Bearnaise sauce

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Few things I was curious about.

1. Most places have herbs filtered out. Is it a must?
2. The sauce taste, should you feel vinegar or wine cut through the richness of butter or just provide a tiny zing?


My first attempt. I prefer to see herbs/etc but I imagine not everyone likes it?

Anyone has a great recipe?

IMG_2165.jpg
 
I can see yours splitting :scared4: lol
Each yolk can hold upwards of 15 oz of butter the way I do it.

Start by reducing tarragon vinegar.
Now start with the yolk, I add about 1oz white wine but you can use water, and whisk with a balloon whisk until it triples it's size and almost hits ribbon stage,
Then place the bowl over a heat source and continue whisking until you hit a solid ribbon stage. Now you can whisk in the butter. Once you form an emulsion you can stream in much faster than people think. Just whisk till all the butter is in. Don't worry if it seems too thick because this is where you add the reduced vinegar, I also like a bit of lemon juice and Tabasco. Now add Kosher salt and fresh white pepper and some finely minced fresh tarragon leaves. Serve immediately or hold at optimal temperature.

And don't break it!! :justkidding:
 
I can see yours splitting :scared4: lol
Each yolk can hold upwards of 15 oz of butter the way I do it.

Start by reducing tarragon vinegar.
Now start with the yolk, I add about 1oz white wine but you can use water, and whisk with a balloon whisk until it triples it's size and almost hits ribbon stage,
Then place the bowl over a heat source and continue whisking until you hit a solid ribbon stage. Now you can whisk in the butter. Once you form an emulsion you can stream in much faster than people think. Just whisk till all the butter is in. Don't worry if it seems too thick because this is where you add the reduced vinegar, I also like a bit of lemon juice and Tabasco. Now add Kosher salt and fresh white pepper and some finely minced fresh tarragon leaves. Serve immediately or hold at optimal temperature.

And don't break it!! :justkidding:

I know :scared4::scared4::scared4:

This was a trial run because I never really had it before, so I wanted to make sure I even like it, but I like it so much that I am saving some for dinner. Maybe it's bad pics/etc but it didn't split. I also didn't use whisk and just had a spoon to mix, so maybe that's why consistency looks funny but it didn't have any lumps.

I am a newb to these sauces, so really want to be able to make few of them well and this is the one I want to master.
 
First you must master the "mother sauce"(hollandaise),then you can master its derivatives(Charon,Mousseline,Bearnaise etc)... :-D

And a whisk is a must..
 
Be careful with the yolks; too hot and they curdle. I made hollandaise sauce and its derivatives over a hot water bath until I had a feel of how far I could take the yolks (with regard to temperature).
 
Be careful with the yolks; too hot and they curdle. I made hollandaise sauce and its derivatives over a hot water bath until I had a feel of how far I could take the yolks (with regard to temperature).

I always make mine over a double boiler, makes things easier for me.
 
I was taught to make mine in a blender!! :happymug:
 
Right on the gas burner. You turtles need to take a few shifts in a breakfast joint. ;)
+1. and to answer the origional questions... no and yes. I perfer to strain the reduction and add fresh minced tarragon and chervil just before plating only because I have a thing against army green herbs in my dishes and do whatever I can to eliminate it. Another thing that I've also enjoyed to kick up the tarragon flavor is to add a bit of Pernod to the reduction.
 
Right on the gas burner. You turtles need to take a few shifts in a breakfast joint. ;)

Hey not everyone's workplace has an old busted burner with a giant, exposed pilot to keep the heat low enough.

Ok mine does too, but that's besides the point.
 
This is the recipe I use when I teach this sauce:

"Bearnaise sauce

Essence:

Chop finely:

1 shallot
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon
1 tablespoon fresh parsley

Put in a small sauce pan with

¼ cup tarragon vinegar
¼ cup water

Boil down to a couple of tablespoons of liquid, and allow to cool. Do not put essence in the sauce hot, or it will separate and ruin the sauce.

The tarragon and vinegar are the key elements here, but proportions vary widely from cook to cook. Some use white wine instead of water, some use much more tarragon and no parsley, some use spring onions instead of shallots, etc. It doesn’t really matter as long as the tarragon and vinegar are there.

