How to Make a Hollandaise Sauce

Have you ever wondered what is that sauce your eating when you might of ordered eggs Benedict or maybe a veal dish called Veal Oscar. Well its a very common sauce used in the culinary arena called a hollandaise. A very rich sauce with the use of egg yolks, clarified butter, lemon juice, Tabasco, salt and a splash of white wine.The strategy in making this delicate sauce is to ensure that it doesn't break or separate during or after the cooking process.Its not a sauce used to saturate the main component of the dish. Rather its a sauce to enhance and its lightly napped on top of the final dish as an accompaniment.. The process of whipped egg yolks at a very fast pace over a double boiler is the method used. A great sauce for grilled chicken topped with saute crab meat and topped with a few par boiled asparagus tips is a dish we commonly refer to as Chicken Oscar. Now for a couple of tablespoons of Hollandaise to finalize the dish. Let me walk you through it.

Ingredients needed:

3 egg yolks
1/4 cup clarified butter
2-3 oz white wine
1/2 lemon -rolled and squeezed for juice
pinch of salt--kosher works best
3 light splashes of Tabasco sauce// or a pinch of cayenne pepper

*double boiler-sauce pan of lightly boiling water ( not rapid boiling) more like a simmer- 2 inches of water in a low edged saute type of pan