Hollandaise is an easy, thick, delicious sauce to drip over your poached eggs (it’s great over asparagus, too!). There is no magic trick here, just a lot of whisking. Once upon a time, when I was twenty-four years old and “knew everything,” I broke the hollandaise (when the eggs and butter separate; it’s sad) in the middle of a busy shift with Chef Andrew Humbert at the Universal Grill in the executive dining room on the back lot of Universal Studios. And he fixed it by yelling at me. And having me remake it quickly using melted butter instead of clarified butter. By doing so, the milk solids help emulsify the sauce, giving it a nice body. I haven’t gone back to clarified butter since. Thanks, Andrew!
SERVES 4
Hollandaise Sauce
2 egg yolks (reserve the whites for an egg wash, omelet, or meringue)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup [220 g] butter, melted and hot!
Cayenne pepper
Kosher salt
Poached Eggs
2 Tbsp white wine
8 eggs
4 Fontina Sausage Biscuits (page 45)
1 recipe Sautéed Escarole (page 233)
To make the hollandaise: Partially fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil over high heat.
Meanwhile, in a large, stainless steel bowl, combine the egg yolks and lemon juice and whisk continuously, until the bright yellow color pales and the mixture begins to thicken, about 2 minutes.
Lower the heat so that the water in the saucepan is barely simmering (you’re just using the residual heat from the boil—otherwise you’ll cook the eggs) and place the bowl with the egg and lemon mixture on top to create a double boiler. The bottom of the bowl shouldn’t touch the water, it should hover right above it.
Drip in the melted butter, very slowly drippy-dripping it in and whisking until it resembles a hot mayonnaise, about 30 seconds. But you want hollandaise! So, loosen it up by adding 1 Tbsp of hot water from the saucepan, and continue whisking. Pour the remaining hot butter in a slow and steady stream and whisk constantly, until the sauce thickens and its volume doubles, 7 to 8 minutes more. Make it taste killer and whisk in a pinch of cayenne and a pinch of salt. Cover to keep warm until serving. (Psst . . . is your hollandaise too thick? Add another bit of hot water and whisk before serving.)
To prepare the poached eggs: Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add the white wine and give the whole thing one vigorous whisk so that the water swirls (not a vortex, mind you—just a swirl). This allows the albumen of the yolk to disperse, which will make your egg look pretty.
Crack one egg at a time into a small bowl and gently slide it into the center of the swirling water. You can fit 4 eggs at once in the saucepan, so work in two batches. Cook until the whites set and the yolks are runny, 3 to 4 minutes.
Meanwhile, split 4 biscuits in half and top each half with some sautéed escarole. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the poached egg to a biscuit half. Repeat with each egg, transferring to the biscuits. Top each egg with warm hollandaise and serve immediately.
