Hollandaise Sauce

Hollandaise is a lemon and butter sauce, and is perfect for grilled fish, or an English breakfast, and this one is nice and easy.

This is the perfect Hollandaise sauce. Many recipes call for double-boilers or blenders, or other equally silly stuff. Nothing like that here though… just a tasty sauce in 5 minutes or so.

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

• 125g of salted butter (half a stick)
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3 or 4 tbsp. lemon juice (to taste)
• 4 tbsp. of water
• 1 pinch of Cayenne pepper

Method

• Separate the egg yolks into a reasonable size drinking glass or small bowl, being very careful not to include any white.
• Add the (strained) lemon juice and the water.
• With a small whisk or fork, whisk the contents until it is well mixed.
• Over low heat, melt the butter in a small saucepan (I use a milk pan).
• Add the egg and lemon juice mixture to the saucepan.
• Whisk the contents thoroughly (preferably using a whisk) until it thickens slightly and becomes a little fluffy, removing from heat occasionally to maintain low temperature. Keep agitated, do not allow to rest on heat.
• Add a pinch of Cayenne pepper, and whisk in.

If the sauce develops lumps, it's probably because your egg has cooked too quickly. It's important to keep the temperature low. You can blend it out if you can be bothered, but I suggest just starting again. You can't fail the second time.

If the sauce separates, add a table spoon of cream, and whisk. Ideally this should not be necessary.

Variations

When serving with scallops or full-flavoured fish, you can 'adult' this up a little by replacing the water with white wine. Perhaps use a bit less lemon juice if you do this.

Serving Suggestion

This is very quick, so it should be made last, and served immediately. Pour over fish or classic english breakfast. Ensure plenty of bread is available, as the sauce won’t allow you to waste it. Garnish with a sprig of parsley, or chopped chives… or nothing at all :)