Hollandaise sauce melting into poached eggs

I made a ten egg hollandaise sauce once. Don’t be impressed, it wasn’t my intention.

Years ago, long before I got into cooking, I tried to make hollandaise sauce. The sauce split on me. The recipe I found had the tip to salvage split sauce by adding it to egg yolks in place of butter. So I took my split sauce and added it to two egg yolks. It failed. So I tried to salvage it again. Ten eggs later, I had ten egg hollandaise sauce.

That experience meant that for years, I didn’t attempt hollandaise sauce again for fear it would take ten eggs to get right. Well, it was time to put on my big girl pants and give it another try.

Here in New Zealand, Eggs Bennie (Benedict) are held in high regard. On their own or with couple of strips of streaky bacon or smoked salmon and the compulsory toast or toasted English muffin, this dish can be found in cafes in every nook and cranny of the country. It takes a certain finesse to poach eggs and make hollandaise, a finesse I thought I’d never acquire.

Poached Eggs

Poached eggs are still out of my domain but The Koala has it down to a fine art. One of the reasons why I married him. Perfectly cooked whites with luscious runny yolks. We are an Eggs Bennie force to be reckoned with.

How it compares

If you’re accustomed to store bought hollandaise, it’s often thick more like a yoghurt than a sauce, so you may be met with disappointment when you make your own. This sauce is made out of butter and upon hitting hot eggs or hot vegetables, it’s going to melt a little. There are recipes that use olive oil which may have a better chance of staying yoghurt-thick but for now, let’s just go with butter.

Recipe

I followed the Edmond’s cookbook recipe for ingredients, but used a stick blender method save whisking for an eternity. If you’re making hollandaise from scratch, no doubt you’ve got other things on the stove cooking at the same time. Why whisk by hand if you can blend?

Lemony Hollandaise Sauce

Serves 4 with breakfast

Ingredients

• 50g butter (3.5 tablespoons)
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup cream
• Optional: lemon zest

Preparation

1. In a small saucepan, warm the butter on a very low heat until just melted. Do not boil, do not burn. Just melted means just *barely* melted. The butter shouldn’t be hot or you may end up with scrambled eggs!
2. Carefully separate your egg yolks into a small bowl, add cream and lemon juice and blend.
3. In a slow steady stream, add your melted butter and keep blending until it thickens up nicely. Add mustard and salt. Hollandaise is fine to use as is, but if you want a super thick, sour cream consistency hollandaise, chuck it in the fridge for a bit and spoon it out later.