Hollandaise Sauce

Find a bowl and a pot that fit together to make a double broiler (see picture above). Fill pot with about 1 1/2 - 2 inches of water. Make sure the water does not touch the base of the bowl when placed on top, there should be at least an inch of space. Put bowl to the side, cover pot with lid, and bring to a light simmer over high heat. Once simmering reduce heat to low to maintain the simmer.

Meanwhile, heat butter in a small pot or pan over medium-high heat till fully melted. Then transfer to a little flask or mug. Be careful when pouring butter into flask or mug because it bubbles over easily like champagne.

In the bowl for the double broiler (mentioned in step 1), whisk together egg yolks, lemon juice, salt, and paprika till fully combined.

Place the bowl over the lightly simmering water. Make sure the water doesn’t get too hot or the eggs will scramble and mess up your sauce. Alternately you don’t want the water too cold or your sauce might have trouble thickening and heating. Adjust the burner as you go to keep a nice middle ground.

Very slowly add in the butter as you vigorously whisk. Make sure you add the butter slowly or it will not emulsify. Add all the melted butter even the white or brown milk solids that sit at the bottom of the flask or mug. It should take roughly 5 minutes to fully incorporate the butter. Once all the butter is added, whisk for an additional 30 seconds to help thicken the sauce. Once the sauce is as thick as ranch or Caesar dressing, remove from heat. If your sauce gets to thick (like the thickness of mayo) and starts to clump, whisk in a little hot water till it reaches, your desired consistency.

Hollandaise is best served hot and fresh but leftovers can certainly be saved in the fridge. I recommend you save it in the same bowl you made it in to make reheating easier. To reheat, simply place bowl on a pot with water like you did before, bring to a simmer, add roughly 1 tbsp hot water to hollandaise and whisk the hollandaise for about 1 minute till melted. Don’t leave on too long or let get too hot or the hollandaise could separate and demulsify.