Hollandaise Sauce

Recently my roommate had her 26th birthday. We had just moved in to our new apartment, we had never broken out the China from our China cabinet, so we decided to throw a fancy dinner party. We kept the guest list pretty small, and the menu was fairly simple. We had roast pork with leeks, pears and figs, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, mashed red skin potatoes and chocolate mousse. We also made a lovely champagne and pear syrup drink we called "The Leslie" it was quite tasty.

I have written about the roast pork dish before on this blog, it is becoming my go-to dish. The addition of the figs was a request from the birthday girl, and a brilliant addition the leek and pear flavor combo.

This was my first attempt at a hollandaise sauce. I tried a few different recipes to ensure that I got the sauce correct. I have a new policy when it comes to food, especially in regards to entertaining. Never serve a dish you have not previously attempted successfully to people you don't live with. I learned this lesson when a high school friend of my roommate's came over for dinner. See the potato risotto blog post for a description of all the ways in which this meal failed.

Hollandaise sauce is truly disgusting when you look at it as its ingredients. The sauce consists of egg yolks, a lot of butter, a splash of lemon juice and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Separately they sound like the bad makings of one of those cleansing beverages celebrities drink for three weeks to cleanse their chi. But when you whip the egg yolks over a simmering pot of water, and then slowly blend in the butter, you get something truly special.

The party was on Saturday night, so on Friday night I attempted Alton Brown's recipe for hollandaise. He instructs to chill the butter and cut it into small pieces. Whisk the egg yolks in a double boiler until they become lighter in color, and thicker in texture. Slowly add in small pieces of butter and whisk until they melt and incorporate, continue adding butter one piece at a time until it is all incorporated. You then add in the lemon juice and cayenne pepper. The result was an ok sauce, a bit heavy on the lemon. My arm was wicked sore from all the whisking, so the next day I decided to use a different recipe. The new recipe called to slowly add in melted butter. This was a little better on my whisking arm, but as i was making sauce for 15 people I did have to trade off with a friend half way through making the sauce.

My recommendation for those of you that would like to attempt this sauce is to use the melted butter approach. It will incorporate into the sauce a lot easier. I would also recommend using less lemon juice than is called for in the recipe. I would also recommend using a little more cayenne than is called for as well. This will add a little kick to the sauce, which is a delicious twist.