Bearnaise Sauce

Bearnaise is a twist on the classic butter/yolk sauce, Hollandaise. Simply add tarragon and it's ideal to serve with steak and chips.

Ingredients:

8 egg yolks
2 blocks of unsalted butter
1 stalk of tarragon
1 shallot - - thinly sliced
1 tblspn of tarragon vinegar
1 tspn chopped fresh tarragon leaves
a squeeze of lemon juice
salt and pepper

Method:

1. Place the yolks in a food processsor and turn it on.

2. Place the butter in a pan with the shallot and tarragon stalk and place over a low heat until melted. Increase the heat until the butter begins to bubble. Strain into a jug.

3. With the motor running, add the hot butter to the yolks literally two drops at a time until the mixture begins to thicken (what chefs call emulsify). Its utterly important to do this stage slowly as if the sauce is going to split it's going to split now.

4. Once the sauce begins to thicken you can add the remaining butter in a very slow trickle until it's all added. Add the lemon juice, vinegar and tarragon, and season with salt and pepper.

Because Bearnaise is a warm egg based sauce, and eggs + extended warmth = danger, you really don't want it to be hanging around for any length of time. It's best to eat it within an hour or so, preferably as soon as it's ready. And besides, it really doesn't keep very well nor will you be able to reheat it.

If you can't find tarragon vinegar simply replace it with white wine vinegar and use a few extra strands of fresh tarragon.