It's Good Though…

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What can we say about hollandaise sauce that everyone else doesn’t know? It’s delicious. It’s incredibly rich. It’s something you wish you could have for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day but probably shouldn’t because it could quite possibly kill you. And it’s for good reason. With a delicate but scrumptious composition of some protein-packed egg yolks, gobs of melted butter, a touch of lemon and a smidgen of salt and pepper, it’s what we’d call totally loaded in the culinary world. Throw it on potatoes, some ham, poached eggs and English muffin a la eggs benedict or smother your choice of veggies in its glowing golden gloriousness. Whatever your choice, hollandaise sauce will be sure to compliment it. It’s also one of Escoffier’s five mother sauces, the ones that all sauces from the 1800s out were based off of. So you know it’s an important recipe to have in your arsenal. The only slight downside is the process of making it, which is very temperature and time sensitive and can be ruined in a blink of an eye. However, we’ve got a solution for that.

• ½fl oz white vinegar
• ½fl oz water
• 2egg yolks
• 12oz clarified butter (heated to 125°F)
• Lemon juice to taste
• Cayenne pepper to taste.

Combine yolks, water and vinegar.

Cook quickly over a double boiler until yolks are lighter in color and a ribbon consistency, then remove from heat.

Heat clarified butter to 125°F.

Slowly add butter to yolks, whisking constantly. Add a few drops of lemon juice is sauce seems to thick.

Season to taste with salt, cayenne and lemon juice.

Hot hold at 125°F for 1.5 hours maximum

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Escoffieronline

Sauce Tomat is simply tomato sauce – one of the five French mother sauces.
There are many modern variations of Escoffier’s classic sauce, often because the original recipe is rather time consuming to make. Notably, many recipes replace raw tomatoes with canned ones that are diced, quartered or mashed. It is easy to make double or triple batches of this recipe, especially since tomato sauce can easily be frozen and saved for later use. Here is a version of Auguste Escoffier’s original recipe:

• 2-3oz salt pork.

Salt pork is a fattier part of the pig that looks similar to bacon but

• isnever smoked.
• 3oz carrots, peeled and medium diced
• 3oz white or yellow onion, medium diced
• 1bay leaf
• 1sprig thyme
• 2oz whole butter
• 2-3oz all-purpose flour
• 5lbs raw, good quality tomatoes, mashed
• 1qt white veal stock
• 1clove freshly crushed garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Pinch of sugar

Fry the pork in the butter. When the fat has melted, add the carrots, onion, bay leaf and thyme. Cook the vegetables, stirring regularly. Add in the flour. Once it has browned, add in the tomatoes and veal stock. Stir the ingredients together until well mixed, then bring the sauce to a boil. Add the rest of the seasonings and the clove of crushed garlic. Place in the oven under moderate heat for 90 minutes. Remove the sauce and pass it through a sieve. Butter the top to prevent the formation of a skin.

Any sauce not being used within the next few days should be placed in an airtight container and put in the freezer.

Yield: 1 cup

Velouté is one of Escoffier’s five mother sauces in French cooking. This is a stock based sauce. About any sauce could be used to match the final dish. Multiple the quantity as needed. You can also change the ratio of butter/flour to stock to change the consistency of the sauce.

• 1small carrot, coarsely chopped
• 1medium onion, coarsely chopped
• ½stick (¼ cup) unsalted butter
• ¼cup all-purpose flour
• 4cups hot beef stock or reconstituted beef-veal demi-glace concentrate*
• ¼cup canned tomato purée
• 2large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• 1celery rib, coarsely chopped
• ½tsp whole black peppercorns
• 1Turkish or ½ California bay leaf

Sauce Espagnole (FN)

Yield: 6 servings

Robert Irvine / Food Network

• 1TBS vegetable oil
• 2scallions, chopped
• 1TBS chopped celery
• 1TBS chopped carrot
• 1small clove garlic, crushed
• 1TBS dry red wine
• 2cups rich brown beef, veal or chicken stock, hot
• 1TBS toasted instant flour (recommended: Wondra)
• 1TBS butter
• 1TBS tomato paste
• A sachet d’epices containing: 1 sprig parsley, 1 sprig thyme, 1 bay leaf, 1 black peppercorn

Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, and saute scallions, celery, carrot, and garlic over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the vegetables have caramelized lightly. Add the red wine and beef stock and bring to a simmer.

In a stainless steel mixing bowl, whisk together the toasted flour and butter, add the tomato paste, then gradually ladle in the hot stock, whisking as you go to make a smooth sauce. Add the sachet d’epices of parsley, thyme, bay leaf, and peppercorn, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 50 minutes. Skim any impurities off the surface.

Yield: 1 cup

adapted from Daniel Gritzer / Serious Eats

Velouté is one of Escoffier’s five mother sauces in French cooking. This is a stock based sauce. About any sauce could be used to match the final dish. Multiple the quantity as needed. You can also change the ratio of butter/flour to stock to change the consistency of the sauce.

• 1½TBS unsalted butter
• 1½TBS all-purpose flour
• 1cup white stock (veal, chicken, fish, vegetable)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat (do not allow it to brown). Add flour and whisk to form a paste. Continue to cook, stirring, until raw flour scent is gone, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, add milk in a thin, steady stream, or in increments of a couple of tablespoons at a time, whisking thoroughly and getting into all corners of the pan to maintain a homogeneous texture. Sauce will initially become very thick, then get very thin once all the milk is added.

Heat, stirring, until sauce comes to a simmer and begins to thicken slightly. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 3 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper. Add nutmeg to taste, if using. If any lumps form, simply whisk thoroughly to remove them and smooth out sauce, or use a hand blender or countertop blender if lumps are particularly large or tough. Use sauce right away, or press a piece of plastic wrap over surface of sauce to prevent a skin from forming and keep warm until ready to use. Sauce can be cooled and stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for several days. Reheat very gently on the stovetop or in a microwave to use.

Yield: 1 cup

adapted from Daniel Gritzer / Serious Eats

Béchamel is one of the five mother sauces in French cooking. Multiple the quantity as needed. You can also change the ratio of butter/flour to milk to change the consistency of the sauce.

• 1½TBS unsalted butter
• 1½TBS all-purpose flour
• 1cup whole milk
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste (optional)

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat (do not allow it to brown). Add flour and whisk to form a paste. Continue to cook, stirring, until raw flour scent is gone, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, add milk in a thin, steady stream, or in increments of a couple of tablespoons at a time, whisking thoroughly and getting into all corners of the pan to maintain a homogeneous texture. Sauce will initially become very thick, then get very thin once all the milk is added.

Heat, stirring, until sauce comes to a simmer and begins to thicken slightly. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 3 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper. Add nutmeg to taste, if using. If any lumps form, simply whisk thoroughly to remove them and smooth out sauce, or use a hand blender or countertop blender if lumps are particularly large or tough. Use sauce right away, or press a piece of plastic wrap over surface of sauce to prevent a skin from forming and keep warm until ready to use. Sauce can be cooled and stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for several days. Reheat very gently on the stovetop or in a microwave to use.