If you enjoy Hollandaise sauce on poached eggs and steamed vegetables, you'll love the extra kick of Bearnaise. This can also be spooned over fish, roast beef, and chicken dishes or served on the side with a nice steak.
Instructions
Practice Makes Perfect With This Classic Sauce
1. Rinse and pat dry a one ounce bunch of fresh tarragon. Chop the bunch coarsely (including the stems) and set aside.
2. Chop two medium-sized shallots into fine bits and set aside.
3. Cube 1-1/2 sticks of unsalted butter and set aside.
4. Pour the wine and the sherry vinegar into a medium-sized saucepan, add the chopped tarragon and finely chopped shallots and bring this mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and allow the mixture to simmer until the liquid has been reduced to roughly two tablespoons. Using a mesh strainer, drain off the liquid into a small bowl. To make sure you squeeze out as much liquid as possible, press the back of the wooden spoon against the interior of the strainer.
5. Separate two yolks. If you own an egg strainer, this part is easy because you're delicately cracking each egg into the strainer and allowing the white portion of the egg to dribble out through the slit. If you don't have an egg strainer, you'll need to crack the eggs into a bowl and, holding the yolks back lightly with your fingers, allow the white portion to drain off.
6. Wash and dry the medium saucepan, pour the earlier reduction you've prepared back into the pan and add to this the egg yolks, a tablespoon of cold water, and just a dash of salt. You'll then place the saucepan in a large flat-bottom pan that is filled with two or three inches of water. Heat the burner to low and gently whisk the eggs.
7. Add the cubes of butter in small batches at a time and gently whisk. Add a dash of cayenne, lemon juice, and two tablespoons of dry crushed tarragon leaves. When everything has been evenly blended, the Bearnaise sauce is ready to use immediately. If you're still prepping the rest of your meal, you'll want to pour it into a heat-resistant bowl that can be placed into a stove top pan of lightly simmering water until you're ready to serve it.
Tags: gently whisk, white portion
