Two Easy Ways To Make Hollandaise For Your Mother’s Day Brunch

Two Easy Ways To Make Hollandaise For Your Mother’s Day Brunch

Eggs Benedict is the undisputed star of brunch, but that tricky Hollandaise sauce can frustrate even experienced home cooks. Luckily, we’ve found two super easy ways to make the silky sauce, neither of which requires a double boiler or a ton of whisking.

Our first method — which is featured in the above video — comes from Helen Rennie, and it can be executed by anyone, no matter how rudimentary your kitchen. (Heck, this could probably even be done on a hot plate; all you need is a sauce pan, whisk and heat source.) First, start out by adding a large sliced shallot to your pan, along with 1/2 a cup of wine, and reduce the wine by half. Remove the pan and scoop out the shallots, then return the pan to medium-high heat and add a whole stick of butter, along with a healthy squirt of lemon. When the butter is just about melted, reduce the heat to medium-low and give everything a good whisk. Add two large egg yolks, and whisk again until thick (this should take about 30 seconds). Season with salt, pepper, dill, chives or whatever else your little palate desires.

Our second method from ChefSteps is a little more modern, and involves an immersion circulator. The man of my dreams can break down the whole Benedict process for you in the above video, but the method could not be more foolproof. (Bonus: Since poached-style eggs sous vide at the same temperature as Hollandaise, you can cook everything in one big water bath.)

You’ll start by making a shallot reduction just as you did above, with 40g of champagne vinegar and 25g of minced shallots. (If weighing things in grams seems tedious, take comfort in the fact that this sauce is flawless, and well worth the tedium.) Once you have a flavorful shallot-y elixir, toss it in a freezer bag, along with 150g of salted butter, 85g of egg yolk, 60g of water, 20g of lemon juice, and 3g of salt. Let everything hang out in a 64C water bath for a couple of hours and, once you’re ready to wow your guests with a most impressive brunch, pour it in a blender and watch in amazement as it emulsifies into a flawless sauce.

The above ratios with make enough sauce for six bennies, but I scaled it up to serve about 20 people without any trouble whatsoever. Everyone was very impressed and well fed, and I’m sure your mama will be too.


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