Bearnaise Sauce Recipe
Bearnaise Sauce is wonderful on most types of seafood, and equally as good on meats and poultry.
In his Les Halles Cookbook Anthony Bourdain said something like, “Bearnaise can smell fear.” It’s true! If you haven’t made it before, be confident and pay attention, or the sauce will break on you. Pay careful attention to the bowl the sauce is in, if you need a towel to hold it, it’s probably too hot. You will learn an instinct as to when to pull the bowl from the heat after making it quite a few times.
In my humble opinion the best way to learn this sauce is to really mess it up once, you’ll make it right every time afterward.
Bearnaise Sauce Recipe
2 tsp Tarragon Vinegar
2 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice
3 Egg Yolks
2 tsp Finely Chopped Tarragon
1/2 Cup Clarified Butter, warm
Kosher Salt & Cayenne Pepper
1 Dash Hot Sauce
A few drops Worcestershire Sauce
Place the vinegar, lemon juice, and egg yolks in the top deck of a double boiler. The water in the lower deck should be hot but not boiling.
Whisk slowly until you see the yolks start to coagulate on the sides. If the pan gets too hot, remove it from the heat for a minute, whisking constantly.
Whisk while cooking, minding the bowl temperature, until the yolks are lighter in color and do not leave yellow streaks when the whisk goes through them. If you see any signs of scrambling, remove the bowl from the heat.
When the yolk/acid mixture is good and thick, remove from the heat, add the Tarragon, and slowly drizzle in the clarified butter, whisking constantly, until incorporated.
Add the hot and worcestershire sauces, and season to taste with the salt & cayenne. I also like to add a squeeze more of lemon juice here also.
If the sauce is a little too thick, you can thin it down with a few splashes of hot water.
Makes about 2/3 Cup
Your website is unpleasant because it requires me to print 4 pages for a one page recipe, 3 of them junk. Printer ink and paper are expensive.
Mike
Comment by Michael Dreyer — February 22, 2008 @ 7:34 pm
Mike - This is a free website with zero advertisements which I pay to keep up. I suggest you try one of the following:
1) Buy a cookbook (if you want to see expensive, ya’ cheap bastard) or:
2)Learn how to copy and paste on a computer.
I’m going to leave it at that before I say something else that is “unpleasant”.
Comment by Danno — February 23, 2008 @ 1:14 am
hear hear! lets give it up for danno. Mike, you are unpleasant because you smell like armpit cheeses.
Comment by Greg — March 31, 2008 @ 5:05 pm
Danno, this site is a Godsend. I was in NOLA in January, to watch the Sugar Bowl and since I’ve been back I’ve had the weekly knack for some NOLA cuisine. I’ve now made several of your recipe’s and they’ve ALL turned out superb! Thank you for sharing your culinary talents and making all of our palates happy! (and our stomachs fat)
Comment by Shannon Fernandez — April 1, 2008 @ 8:26 am
what is the technique for the souffle potatoes.. i have heard many but without pefection
Comment by al agosti — April 23, 2008 @ 1:37 pm
Hey Mike! Take a “HIKE!!!”
We don’t need you.
Comment by Vino4dino — April 30, 2008 @ 11:00 pm
This website is a “Godsend.” Love it or leave it.
Comment by Vino4dino — April 30, 2008 @ 11:03 pm
WHAT DO YOU PUT BEARNAISE SAUCE ON? IT’S IN MY CROSSSWORD PUZZLE. LETTERS ARE -E—S–R. THANK YOU. VIRGINIA
Comment by Virginia Youssef — May 5, 2008 @ 1:22 pm
What a great website!
Comment by Virginia Youssef — May 5, 2008 @ 1:23 pm