One of the all-time great dishes of the western world is a slice of beef fillet served on an artichoke bottom and covered with bearnaise sauce. This classic sauce-despite the fact that its two main ingredients, butter and eggs, now have found in disfavor among the health-conscious-is still celebrated by connoisseurs as one of the world`s finest.
The reasons bearnaise, a cousin of hollandaise and mayonnaise, enjoys this status are clear to those familiar with it. It`s quickly made with convenient ingredients; it has depth and dimension of flavor, and it goes well with meats, poultry, fish and even vegetables.
Bearnaise and its cousins are emulsions, or a suspension of one liquid in another with which it cannot mix evenly-such as butter or oil in water. The difference between bearnaise and hollandaise is the flavoring. Bearnaise employs a special ”infusion ”-a reduction of white wine and white wine vinegar with minced tarragon and shallot-rather than the lemon juice used in hollandaise.
Egg yolk is the common denominator in all three sauces-bearnaise, hollandaise and mayonnaise. It acts as the emulsifier or binder, allowing the other, disparate ingredients to come together in a rich, velvety sauce.
With mayonnaise the yolk binds vinegar and oil; with hollandaise, lemon juice and butter; and with bearnaise, the acid infusion and butter. There is also, for cholesterol-watchers, a butterless bearnaise made with fewer egg yolks, the acid infusion and oil.
Forming an emulsion
Like so many other cooking techniques, forming an emulsion, or making an emulsified sauce, can be tricky at first, but with practice is easily mastered. The first step, chemically speaking, is to break up the disparate elements into tiny particles by brisk whisking. The second step is to introduce the emulsifier, which will form a ”network” among the particles, holding the disparate elements in a suspension, close to but not touching one another.
The keys to a successful emulsified sauce lie in the temperature of the ingredients and the timing of the procedure. Here are some important points to observe:
– Make sure all ingredients are at the same temperature.
– Heat the yolks gently. If heated too quickly, the sauce will be granular.
– Add the oil or melted butter very slowly at the beginning drop by drop. After about 1/4 of the total has been incorporated, add the remainder by tablespoon.
– Whisk at a steady, brisk pace.
– Don`t let the emulsion get too hot or it will separate.
If the emulsion gets too thick, thin it with water or stock; don`t use butter or oil.
– If the sauce won`t thicken, mix 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1/2 tablespoon of the sauce in a clean bowl over heat. Beat until they come together, then add the rest of the thin sauce 1/2 tablespoon at a time.
– If the sauce starts to separate, add an ice cube or a tablespoon of cold water and whisk briskly.
– Use the freshest eggs you can find. The emulsifying ability of yolks deteriorates with age; old eggs simply won`t do it.
BEARNAISE INFUSION
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Yield: 6 tablespoons
If you like this sauce, make the infusion in large quantities and simply keep it refrigerated. Since it is mostly acid, a preservative, it will keep indefinitely.
6 shallots, minced
3 tablespoons dried tarragon
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 1/2 cups white wine or champagne vinegar, tarragon flavored, if available
1. Put all ingredients in a saucepan. Heat to boil and reduce liquids to 6 tablespoons.
2. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing down on shallots and tarragon to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids.
Note: If making bearnaise directly, you may add egg yolks to the infusion before straining it and proceeding to add the butter. Later, it can be strained or not, as you wish.
BEARNAISE (OR HOLLANDAISE) BY HAND
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Yield: 1 to 1 1/2 cups,
4 to 6 servings
For hollandaise, simply substitute lemon juice for the bearnaise infusion.
3-6 tablespoons bearnaise infusion (or to taste), see recipe above
4 large egg yolks
1/2 tablespoon water
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Make bearnaise infusion. Put yolks, water and 1/2 tablespoon bearnaise infusion in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the mixture for 3 to 4 minutes, taking the pan on and off the heat to keep the mixture from overheating. When the mixture begins to look like a mayonnaise and you can see the pan through the tracks made by the whisk, it`s ready for the butter.
2. Add butter a few pieces at a time, whisking continuously. When it is all added, take saucepan off heat.
3. Add bearnaise infusion, salt and pepper to taste. Keep in a preheated wide-mouth vacuum bottle, or put saucepan in a larger one filled with hot but not boiling water.
BLENDER BEARNAISE
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Yield: 1 cup
The blender does a fine job with a hollandaise or bearnaise. The food processor is not as good, owing to its larger work bowl and flat bottom. A blender bearnaise uses half the amount of butter as the hand-whisked version. 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 large egg yolks
1-2 tablespoons bearnaise infusion, see recipe above
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1. Make bearnaise infusion. Heat butter in a saucepan until hot and foaming.
2. Put yolks and 1/2 tablespoon of the bearnaise infusion in blender.
3. Blend 3 seconds, then with a towel to protect yourself, continue to blend and remove the inner part of the lid and begin to pour hot butter in a thin, slow stream. As it begins to thicken, you can pour it in faster.
4. Taste for seasoning. Add additional infusion, salt, and pepper to taste.
BUTTERLESS BEARNAISE
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Yield: 1 1/2 cups
If you don`t expect the same rich, buttery taste and texture, this sauce won`t disappoint you. This is sometimes called Tyrolean Sauce.
1/4 cup bearnaise infusion, see recipe above
4 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups oil (1 1/4 cup safflower oil and 1/4 cup olive oil)
1 tablespoon tomato puree, optional
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Whisk infusion and yolks until thick and creamy in a saucepan over moderate heat, about 4 minutes.
2. Gradually whisk in oil, over low heat.
3. Taste for seasoning, adding more infusion, salt and pepper to taste. Strain, if desired.
Bearnaise variations
One of the fascinating aspects of working with one of the so-called
”mother” sauces is that it becomes so easy to turn it into other,
”small” sauces.
– Arlesienne sauce: To 1 cup bearnaise add 2 to 4 tablespoons tomato puree. For fish, grilled chicken, poached eggs.
– Colbert sauce (also called foyot, valois): To 1 cup bearnaise add 1 to 2 tablespoons meat glaze (2 cups beef or veal stock reduced to 1/4 to 1/2 cup). For steaks, broiled or fried fish, grilled chicken, eggs.
– Paloise sauce: In the bearnaise infusion substitute chopped fresh mint leaves and use plain white wine vinegar instead of tarragon wine vinegar. For lamb, peas, steak, fish.
Hollandaise variations
– Caper sauce: To 1 cup hollandaise add 1 tablespoon minced capers. For poached fish.
– Hazelnut (noisette) sauce: Use brown butter in making hollandaise. For salmon, trout, poached fish, asparagus, cauliflower.
– Maltese sauce: To 1 cup hollandaise add the zest and juice of a blood orange (available in February) in place of lemon in a hollandaise. Or use the zest of a regular orange and its juice reduced by half, with a little lemon juice. For asparagus or broccoli.
– Mikado sauce: Same as Maltese, made with tangerine juice.
– Mousseline sauce: To 1 1/2 cups hollandaise fold in 1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped. For poached fish, souffles, asparagus, artichokes, chicken.
– Mustard sauce: To 1 cup hollandaise add 1 to 2 tablespoon Dijon style mustard. For broiled fish.
If you have any bearnaise or hollandaise sauce left over, you can refrigerate it and use it as flavored butter. It will be excellent on vegetables, for instance. –
