Dill Hollandaise Sauce
A lighter (less butter) version of Hollandaise sauce with foolproof directions. This lemony creamy sauce is perfect for serving with any kind of fish.
Yield
8 servingsPrep
5 minCook
5 minReady
10 minIngredients
| Amount | Measure | Ingredient | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| ¼ | cup |
butter
melted, (you can use much less if desired) |
|
| 3 | large |
egg yolks
|
|
| 1 | tablespoon |
water
cold |
|
| 1 | tablespoon |
lemon juice
|
|
| 1 | tablespoon |
butter
cold, cut into pieces |
|
| ⅛ | teaspoon |
salt
|
|
| 2 | tablespoons |
dill weed, fresh
finely chopped |
|
Ingredients
| Amount | Measure | Ingredient | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 59 | ml |
butter
melted, (you can use much less if desired) |
|
| 3 | large |
egg yolks
|
|
| 15 | ml |
water
cold |
|
| 15 | ml |
lemon juice
|
|
| 15 | ml |
butter
cold, cut into pieces |
|
| 0.6 | ml |
salt
|
|
| 3E+1 | ml |
dill weed, fresh
finely chopped |
|
Directions
The egg yolks must be heated slowly and gradually so they will thicken into a smooth cream. It is not hard but attention is needed and it is good to have all the ingredients ready in advance.
Place the egg yolks in a saucepan and using a whisk beat for about one minute until they become thick and sticky.
Add the water, lemon juice and salt and beat for another 30 seconds.
Place the saucepan over low heat, or gently simmering water (a double boiler or baine marie). Constantly stir the mixture with the whisk as it slowly heats up. It will take one to two minutes or so to thicken, keep stirring.
If the mixture seems to be thickening too thickly or if there it seems to becoming a bit lumpy immediately place the saucepan into cold water to cool it and continue stirring. Then continue over low heat.
When the egg yolks have thickened enough you will start to see the bottom of the pot between strokes, you may also notice that the mixture forms a light cream colour on the wires of the whip.
Remove from the heat and beat in the 1 tablespoon of cold butter to cool the egg yolks and stop the cooking.
Beat the egg yolks with the wire whip and begin slowly adding the melted butter a few drops at a time (about ¼ teaspoon at a time) until the sauce thickens into a heavy cream. Then you can add the butter more rapidly beating with the whip the entire time.
Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Serve warm.
To make things a bit lower in fat I normally only add a few tablespoons of butter instead of the entire ½ cup and it turns out just great.
Hollandaise sauce is served warm and not hot. If you keep it too warm it will curdle or thin out. It can be held warm for an hour or more in a pan of lukewarm water. The more butter used the harder it is to hold for an extended period of time. If making an hour in advance use only a bit of butter and beat in softened butter just before serving.
Other hints:
A teaspoon of cornstarch added at the beginning will help to hold the sauce if kept warm for an extended period of time (hours).
Sauce is too thick... beat in one or two tablespoons of hot water, stock or milk.
Sauce refuses to thicken... this is usually because the butter was beaten in too quickly. Rinse out a stainless mixing bowl with hot water then add a teaspoon of lemon juice and a tablespoon of sauce. Beat with a wire whip until it creams. Then beat in the remaining sauce a little bit at a time until it has thickened and then add some more. Repeat.
Sauce curdles or separates... beat in a tablespoon of cold water to bring it back, if not use the Sauce refuses to thicken technique above.
Leftover sauce... can be kept in the fridge for a day or two or can be frozen! You can use it to enrich other sauces, just beat it in a tablespoon at a time. To use it as Hollandaise again, beat two tablespoons of the leftover sauce over very low heat or simmering water in a double boiler then gradually beat in the rest of the sauce a tablespoonful at a time.
