So if you made it to the end of my tutorial and don’t recognise what dish Hollandaise is perfect for, you’ve obviously stuck to weetbix or toast for breakfast(Boring). Eggs Bene! For some god for seen reason us kiwis seem to have this heavenly connection to that oozing yolk porn. I don’t know the exact numbers but im sure we can all agree that 10s of 1000s of us must go to our favorite local café for a good eggs bene most Sunday mornings, so I thought how I could I possibly better that experience? Not having to leave the house! Meaning we don’t even have to get dressed, winning! Plus learning this great skill could earn you brownie points in multiple situations, aha.

Hollandaise is one of the 5 original mother sauces in french cuisine, meaning it’s the base to an entire world of buttery sauce goodness, depending on what you want to mix with it at the end. Tarragon, Miso or tomato paste to name a few but for eggs bene we’re keeping it original. If you didn’t already know what the ingredients were you may be surprised to how simple it actually is. Basically egg yolks, butter and vinegar.

There are a few points to keep in mind if you have the balls to give it a go though, it may be simple but the process can easily go wrong and you’ll end up with a bowl of sour scrambled eggs instead of a velvety sauce. You can find my ‘Handy Tips’ slightly further down the page to make sure this doesn’t happen! Trust me, its worth the risk of failure. Nothing beats freshly made Hollandaise, especially that mayo like glue that they label with the name ‘Hollandaise’ at the supermarket. Yuck!

Handy Tips:

• For perfect runny poached eggs – use 175 ml of white vinegar per litre of water in a pot. Crack eggs into it once simmering and cook for 2 – 2.5 minutes. (The right amount of vinegar helps coagulate the egg white once it hits the water, avoiding the stringy mess!)
• Try adding a Tbsp of – chopped Tarragon to transform it in to Bernaise – Perfect for fish! or a Tbsp of miso to jazz up your next steak.
• If your local supermarket stocks shallots – use them instead of onion – Chefs prefer them for it, slightly sweeter!
• For a classic eggs bene – serve the hollandaise on poached eggs, bacon, sautéed spinach and toasted english muffins.
• Switch it up – use cold smoked salmon instead of bacon.

Food Smarts:

(via wikipedia.org)

• Pasteurization or pasteurisation^[1] is a process that kills microbes (mainly bacteria) in food and drink, such as milk, juice, canned food, and others.
• Clarified butter is milk fat rendered from butter to separate the milk solids and water from the butterfat.^[1]
• Hollandaise sauce also referred to as Dutch sauce, is an emulsionof egg yolk, liquid butter, water and lemon juice (or a white wine or vinegar reduction), whisked together over the low heat of a double boiler. Additional salt, white pepper and/or cayenne pepper is used for seasoning.
• Eggs Benedict is a traditional American brunch or breakfast dish that consists of two halves of an English muffineach of which is topped with Canadian bacon, ham or sometimes bacon, a poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. The dish was first popularized in New York City.

HOLLANDAISE RECIPE

     The tasty french sauce for eggs benedict.

Ingredients:

• Unsalted Butter – 250g diced
• Free range Egg yolks – 2 (size 7)
• Small white Onion or Shallot – ¼ / 25g finely sliced
• White Wine – ¼ cup / 60g
• White Vinegar – ¼ cup / 60g
• Lemon – ½ squeezed
• Fresh Bay leaf – 1
• Fresh Thyme – 1 sprig
• Black Peppercorns – 8 / 2.5g
• Warm Water – 2-3 Tbsp
• Table Salt – ½ tsp / 2.5g

Step by Step:

1. Add the sliced white onion, bayleaf, thyme, peppercorns, white vinegar and white wine to a small pot or pan and reduce the liquid by almost half by simmering on a low-medium heat.
2. Strain the reduction through a seive into a medium sized mixing bowl, keep to the side. (Throw away the onions and peppercorns etc.)
3. Add the diced butter to a small pot or pan and melt on a low-medium heat untill the milk solids separate from the fat. (Milk will settle to the bottom)
4. Pour the clarified butter into a measuring jug or something similar, but avoid letting the seperated milk in, this can be thrown away. (Keep the butter warm afterwards)
5. Bring a small pot half full of water to the simmer.
6. Crack and separate the 2 egg yolks into the mixing bowl of reduction. (You wont need the whites.)
7. Hold the mixing bowl of redution and yolks above the simmering pot of water while whisking. Once the yolks become slightly pale and fluffy, remove from the heat. (If they look scrambled, too long – start again!)
8. Place a wet cloth or tea towel under the mixing bowl on the bench, slowly add the warm clarified butter while whisking. (A second pair of hands is ideal for bowl holding)
9. Add a little warm water, a tablespoon at a time while whisking untill it reaches the desired consistency. (Remembering lemon juice is still to be added.)
10. Add table salt and lemon juice, mix and serve!