Hollandaise Sauce
Ingredients
A rich, creamy sauce, hollandaise is most often served over or with vegetables, fish and egg dishes (most notably eggs benedict). It can be difficult to successfully make this sauce because you must whisk the ingredients at just the right temperature, usually using a double boiler.
Butter
Clarified butter is best and is easy to make. Melt butter slowly and let it sit for a while to separate into three layers. Skim off the foam that rises from the top, then pour the melted butter (the middle layer) off the milk solids at the bottom. This is the clarified butter. Eight tablespoons of butter will make about 6 tablespoons of clarified butter.
Egg Yolks
Separate the yolks from the whites by holding a cracked egg over a bowl and carefully letting the white seep out (but holding the shell halves together to keep the yolk separate). You can also crack the egg into a bowl and remove the yolk with a slotted spoon.
Lemon Juice
Freshly squeezed lemon juice (seeds removed) is best, however, store-bought will do. White wine vinegar can be used instead as well.
Salt and Cayenne Pepper
A pinch of both is all you need. Do not use kosher salt---the grains are too large for this delicate sauce.
Extras
Add capers to make sauce aux capres, whipped cream to make mousseline sauce, or chopped shallots, white wine vinegar and dried tarragon to make béarnaise sauce.
Tags: clarified butter, Hollandaise Sauce, Hollandaise Sauce Ingredients, Sauce Ingredients, wine vinegar