How to Make Bernaise Sauce

If you enjoy Hollandaise sauce on poached eggs and steamed vegetables, you'll love the extra kick of Bearnaise. This can also be spooned over fish, roast beef, and chicken dishes or served on the side with a nice steak.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring cups and spoons
• Medium saucepan
• Small bowl
• Large flat-bottom pan
• Sharp knife
• Cutting board
• Wooden mixing spoon
• Whisk
• Egg separator
• Mesh strainer
• Stove
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 medium shallots
• 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
• 1 oz bunch of fresh tarragon
• 1 tablespoon of cold water
• 1-1/2 sticks of unsalted butter
• 1-1/2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons dry tarragon leaves (crushed)
• Dash of cayenne
• Dash of salt

Instructions

Practice Makes Perfect With This Classic Sauce

1. Rinse and pat dry a one ounce bunch of fresh tarragon. Chop the bunch coarsely (including the stems) and set aside.

2. Chop two medium-sized shallots into fine bits and set aside.

3. Cube 1-1/2 sticks of unsalted butter and set aside.

4. Pour the wine and the sherry vinegar into a medium-sized saucepan, add the chopped tarragon and finely chopped shallots and bring this mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and allow the mixture to simmer until the liquid has been reduced to roughly two tablespoons. Using a mesh strainer, drain off the liquid into a small bowl. To make sure you squeeze out as much liquid as possible, press the back of the wooden spoon against the interior of the strainer.

5. Separate two yolks. If you own an egg strainer, this part is easy because you're delicately cracking each egg into the strainer and allowing the white portion of the egg to dribble out through the slit. If you don't have an egg strainer, you'll need to crack the eggs into a bowl and, holding the yolks back lightly with your fingers, allow the white portion to drain off.

6. Wash and dry the medium saucepan, pour the earlier reduction you've prepared back into the pan and add to this the egg yolks, a tablespoon of cold water, and just a dash of salt. You'll then place the saucepan in a large flat-bottom pan that is filled with two or three inches of water. Heat the burner to low and gently whisk the eggs.

7. Add the cubes of butter in small batches at a time and gently whisk. Add a dash of cayenne, lemon juice, and two tablespoons of dry crushed tarragon leaves. When everything has been evenly blended, the Bearnaise sauce is ready to use immediately. If you're still prepping the rest of your meal, you'll want to pour it into a heat-resistant bowl that can be placed into a stove top pan of lightly simmering water until you're ready to serve it.

Tips & Warnings

• If you own a double-boiler, you can use it for Steps 6 and 7.

• If your Bearnaise sauce starts to thicken while it's waiting to be served, you can add a tablespoon of the simmering water that the bowl is sitting in.

• Eggs for this recipe generally work better if they are at room temperature rather than being taken right out of the refrigerator and immediately separated.

• If you'd rather not use dry tarragon leaves for Step 7, simply set aside two tablespoons from your chopping in Step 1. Just make sure you chop it more finely than you did with the amount used in Step 4.

• Don't turn the burner up too high while you're whisking your eggs and the butter or the final result will be lumpy and quite unattractive. Should that happen, however, all is not lost. Simply introduce a single ice cube to the mixture and continue patiently whisking until the sauce thickens.