Whisk Wednesdays—Sauce Béarnaise (Warm emulsified sauce derived from Hollandaise sauce) with Steak

Now that we've completed the mother sauces, we're into the derivative ones and Béarnaise is one of the best. It's based on hollandaise but has an added flavor boost from a reduction of wine, shallots, wine vinegar, tarragon, and black peppercorns. Again, it’s an emulsification of eggs and butter, but with extra flavor from the herb and vinegar reduction. Traditionally, it’s served on beef, but it would be delicious on anything!

There are variations to the traditional recipe. Sometimes chervil, thyme, parsley, or bay is used as well as tarragon. Some use red wine vinegar or tarragon vinegar. Some recipes call for clarified butter and some for regular, room temperature butter. Some call for a blender while the more traditional recipes use just a whisk.

The last time I made Béarnaise was for the millennium celebrations in 1999. I remember using a blender and serving this sauce over tenderloin with shrimp and scallops on top as a garnish (à la The Keg). Pretty ritzy, eh? I haven’t made it since, but now it may be on our regular menu!

History
According to History of Sauces by Linda Stradley (What’s Cooking America), the sauce was created by Chef Jules Colette at his restaurant Le Pavillon Henri IV and served in the 1830s, but the sauce was named after Henri IV who was a gourmand born in Béarn, France and was King of France from 1589 to 1610.

"Don't be saucy with me Béarnaise..."
I had trouble when I made Béarnaise the first time. I added the clarified butter too fast, and it threw a tantrum and broke. I quickly consulted the cookbook, which told me to throw an ice cube into the mix to cool it off. This didn’t work. The next thing the cookbook suggested was to take a new pot, add a bit of cold water, and then add a ladle full of the sauce and whisk. Once that was smooth, add a bit more broken sauce to the fresh pot. Slowly, and ever patiently I whisked. And it worked! Thankfully, my eggs didn’t curdle so I was good to go. By this time, the T-bone steaks were ready, everyone was hungry, and I took a few casual photos and dug in. Later, looking at the photos, I realized I should have spent more time on the photo shoot!

A second Béarnaise sauce for lunch later in the week, no sauce tantrums (was I more patient or was it the room temperature butter?), more time with the photo shoot, and this time sauce spread leisurely over fried chicken, and again it was delicious!

I had some leftover Béarnaise sauce and attempted to re-heat it for supper. I put the burner on low, poured my leftover sauce into a clean pot, added 1 tablespoon of very hot water, and whisked like mad. Without stopping, I continued whisking, dipping my finger in for a heat-and-taste test, until the sauce was warm enough to drape over my leftover chicken. It worked, and it was delicious!

"A Béarnaise sauce is simply an egg yolk, a shallot,
a little tarragon vinegar, and butter,
but it takes years of practice for the result to be perfect."
–Fernand Point–

Who is Fernand Point?

"I believe Fernand Point is one of the last true gourmands
of the 20th century. His ruminations are extraordinary and thought-provoking. He has been an inspiration for legions of chefs.”

–Thomas Keller–{On a side note, earlier this week I even made Eggs Benedict for one! It’s extremely dangerous to know how to whip this up on short notice given the amount of butter and the fact that it’s swimsuit season in these parts!}

Choking on Artichokes
On the artichoke front, I choked. This was the first time I’ve cooked artichokes! And I failed. First off, I had to get some tweezers to dig out the sliver of a prickle from one of the buggers. Then, I carefully de-leaved them until I thought I’d gotten to the light green center. After rubbing them lovingly with lemon, I plopped them into boiling water to cook. 30 minutes later, I took them out. I tried to dig out the middle to put the lovely un-broken Béarnaise sauce in, destroying 2 of the 3 chokes in the process. Then, when I finally sat down to eat, I daintily put one in my mouth and couldn’t chew it! Since artichokes are in the recipe for next week, I may try it again, but I need help.

Watch a Pro
Here’s a video showing how to make Béarnaise sauce. This video shows the solids from the reduction being strained and then thrown out, but the version in Le Cordon Bleu at Home keeps these in the sauce, which adds a nice texture to the sauce.

Links
12 Tips You Need To Make Perfect Bearnaise Sauce 

Béarnaise sauce
What is Béarnaise Sauce?

Recipe
You can find the recipe for Béarnaise sauce in the book Le Cordon Bleu at Home. You can also find a recipe for Salmon with Béarnaise sauce here. To see how the rest of the Whisk Wednesday group fared with this week's recipe, click here (or check out the sidebar) and then click on each blogger!

Tasting Notes
The hint of tarragon with its licorice taste, the sharpness of the shallots, and the creaminess of the eggs and butter make Béarnaise sauce the most amazing and delicious sauce yet! I was glad the sauce broke so that I could figure out how to fix it, and I was relieved that it worked. This is definitely a keeper and one I might even try serving for dinner guests, if I’m brave.

Next Week (July 2)
• Sauce Mayonnaise (Basic emulsified sauce) page 30-31
• Salade Messidor (Summer Harvest Salad)

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $446.39 + $5.15 (Béarnaise) + $4.35 (Artichokes) = $455.89

Butter used so far: 6 pounds, 5 tablespoons

. . . . . . . . . .

Next Week (July 2)
• Sauce Mayonnaise (Basic emulsified sauce) page 30-31
• Salade Messidor (Summer Harvest Salad)

Whisk Wednesdays:
If you would like to check out the other Whisk Wednesdays bloggers to see their take on Béarnaise sauce, click Kayte.