Make Hollandaise base sauce:

Everyone uses a double boiler, which is a good idea. Ignoring caution, put four egg yolks into a sauce pan and put on low heat, stirring constantly and being certain to scrape the bottom of the pan so no part of the sauce stays in contact with the pan for too long. A “spoonula” works best.

As soon as the eggs are on the heat, start adding 2 sticks of unsalted room-temperature butter a tablespoon or so at a time, stirring until the sauce thickens noticeably -- about 20 minutes. Add essence to taste and re-thicken. Remove from heat and keep stirring until no longer hot, or the sauce will separate. Serve onto or beside meat that is not too hot, or, again, the sauce will separate. Some sauce on the side is good, too.

This process cannot be learned from print. It takes experience. Everyone has sauces separate, in which case you have scrambled eggs floating in butter – horrible -- throw it out and start over. It is unwise to start a Hollandaise or Béarnaise without enough eggs and butter for a do-over.

There are other ways to make this sauce, such as using a blender or food processor or whisk to emulsify, but those sauces are not as good. Thickening by cooking is preferred."
 
Theory's method is the same way we do it here. Most of the time we only use water instead of wine. We use a tarragon leaves that are stored in vinegar for our bernaise though. And a little lemon juice is a must. We use cayenne pepper instead of tabasco but that is your preference.

Clarified is the best if you want to hold it for any period of time however whole butter works just fine.
 
Yeah I whisk the yolks straight over a gas burner full blast. Once they are ready I place the bowl in a circular insert cutout over the steam table and whisk in the clarified butter, then finish as I stated earlier.
 
Hey not everyone's workplace has an old busted burner with a giant, exposed pilot to keep the heat low enough.
Lol! Nah, I don't do it low and slow. I just stir a bunch of butter into scrambled eggs and call it Haulin' Daze. The yokels around here don't know the difference. :D
 
Whole butter instead of clarified..interesting..

The "mouth-feel" isn't quite as silky, but depending on the application it's really no big deal. It also gives you a boatload more protection against breakage. Softened room temp whole butter mixes into the yolks like it was meant to be there--clarified butter is a lot more fussy.
 
The "mouth-feel" isn't quite as silky, but depending on the application it's really no big deal. It also gives you a boatload more protection against breakage. Softened room temp whole butter mixes into the yolks like it was meant to be there--clarified butter is a lot more fussy.

I would be very interested to know what you think of the sauce when thickened by cooking rather than emulsiying by whisking or variations. It is probably not practical for the professional environment, but I think it tastes much better cooked, and am curious what you think, including mouth-feel.

Keith
 

Seeing as how whole butter is already an emulsion I can see the merit in this. Though I've never tried it. I wonder about the temperature of the whole butter though. When I use clarified it's normally over 150 degrees.
 
I would be very interested to know what you think of the sauce when thickened by cooking rather than emulsiying by whisking or variations. It is probably not practical for the professional environment, but I think it tastes much better cooked, and am curious what you think, including mouth-feel.

Keith

So you're saying there is a different flavor when you create an emulsion by cooking (which I didn't know was possible) as opposed to whisking in the fat?
 
So you're saying there is a different flavor when you create an emulsion by cooking (which I didn't know was possible) as opposed to whisking in the fat?

I think so. I wish you guys would try it and tell me what you think.

By the way, for heat control, I take the pan off the fire and put my hand full on the bottom of the pan. If I can hold it there a second or so, it is OK. If it is too hot to touch, it is too hot and will separate.

Keith
 
When you whisk in the fat over heat(double boiler,open flame etc) aren't you essentially cooking it somewhat? Even adding hot clarified butter will kinda cook the yolks to a certain extent..
 
I made a bit of bernaise today for a special. snapped a quick pic.

IMG_0035.jpg


and the clarified butter.

IMG_0036.jpg
 
So where is the special?

It was to busy for me to take a picture. It was crab/shrimp/cod stuffed cod, with roasted asparagus in the roll... essentially cod oscar.
 
I'm sure it was fabulous, butt being allergic to crustaceans I can not get very enthusiastic about the concept!
 
[video=youtube_share;ydAK9ZpYKNc]http://youtu.be/ydAK9ZpYKNc[/video]
 
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