Blender Hollandaise

There are times when I become obsessed with a dish and have a need to make the perfect plate of that recipe. My recent food obsession has been the quest for the perfect serving of Eggs Benedict. There is a mystique about the dish, which stirs memories of a more civilized era. Most people think of Eggs Benedict as a food that you eat when dining out, instead of home breakfast fare. I think the reason is a fear that the cook has a lack of basic skills. Poaching an egg is not difficult task. The problem is a fear of making the Hollandaise sauce.

Hollandaise sauce is one of the classic mother sauces of French cuisine. The sauce has a reputation of being temperamental. The labor of whisking, fear of scrambling the eggs, all make the timid flee the kitchen. Fear not! Armed with a few modern tricks we can tame this sauce. One tip for success is that keeping the sauce warm and unbroken is trickier than the actual preparation. If you can find a small vacuum bottle (Thermos) use it to keep your Hollandaise warm and happy until you need it.

Ingredients

• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Pinch of cayenne pepper

Preparations

1. Melt the butter in a small pan until bubbling hot, avoid browning the milk solids.
2. Put the remaining ingredients in the blender.
3. Put the lid on the blender.
4. Whip the mixture on the high setting for 30 seconds.
5. Open the center hole on the lid of the blender.
6. Drizzle the hot butter very slowly into the egg lemon juice mixture,
7. Continue blending on high as you pour the melted butter.
8. Be sure to allow time between drops for the butter to emulsify with the egg.
9. You will see a silky change in consistency and a lightening of the color.
10. Serve immediately.