Hollandaise Sauce (white) - A Mother Sauce

Hollandaise is simply an emulsion of egg yolks and butter with lemon and pepper As with the other Mother Sauces this is the base from which other sauces are made. 

The following is a sample recipe to give you an idea of what it consists of.

3 egg yolks
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
Dash of cayenne

Make sure egg yolks and lemon juice are at room temperature. Briefly whirl yolks, juice, and spices in blender. Melt butter and heat until bubbling. With blender running, slowly pour the hot butter into the egg mixture. The heat of the butter is supposed to cook the egg and thicken the sauce.

Use over cooked vegetables, especially broccoli and asparagus, eggs benedict Spread cold on bread for sandwiches (instead of mayo)

Some of the variations of Hollandaise follow:

Béarnaise Sauce Hollandaise with tarragon reduction

Maltaise Sauce  Hollandaise with orange juice grated orange zest. (Used on vegetables, poultry)

Mousseline Sauce Whipped heavy cream and Hollandaise flavored further with herbs, juices, etc. (Used on vegetables, seafood, chicken)

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