Ingredients
- 3 1/2 tbsp water
- 3 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 small shallot
- 2 white peppercorns
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 small bay leaf
- 5 oz butter (140 gr)
- tarragon
- chervil
- Worcestershire sauce
- cayenne
- pepper
- salt
Preparation
Step 1
Finely mince a shallot.
Transfer the shallot to a small sauce pan and pour 3 1/2 tbsp water and 3 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar in there. Add a small bay leaf, 2 smashed up white peppercorns and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 8 to 10 minutes, until the liquid cooked down to 1/4 of what you started with.
Put two really fresh egg yolks in a medium-sized and heat-proof bowl.
I don’t even own a double boiler, so I’m making this sauce au bain marie. Meaning that I grab a pan big enough to hold the bowl I’m using, yet small enough to make sure it fits snugly over the pan. Fill it with enough water to get the steam going but not so much that it will reach the bowl holding the eggs. Bring the water to a boil.
Use another pan to melt the butter, the butter needs to be liquefied but can’t be too hot.
After 10 minutes the vinegar water will have cooked down. Discard the bay leaf and let it cool off for a minute or 2 before adding the mix to the yolks.
Remove the pan from the stove and place the bowl with the yolks over the pan containing the hot water.
Now start whisking. And whisk constantly. Soon the yolk mixture will start to thicken.
That’s your cue to start adding melted butter. Drizzle it in very slowly, while continuing to whisk.
Keep going until all the butter is incorporated.
Now I couldn’t get my hands on fresh tarragon, so I had to use dried herbs. It works beautifully. Add the tarragon and chervil—I tend to go easy on the herbs, but use as much as you like.
Season the sauce with salt, pepper, a good pinch of cayenne and my secret ingredient: a few drops of Worcestershire sauce.
That’s all there is to making one of the most richest sauces ever.
Classic and traditional sauces like this take your meal from mundane to magical in the blink of an eye. This is a light, fresh, flavorful and subtle sauce. Serve it with a good steak, a perfect roast beef or even grilled chicken and you’ll have heaven on a plate. And in your mouth.