Hollidays with Hollandaise
I remember countless holidays with hollandaise. Hollandaise goes with everything. EVERYTHING. It will make small children eat asparagus. My grandfather knew this. He was a wise man. A wise man who made great sauce.
Grandfather was the main cook in that house. I think it was a bit of Zen or meditation for him. He was a WWII hero. I only found this out later. He was in the Signal Corps, a communication officer who was laying telephone lines in front of the front line with a team of engineers. When he got out of the Army, he went to work for New England Telephone and Telegraph. The best picture I have of him is with a telephone up to his ear. Come to think of it, I have a lot of pictures of grandparents talking on the telephone. In any case, I think his life was largely without the pleasure that comes from instant gratification. That's what cooking did for him. Instant gratification. His family enjoying his cooking was that. Instant gratification in the form of yummy sounds. Sure, he was happy to be feeding his family nutritious food, but I think the yummy sound was what he really craved. From eggs to lamb, to chicken, to fish, to turkey, to vegetables...his hollandaise was a fat-laiden dietary party-crasher on an otherwise healthy plate. Hurrah!
And for real, who isn't excited, other than your cardiologist? Dr. Who?
I always thought that hollandaise was hard. It's not. My grandfather told me just to stick it all in one bowl and whisk. He was right. Those little packets in the powdered gravy section of the market are ridiculous. Just walk on by.
Oh, and don't try to store the leftovers. You could heat it in the microwave, then add another tablespoon of water in a bowl and whisk over low heat, but why? Just make it again. The end-result is always better. If you're one of those people who absolutely CANNOT throw it out, spread it on your morning toast. (WARNING: You'll never go back to plain butter. This also goes for burre-blanc, but that's another story.)
Pass the sauce!
Ridiculously Easy Hollandaise
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 pinch cayenne pepper or nutmeg
4 tablespoons cold butter
Salt to taste
Grab a stainless steel bowl. Whisk egg yolk, water, lemon juice, salt, and cayenne pepper/nutmeg together. Add butter cubes. Place bowl over low heat. Whisk continually until butter melts and mixture gets foamy, about 3 minutes. Continue whisking over low heat until sauce is to your desired thickness, 3 to 5 more minutes. (This will feel like the longest 3 to 5 minutes of your life.)
You can actually just dump everything in the bowl and whisk over low heat. Not hard. Really.