Easy Hollandaise Sauce with Asparagus
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Easy Hollandaise Sauce?
Is there really an easy Hollandaise sauce in the world? Or are all Hollandaise sauces easy? We seem to have just bought into the idea that Hollandaise sauce strikes a mighty fear in the heart of chefs and non-chefs alike. It is a hard perception to remove since every blogger who has ever written about this sauce promises an easy hollandaise sauce, suggesting that the original one was hard. Between the time that the Huguenots created Hollandaise and the invention of the internet, we have somehow lost confidence in our ability to emulsify. Our egg yolks and butter have not changed, so it must be us!
It is nice to have a cadre of bloggers to soothe us through our broken sauce dreams, but I smell something nefarious burning on the stove. This can only be the work of the Brunch lobby keeping us down with every blogger named Mister and Miss Perception on the take. We feel the Burn-aise alright. These Benedict Egg Benedict Arnolds.
The more difficult Hollandaise seems, the more likely we are to search out poached eggs (which we are also told are hard to make) and Hollandaise sauce outside the home at your typical brunch locale. Poached eggs, hard to make? Another ruse.
The fear of having to make our own Hollandaise sauce is quickly soothed and lulled by frufru mimosas and boozy Bloody Marys. Not even the whine of brunching children forced to sit way too long can snap us out of our invented phobia of bringing oil and water together. It’s not like access to egg yolks is limited. As children should not be forced to sit for a whole day’s brunch, fear should not lie at the base of all sauce making.
BTW, how long can people sit at restaurant for heaven’s sake? It is like they have taken up permanent Brunch residence. It is no wonder why there is always a line – move it along would you? I am sure the people of the Errand Running lobby are quite pissed about this laziness. (No, I received no money from the Errand Running lobby.) As they say in latin – Brunchae Urinae A Volutpat Recessit. Brunch – Pissing A Weekend Away.
I’ll avoid controversy and the crushing power of the Brunch lobby by speaking of an easy Hollandaise sauce only in reference to that which would be put atop asparagus. Asparagus topped with an easy Hollandaise sauce, or even a difficult one, is rather a classic and, hopefully, not a brunch staple.
There are only a few things that can really go wrong when making a Holladaise and these are either related to temperature or adding too much fat such that the emulsifier in the egg yolks is overwhelmed.
The first thing that can go wrong is that the butter is too hot. A very hot butter (215F) is necessary for a blender or immersion blender
The next issue is that of scrambling the egg yolks. Even on a double boiler, the egg yolks can scramble. The trick is to make sure the water in the bottom part is barely simmering – about 180F. And keep whisking. Whisk
More often than not, a Hollandaise will break because too much fat is being emulsified. The addition of water in a recipe is a must, but making sure that the ratio of eggs yolks to butter is kept at 2:1/2 – 2 yolks to 1/2 cup of butter – is very important. This ratio will help ensure that the yolks can hold the sauce together. Whisking the butter into the egg yolks slowly is important, but not as important as the ratio.
Holding the sauce is also where things gets risky. The finished sauce should be held warm. If the sauce gets too hot, it will break. If it is too cold, it will solidify. The best thing to do is to hold the sauce in a thermos, but finding a warm spot on the stove with the sauce in a covered pot will do the trick. You can also keep the sauce in pot held in a warm water bath. If you are holding it for more than an hour, add cornstarch to the eggs. This will help stabilize the emulsion even more. Of course, it is just best to use the sauce immediately.
The Brunch lobby has no power over viral videos. Here is a helpful video for making asparagus and Hollandaise sauce. Help fight the Brunch lobby and share it! The steps to make the sauce are neither easy nor hard, they just are.
Here is the whole recipe all in one place! Down with Easy Hollandaise Sauce Up with Just Hollandaise Sauce!
- 1 lb of fresh green or white asparagus
- 2 eggs
- 1 lemon
- 1 tsp of corn starch (optional)
- 1 tbsp of water
- 1 stick of butter
- salt
- cayenne pepper
- Wash the asparagus. Remove the rough ends of the asparagus with a paring knife or by breaking them off.
- (Optional) Using a vegetable peeler, gently remove the outer skin of the asparagus stalk below the tip.
- Separate the eggs reserving the egg whites for another use.
- Cut the lemon in half and, using a reamer, squeeze the juice of the lemon into a bowl.
- In a heatproof bowl that can be the top of a double boiler, whisk together the egg yolks, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, 1 tbsp of water, the corn starch if using, a dash of salt and a dash of cayenne pepper. Whisk until well mixed.
- In a small pot, melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter is melted turn off the heat and allow the solids to settle to the bottom. For convenience and ease of drizzling, transfer the melted butter to a measuring cup or other vessel with a lip for pouring. Keep the butter warm.
- Set up a steamer on the stove and steam the asparagus until just tender about 1-3 minutes depending on the thickness of the stalks. Remove the asparagus from the steamer and set aside tented with foil to keep warm. You can also allow them to cool completely.
- Fill a pot that will hold the bowl containing the egg yolk mixture with about an inch of water. Turn the heat to medium and bring the water to a gentle simmer. Place the bowl with the egg yolk mixture on top of the pot. Whisk the egg yolks constantly until they double in volume, become pale, and form a thick ribbon with drizzled. Remove from the heat.
- Slowly drizzle the melted butter into the cooked egg yolks a little at a time making sure the butter is fully incorporated before adding more. Keep adding butter and whisking until all the butter is incorporated. If the sauce is too thick, slowly drizzle in warm water until it reaches the desired texture. Season to taste with extra lemon, salt and cayenne pepper.
- Spoon the sauce over the asparagus. Serve immediately.
I Hope You Enjoy!
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
Do you think there are any easy Hollandaise sauces? Let us know all about it in the comments or on Facebook.
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