…if it is round and stainless steel, and generally great and made by WMF. It’s asparagus season, and seeing that my ancestors come from the Oberpfalz *in Bavaria, I have a family obligation to eat as much asparagus as I can. Obviously.
Now my man thinks asparagus needs to be eaten with Sauce Hollandaise. Self-made, of course, and I have to say I agree *though I prefer my Hollandaise as base for Eggs Benedict after a hangover, but that might be a different story). However, I made the Hollandaise a few weeks ago in a quite improvised work setting, and it didn’t turn out so well, my arms hurt from the whipping, and slight frustration was in the air. So I bought equipment. A large, round bow, with a handle, perfect for all things water-bath-requiring.
As you might or might not know, a Hollandaise – despite its fluffly appearance – is basically butter whipped into egg yolks. So the trick is to take the egg yolks (3-4) and whip them with just a little bit of water, until they are ALREADY FLUFFY. I was lazy and skipped that step, and you cannot go back. The next trick is to HAVE ALL INGREDIENCE AT THE SAME TEMPERATURE. Sorry for the all caps, but also this is essential. Melt the butter (roughly 200g for 4 egg yolks), and let it cool down. In the meantime, whip your a** off. Put the whipping bowl into a water bath/water filled pot, but don’t let the water boil. It should be around 80 Celsius maximum. Keep whipping.
Start dripping the butter drop-wise into the fluffy egg yolks, and KEEP WHIPPING. if the stuff is soupy, stop right here and start afresh with one new egg yolk, and whip the soup slowly into it. If all goes well, things will stay fluffy, and you can keep doing what you are doing.
Once you have whipped all the butter into the fluffiness, add some white wine, or lemon juice, salt and pepper, and season to taste. Oh, and make yourself a drink. Recommendably before starting the Hollandaise. It makes the threat of failure more palpable.
what a difference a bowl makes…
…if it is round and stainless steel, and generally great and made by WMF. It’s asparagus season, and seeing that my ancestors come from the Oberpfalz *in Bavaria, I have a family obligation to eat as much asparagus as I can. Obviously.
Now my man thinks asparagus needs to be eaten with Sauce Hollandaise. Self-made, of course, and I have to say I agree *though I prefer my Hollandaise as base for Eggs Benedict after a hangover, but that might be a different story). However, I made the Hollandaise a few weeks ago in a quite improvised work setting, and it didn’t turn out so well, my arms hurt from the whipping, and slight frustration was in the air. So I bought equipment. A large, round bow, with a handle, perfect for all things water-bath-requiring.
As you might or might not know, a Hollandaise – despite its fluffly appearance – is basically butter whipped into egg yolks. So the trick is to take the egg yolks (3-4) and whip them with just a little bit of water, until they are ALREADY FLUFFY. I was lazy and skipped that step, and you cannot go back. The next trick is to HAVE ALL INGREDIENCE AT THE SAME TEMPERATURE. Sorry for the all caps, but also this is essential. Melt the butter (roughly 200g for 4 egg yolks), and let it cool down. In the meantime, whip your a** off. Put the whipping bowl into a water bath/water filled pot, but don’t let the water boil. It should be around 80 Celsius maximum. Keep whipping.
Start dripping the butter drop-wise into the fluffy egg yolks, and KEEP WHIPPING. if the stuff is soupy, stop right here and start afresh with one new egg yolk, and whip the soup slowly into it. If all goes well, things will stay fluffy, and you can keep doing what you are doing.
Once you have whipped all the butter into the fluffiness, add some white wine, or lemon juice, salt and pepper, and season to taste. Oh, and make yourself a drink. Recommendably before starting the Hollandaise. It makes the threat of failure more palpable.