Make it don't buy it: hollandaise sauce
- 50 ml (1.8fl oz) white wine vinegar
- 50 ml (1.8fl oz) water
- 6 black peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 mace blade
- 150 g (5.3oz) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 drops lemon juice, adjust to taste
- 1 pinch salt and white ground pepper
- For the reduction, put the wine vinegar, water, peppercorns, bay leaf and mace in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- Reduce the liquid by at least two-thirds, then strain to remove the peppercorns, bay and mace.
- To make the sauce, cut the butter into 1cm cubes.
- Put the egg yolks, a cube of butter and a small pinch of salt in a small bowl.
- Using a wooden spoon, cream the butter into the egg yolks, add 1/21 tsp of the reduction and stir to combine.
- Half-fill a roasting tin with water and set over a medium heat, to create a warm bain marie.
- Heat until the water is hand-hot (it should be comfortable to dip your fingers into).
- A bubble might occasionally rise to the surface, but if you have the water too hot, the sauce will curdle.
- Turn off the heat.
- Stand the bowl containing the egg yolk, butter and reduction mixture in the bain marie, off the heat, and stir until the egg yolks visibly start to thicken.
- Beat the remaining butter in, a cube at a time, making sure that the sauce has re-thickened before adding the next cube of butter.
- As more butter is added, the heat can be turned on to low (but take care that the water does not boil) and the butter can be added more quickly.
- If the sauce becomes very thick and appears greasy, add a little more reduction or cool water.
- Once all the butter has been added, remove the bowl of sauce from the roasting tin, taste it and adjust the seasoning.
- To achieve a balanced flavour, you may need to add more reduction, lemon juice, salt and ground white pepper.
- The sauce can be kept for about 30 minutes before serving, by standing the bowl in a warm bain marie, off the heat.
white wine vinegar, water, black peppercorns, bay leaf, mace blade, unsalted butter, egg yolks, lemon juice, salt
Taken from www.lovefood.com/guide/recipes/46282/make-it-dont-buy-it-hollandaise-sauce (may not work)