This is one of the true greats among sauces. Invented by the French (who else), I honestly believe it is one of the best sauces ever to go with a steak.
Bearnaise sauce belongs to the same family of sauces as the Hollandaise sauce. They differ in the flavoring.
Servings 1
Ingredients
- 7 oz butter
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp calf or beef stock
- 1 tbsp dried tarragon
Instructions
- Heat the butter slowly in a pan. Keep it warm. You will see that the butter kind of separates, you get a clear part and some white stuff at the bottom. Leave the white stuff there, only use the clear butter.
- Mix the egg yolks over very gentle heat (never go above 60° C / 140° F) with the mustard, vinegar, stock and tarragon in another pan. Whisk/mix until the mixture just begins to thicken. Remove it from the stove immediately. If the pan is thick, place it on a wet kitchen towel, so the towel will absorb any residual heat from the pan.
- Now the hard part begins. Start by dripping the butter into the yolk mix, constantly whisking. After a while, pour the butter in a very thin stream into the yolks, constantly whisking. You want the egg yolks to bind/hold the butter in suspension.
- Two things are of utter importance to the success of this sauce:1. Make sure the butter and yolk mix have the same temp before mixing. Use a thermometer! I started mixing when they were both at 40° C / 104° F.2. Don’t add too much butter at a time. You really should mix the butter very little at a time.
- Now, what to do with all those egg whites, you wonder? Why not a Creme Toum, it’s a great sauce for grilled meats.