Easy Hollandaise Sauce From Scratch

Eggs benedict has always been my favorite thing to order at brunch restaurants. The soft runny yolk combined with the rich luscious sauce over bacon or seafood has always been a winner in my books. My favorite was the Lobster Eggs Benedict that was served at the now defunct Cannery Restaurant in Vancouver, Canada. I used to happily shell over $15 - $25 for eggs benedict. Not frugal, I know.

About 4 years ago, roughly around when the Cannery Restaurant closed, my husband and I discovered how simple it is to make own our eggs benedict. We were using the Knorr Hollandaise Sauce Mix as we heard how difficult it was to make hollandaise sauce from scratch. One day, while making eggs benedict, we realized we ran out of the prepackaged sauce mix and searched the Internet for a good recipe.

This recipe from Tyler Florence has proven to be a winner in our books. It is simple and easy to make. Not to mention, the ingredients are always on hand in our house.

Crab Eggs Benedict with Bacon made by my loving husband

Yields: 1 cup of sauce (enough sauce for 8 eggs benedict)  


Ingredients
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch salt 

Directions
1. Whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a bowl until the volume is doubled.

2. Place the bowl over a saucepan with gently simmering water (or a double boiler) and whisk vigorously. Make sure the egg mixture does not get too hot otherwise it will scramble; still delicious but not what we want in a hollandaise sauce.

3. While whisking, drizzle in the melted butter until the sauce has emulsified (thick and doubled in volume).

4. Remove from heat and whisk in cayenne pepper and salt.

Luscious hollandaise sauce

5. Cover and place in a warm spot until you are ready to assemble.

So good that you would want to lick your plate clean!

TIP

• If the sauce thickens, whisk in a few drops of warm water.

Check out my post on a 5 minute recipe on how to poach 4 eggs at one time.

Foolproof way to poach 4 eggs at once

Source: Tyler Florence, Food Network