Saturday, September 10, 2011

Hollandaise


Woke up with a bit of fuzz in my head and in serious need of a cure. I had some ham in the fridge that needed to be used and I hadn't pulled out the truffle oil in a while so I ended up making some truffle hollandaise with poached eggs and ham.

Just got Michael Ruhlman's Ratio in the post a couple of days ago, it's really well written and easy to read. I used the ratio from the book of 5 parts fat, 1 part egg yolk and 1 part liquid for the sauce.

Whisk the egg yolk, lemon juice and a few drops of truffle oil until light. Slowly whisk in melted butter until emulsified, and then place over a pot of steaming water and whisk until thickened.

[Edit 27/02/2012]
The method I currently use to make this sauce is slightly different, a little easier and a bit more fool proof.
  1. Melt and clarify some unsalted butter, leave it in the pot, but off the heat.
  2. In a bowl place egg yolks, and squeeze in lemon juice, whisk until the yolks have become pale in colour and increased in volume (about 2-3 times).
  3. Heat up the clarified butter until very warm.
  4. While whisking the yolk mixture pour in the butter in a slow steady stream.
  5. When all the butter has been incorporated, continue whisking until you reach the desired consistency.
  6. Taste and season.