to making this recipe, you might want to try the shortcut version using the microwave instead of the double boiler. For my microwave at home, I used 10 seconds only. See recipe and technique here:
Microwave Hollandaise