By Cheryl Orr

Sauces are a wonderful way to add flavor and really take a dish from good to great. I do a series of cooking classes on the Five “Mother Sauces” in French cooking, and even though these sauces may sound complicated, they are used regularly in American cuisine without most cooks realizing they are using simple French techniques.
French chef Marie Antoine-Carême was the first to organize all the French sauces into groups that were based on four foundational sauces. Later, French chef Auguste Escoffier added one more sauce to form what is known today as the five “mother sauces,” in Le Guide Culinaire in 1903. These sauces create everything from macaroni and cheese to the gravy on your mashed potatoes.
Previously, I have touched on a few basics such as a roux, mixing butter or any fat with flour to form a thickening agent for sauces such as a bechamel, or basic white sauce as most Americans call it. Another easy technique to create a simple and quick pan sauce is with butter. A beurre blanc is a white butter sauce used for chicken and seafood or fish dishes made with white wine or chicken or seafood stock, while a beurre rouge is a pan sauce for darker meats using red wine or beef stock.
When used correctly, butter is a fabulous emulsifier for sauces. Hollandaise is a rich, buttery egg sauce that can elevate many dishes. This sauce is for more than a standard eggs Benedict, and it can take on many flavor profiles by adding herbs or seasonings to the standard recipe. It can separate if left on the heat too long, but whisking in a little hot water will bring it back together.
This week, I have included three very different preparations for Hollandaise. Please only use farm-fresh eggs. The Farmers Market gets them delivered weekly on Fridays, right from area farms. It’s much easier to separate the yolks from the egg whites when the eggs are cold. Freeze the whites to use for another recipe. The sauce is best prepared with room temperature yolks so plan a little ahead. Hollandaise comes together very quickly and I don’t recommend reheating it so have your dish ready before you prepare this sauce.
Enjoy!

Hollandaise Three Ways

Makes 1 cup
INGREDIENTS 

• 3 egg yolks, room temperature, using farm fresh eggs
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne or white pepper 
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 ½ tablespoon warm water
• ½ teaspoon Dijon, optional as not traditional
• Dash hot sauce
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

PREPARATION 1

1. Separate cold eggs, adding yolks into a small saucepan, and saving whites for another
   recipe in freezer. Whisk pepper, salt, lemon juice, water, and Dijon into the yolks and set
   aside.
2. Heat another small pan, which the yolk pan will sit and rest in, filled about a fourth full
   with water. Heat on low until gently simmering.
3. Add the butter to a glass measuring cup with a spout and melt on low in a microwave
   oven, or melt in a small pan with a spout on a stovetop on low heat. With a spoon remove and discard the fat resting on the top of the melted butter.
4. Set the yolk mixture pan in the pan of gently simmering water and while constantly
   whisking vigorously slowly stream in the melted butter. Continue to whisk vigorously
   until egg mixture is very thick and emulsified. Adjust seasoning to taste. Remove from
   heat.

• If sauce separates slowly whisk in a little hot water.

PREPARATION 2

1. Separate cold eggs, adding yolks to a tall glass measuring cup, saving whites in the
   freezer for another recipe. Whisk pepper, salt, lemon juice, water, and Dijon into the
   yolks and set aside.
2. Add the butter to a glass measuring cup with a spout and melt on low in a microwave
   oven, or melt on low in a small pan with a spout on a stovetop. With a spoon remove and
   discard the fat resting on the top of the melted butter.
3. Using a handheld immersion blender on low slowly stream the melted butter into the
   yolk mixture and continue to blend until the egg mixture is very thick and emulsified.
   Adjust seasoning to taste. This can also be prepared in a conventional blender.

• If sauce separates slowly whisk in a little hot water.
  PREPARATION 3

1. Separate cold eggs, adding yolks to a small saucepan, and saving whites in the freezer
   for another recipe. Whisk pepper, salt, lemon juice, water, and Dijon into the yolks and
   set aside. Add the pieces of cold butter directly to the yolk mixture.
2. Set the pan on stove top on low heat. Continually whisk until the sauce thickens.
   Remove from heat. Adjust seasoning to taste.

• If sauce separates slowly whisk in a little hot water.

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If you have a cooking question, contact me at cher.orr@gmail.com and I’d be happy to assist! Cheryl Orr is offering weekly Pop-up events at Edenton Bay Trading Co that all can attend. She is currently completing her cookbook, and offering private cooking classes, small catering, and private chef dinners. See all on www.edentonepicurean.com