Homemade Hollandaise Sauce

If you don’t know the infamous Julia Child by now, shame on you!  The recent movie Julie & Julia pretty much catapulted Julia Child’s name out into the great wide open, where those who didn’t know who she was before, probably know now. Oh how we love thee Julia.

A pioneer in French cooking in America, she almost single handedly brought French cooking to the US and made us realize, “Hey! We can cook like the French too.”  That’s why this post is dedicated to the lovely Miss Child; yesterday would have been her 100^th birthday.

In honor of the day I wanted to post something classically French. The French are known for their extraordinary sauces; so of course, we have to go with my most favorite of the five mother sauces of French cooking, hollandaise.

Velvety, buttery, lemony and decadently delicious. I love this sauce so much that I’ve been known to drink it straight from the bowl. Completely embarrassing, but hey, what can I say? Be forewarned, this is not a healthy sauce by any means so I wouldn’t consume it in the quantities that I do. A little bit should go a long way, but I suggest you make a double batch just in case you feel the urge to have a little more.

The base is egg yolks which gives the sauce it’s bright yellow color.  Place two egg yolks in a blender.

Squeeze in some lemon juice.

A little bit of cayenne pepper and salt.  Blend for about 30 seconds until smooth and combined.

Melt butter in a measuring glass about 15 seconds at a time until butter is completely melted.  While blender is running, slowly drizzle in butter until completely combined. Season to taste with salt and lemon juice.

Pour into serving dish.  Try to serve right away, but seeing as things rarely come together at the same time you can set aside.  When it comes time to reheat, either transfer to a double boiler and VERY gently warm over low heat or you can microwave for three second intervals stirring as you go until the sauce is warm again.  Be gentle with the sauce, if you reheat it too quickly or it gets too hot, it will curdle and let me tell you from experience, that would be just terrible. EASY DOES IT!

Homemade Hollandaise Sauce

2 egg yolks

3/4 stick of butter

Juice of half a lemon

Pinch of cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp salt

Place the egg yolks, lemon, cayenne, and salt in the bottom of blender.   Blend on high for 30 seconds until completely combined and creamy.  Melt butter 15 seconds at a time in the microwave, stirring after each interval.  Turn the blender back on for 5 seconds and then very slowly drizzle hot butter into egg yolk mixture until completely combined. Be sure to do this slowly if you  pour the butter in too fast the eggs will curdle. Season to taste with salt, cayenne, and lemon juice if necessary.  Serve right away.  If you have to wait to serve, gently heat the sauce back up in the microwave heating 3 seconds at a time, stirring in between each interval until warm.