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Julia's Hollandaise Sauce...Made in a Blender!

***Julia Child mentions the sauce chapter in Mastering the Art of French Cooking several times in her memoir, "My Life in France." In fact, there's a really cool photocopy of a piece of paper that contains her hollandaise sauce recipe...that she typed herself. It's marked "Top Secret" in what I assume is Julia's handwriting. I recently finished reading the memoir, and I was definitely curious about this hollandaise sauce. I looked it up in MtAoFC, and it sounded both classic and delicious!

On a side note, if you're thinking about reading "My Life in France," you definitely should! I absolutely loved it!

It's always good to have several good, homemade sauces in your cooking arsenal...ready when you need them. This is one such sauce. Who doesn't like a decadently rich and eggy hollandaise sauce? There are so many things that you can serve it with....poached eggs, bacon, and toast...just name a few. I decided to serve it with a simply baked tilapia.

Now, hollandaise can be extremely tricky to pull off....especially if you don't make it often. It tends to curdle easily. However, this blender version is foolproof! I was blown away by how simple this recipe turned out to be. In fact, Julia describes this sauce as "well within the capabilities of an 8-year-old child." Of course, Julia includes another Hollandaise recipe which is a little more complicated than this one...that one is surely more authentic. However, the simplicity of this particular recipe is what drew me to it. You can't go wrong with it!***

BLENDER HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
Start to finish: 5 minutes
Makes about 3/4 cup

Ingredients:
3 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:
In a blender, combine the egg yolks, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. Set aside.
In a small saucepan over medium-high, add the butter and heat until foaming.

Blend the egg yolk mixture at top speed for 2 seconds then, with the blender running, remove the cover and pour in the hot butter in a thin stream of droplets. By the time two-thirds of the butter has been added, the sauce will be a thick cream. Continue pouring, but don't pour in the milky residue at the bottom of the pan. Taste and adjust seasonings.

If not using the sauce immediately, set the blender carafe in tepid, but not warm, water.

Source: "Mastering the Art of French Cooking: The 40th Anniversary Edition" by: Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck; Knopf, 2001
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Comments

Anonymous said…
I made this tonight to have with tilapia...it was delicious! I was nervous about having the eggs curdle, but it turned out perfect the very first time! I found your blog by looking for a hollandaise recipe specifically, but I love the style of it and can't wait to try more recipes you have on here!
November 3, 2009 at 9:34 PM
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