Hollandaise Sauce

Photo credit: Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Gozde Eker.

Whenever my research pinpoints a recipe by New York Times food author Sam Sifton, I jump on it. Here’s his thoughts on the virtues of the classic sauce.

“For the longest time I made a classic French hollandaise sauce with two or three egg yolks, until I tasted what happens when you use seven, in keeping with the teachings of the chefs David McMillan and Fred Morin, of the restaurant Joe Beef in Montreal. Their advice carries over to the use of a blender instead of a double boiler to make the sauce. It’s a terrific sauce for asparagus, for broccoli, for steaks, for scallops, for eggs Benedict or for my homage to a Joe Beef dish: scallops with hollandaise sauce and shredded duck.”

INGREDIENTS

Yield:6 to 8 servings

7 egg yolks, at room temperature

1 cup unsalted butter

Pinch cayenne, or to taste

Lemon juice, to taste

Salt, to taste

PREPARATION

Step 1

Put yolks into a small container into which you can fit an immersion blender, or into the jar of a blender.

Step 2

Melt the butter in a small saucepan set over medium heat, then allow it to cool for a few minutes.

Step 3

Process the yolks for a couple of seconds, then continue to run the blender as you add the melted butter in a slow and careful stream, until you have a thin, emulsified sauce. Add the cayenne, lemon juice and salt to taste, blend again to combine and keep at room temperature until ready to use.