How to Fix a "Broken" Hollandaise?

[niki rothman]

I am ashamed to admit I've never made hollandaise sauce. But instead of learning how to make it I got a brainstorm yesterday to ask a neighborhood restaurant that serves eggs benedict at a reasonable price whether they would sell me some hollandaise sauce to take out. My plan was to carefully re-heat it at home and make my own eggs benedict for pennies on the dollar. And yes - I was aware there might be trouble but I was so pleasantly surprised when they only charged me $1.50 for about a cup and a half of very nice thick sauce that I thought it was going to be my lucky day.

But, Noooo...of course, when I attempted to reheat it on the lowest flame my stove could manage and still be lit at all - the sauce separated and turned ugly. How do I fix it? If it can't be fixed, in future, IS it possible to try to reheat hollandaise sauce that has been refrigerated (where it becomes a solid), or should I just give up and do the obvious - learn how to make my own from scratch?

I guess the follow-up question is: do you have a recipe for a very, very, easy hollandaise sauce?

Thanks!

[ali patts]

Can't help with part one but part two...

Have you ever made mayonaise? Hollandaise is basically the same but with melted butter rather than oil.

I do this in my mini food processor because it makes my life easier.
One egg yolk in the machine, add a tiny bit of mustard (if you like - I normally realise I've forgotten!), add some 'acid' it should be vinegar but I just as often use lemon juice - it all depends what I'm doing. Whizz together. Slowly pour in melted (but not stinking hot) unsalted butter - keep the machine on whilst doing this. When you have the desired consistency, stop. Pour. Eat. Look at that - I've forgotten to season it too!

You can start to get different flavours by adding (or not) the mustard - by using different mustards. You can also tweak the flavour by reducing your acid component with flavourings - bay leaves, tarragon, pepper corns etc etc etc then using that in the 'add acid' step.

I hope that helps, I've never bought Hollandaise and wouldn't because it's so easy to make!

[chef chicklet]

Well my experience has been to reheat very gently over hot water bath, and that doesn't always work for me. I remember adding more butter to the sauce but it was tricky, and I probably would of saved myself time and money just starting over. But for future referenc.

I once watched Tyler Florence make it and was amazed that he made it with a blender, streamed the butter in a little at a time, and he said to set aside until your ready to use in a glass jar sitting in hot water. sounds good to me.

hope the link works...read his recipe in the middle it speaks about this method..

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recip...

[Suzie]

You should never ever use old hollandaise. It is a sauce that is to be used soon after it is made. It doesn't sit well over time.........not to mention the fact that there are raw yolks in it.

[hotoynoodle]

broken hollandaise can sometimes be fixed by adding another egg yolk that's first beaten with a tablespoon of cold water. what usually breaks it is heat that's too high. a double-boiler prevents that error. with practice, it really is very easy.

this is a version of jean-georges vongrichten's:

Easy Hollandaise

Beat 4 egg yolks with 2 tablespoons of white wine (nothing too acidic) in a metal bowl, over gently boiling water.

Beat in 2 sticks of sweet butter, a little at a time.

Lastly, whisk in lemon juice, salt, pepper and a hit of tabasco.

Keep the sauce warm by reducing boiling water to a slow simmer.

Take care when beating in the butter, to always be moving the sauce, so it doesn’t scramble.

Makes about 1 cup of sauce, and this recipe halves easily.

[Candy]

I have rescued it by quickly dropping an ice cube into the sauce and whisking like crazy. When it is done a wide mouthed thermos that you have warmed with hot water and dried will hold it for quite some time.

I never use the blender, I think the sauce it too thin made that way, I also don't use a double boiler. I have a 1 qt. Calphalon saucepan that is very heavy and that over a low flame gives me perfect hollandaise everytime.

[DanaB]

If you have Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, she has a fix for "broken" hollandaise. I don't have my copy here with me at work, but I believe it involves starting with a little lemon juice in a small pan set over hot water, and then you whisk the separated sauce into the lemon juice bit by bit.

[JenMarie66]

In high school, a friend and I hired ourselves out to help serve at dinner parties. Our 1st (and only) gig, we arrived just after the hostess's hollandaise separated. I picked up the bowl and began furiously whisking and -- somehow! -- it worked. It beautifully re-emulsified. Luck? Technique? I still don't know. But I was a hero. (Until, while serving dinner, I flipped a giant piece of sauced meat into the host's lap. I still cringe when I think about it.)

[Niblet]

Add a splash of cold water and whisk madly.

[oakjoan]

Page 81 of Mastering the Art has a tip for fixing broken hollandaise...it doesn't, as far as I can see however, mention either lemon juice or heat. Just says to whisk in a bit of cold water and it'll sometimes come together. There's more about this in the book.

[DanaB]

Thanks for checking the source -- I knew I'd read it in there, but had forgotten the details. Maybe it was separated mayonnaise that called for the lemon juice?