SAUCE BEARNAISE

Here is a recipe for Sauce Béarnaise.

Ingredients : 60 gr [2 oz] butter / 1 egg yolk / 1/2 glass vinegar /
2 shallots / a few leaves of fresh tarrgon / salt & white pepper.

- Peal and mince the shallots ; heat them in a saucepan with the
vinegar and the choped tarragon. Reduce until you obtain not more
than 1 Tbspoon juice. Let it cool down a bit.

- In a bain-maire, display a little pot where you will mix the egg yolk
and the vinegar with a wooden spoon. Turn gently until the mixture
gets thicker, then begin to add small pieces of butter, one by one.
Add the next piece once the previous is totally incorporated and turn
sharply.
The butter must not turn liquid but keep a thick and creamy aspect.
Once done, add salt & pepper and cover for a few minutes before
serving (warm).

- Do not re-heat a Béarnaise sauce...

Béarnaise is ideal with all sorts of fish (boiled or grilled).

I have to say that it is not very easy to prepare...

I was wondering whether you have any suggestions regarding what
to do when a bernaise sauce separates. Many thanks. Joe

BEARNAISE SAUCE TIP

Depending on whether your béarnaise separated while making it or
n the following hours / days, here are my suggestions :

1- If it separates while you are making it, i.e. when you are adding the
butter in the bain-marie, it means you are adding the butter too quickly.
Always add it little by little, and wait for a piece to be fully incorporated
before adding the next one. Now, if it still separates, you should try the
following : turn the flame off, beat an egg yolk in a bowl and re-incorpoarte
slowly your béarnaise into it, while whisking ... when it has thickened,
get back to the bain marie and finish incorporating the butter.
I don't think the outside temperature has any effect at this stage.

2- If it separates after : the summer heat can only have an effect if
you keep the sauce at room temperature, outside the fridge. This should
not be done and Sauce béarnaise should always be kept in fridge, and
this is the reason why it should always be preparated at the very last
moment before serving. It could separate in fridge as well if you keep it
some time.

In both cases you could also simply try to mix it vigourously ; but be careful
it is still good because béarnaise sauce cannot be kept too long.