Béarnaise Sauce
Béarnaise Sauce is a variation of Hollandaise sauce, one of the 5 “mother sauces” in classical French cookery, and considered by many to be one of the finest sauces to serve with steaks. Notoriously difficult to make by hand, this recipe uses a much easier method that yields exactly the same result – in 2 minutes flat.
It’s so fast, you could even make the Béarnaise while your cooked steak is resting! Béarnaise Sauce is a stunning French sauce usually served with steak at fine dining restaurants and high-end steakhouses. Traditionally it’s made by hand. Yolks are combined with a herb-infused vinegar reduction over a double boiler, then melted butter is carefully and slowly drizzled in while whisking. Too fast and the sauce will split. Too hot and the eggs will scramble. Too cool and it won’t thicken properly. Tricky! The good news? There’s an easy and foolproof way to make Béarnaise sauce using a stick blender. While traditionalists will turn their nose up at the thought of employing a 20th-century appliance, the reality is that the end result is exactly the same as hand-whisked – but in a fraction of the time, and with a fraction of the risk! In fact, it takes less than 2 minutes. So you could even make Béarnaise sauce while your steak is resting after cooking!
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ tbsp white wine , dry, not too fruity, sweet or woody
- 1 ½ tbsp white wine vinegar
- ¼ tsp black pepper , coarsely crushed
- 1 eschallot (small), peeled and finely sliced
- 2 sprigs tarragon
- 3 egg yolks , at room temperature
- ¼ tsp salt , kosher/cooking salt
- 225g / 16 tbsp unsalted butter , cut into 1cm / 1" cubes – 2 US sticks
- ½ tbsp tarragon leaves , finely chopped
- ½ tbsp chervil , finely chopped