Béarnaise Sauce

Made it once and then again the next day made a double batch. Great in all the ways mentioned below, also over salmon or swordfish. Froze the extra from the double batch in a plastic ice cube tray; they defrosted on my countertop as I made dinner and whisked back into shape perfectly with a little lemon juice or water if a thinner sauce is desired.

great, fast way to finish this any meat or fish dish. I found that dry tarragon freshly ground into almost a powder, was as pungent as fresh, which makes it so much easier to impulsively add this finishing sauce to dinner.

Kate, I am an American who has been living outside the US for many years. I still use lots of American recipes, so need to convert butter measurements often. Here's a scale I found on a website years ago: 1 T of butter = 14g; ; half a stick (4T or 2 oz) = 57g; 1 stick (8T or 4 oz) = 113.5g. Hope this helps.

This sauce came together amazingly in a blender, no double boiler required! Follow instructions but instead of a metal bowl, put yolks and reduction in a blender. Turn the blender on and slowly pour the butter in a very thin stream, piping hot from the microwave or a saucepan. The sauce should come together by the time all of the butter is incorporated.

It will definitely need SALT, and probably more tarragon, and why not some chopped parsley?

Some people like it runny, like a sauce, I like it pretty thick, more like a mayonnaise -- the amount of butter used will determine this....

Made this on Sat night and served over freshly picked asparagus (lightly steamed but still crunchy). My daughter and her fiancé were over for dinner and we all swooned over the flavors. It was easy to make and upped the asparagus to divine. Plenty left over to spoon over eggs the next morning. I've never made this before so I wasn't sure how long to whisk the egg mixture before adding the butter. But they transform. Not only increasing in volume but thickening and changing color. You'll KNOW.

Sam, it would be hugely helpful if you could add metric and Imperial weights to your recipes. I'm assuming 12 Tbs of butter is 180 gms. I think quite a few of your readers are outside the USA and most of us have learned to cook by weighing things. I find it more exact.
Thanks so much for all these great recipes.

I often make something that is not bearnaise sauce, but is close enough for my liking and can be assembled in a minute:

Melt a large amount of butter. Blanch some shallots. Combine blanched shallots, chopped tarragon, melted butter, white wine vinegar and a big spoonful of dijon mustard. Whisk to emulsify (the mustard acts as an emulsifier in replacement of egg yolks). Season with salt and pepper.

Red wine vinegar is great too (or a mixture of red wine vinegar and dry white wine). Use chervil in addition to tarragon, and strain the reduction. It's advisable to start the emulsion with a tablespoon of the reduction, and add more at the end of operations (otherwise the sauce may be a bit too pungent). And no need to bother clarifying or even melting the butter. You can add bits of butter straight from the fridge and whisk them in. Add freshly chopped chervil and tarragon before serving.

I have not made this recipe but have made Bearnaise sauce for years from another source. I found that putting hot water in a thermos and then draining and drying just before pouring in the sauce helps keep it warm for a little while. This is a warm/tepid sauce, not a hot sauce.

I made this tonight to go on a lovely little filet of beef for just me alone and it was marvelous. Couldn't believe I even did it! Thank you Sam, your instructions were easy and, yes a bit more salt, and I too like it a bit thicker. Will do repeat performances!

From answer.com: "How many grams are in a tablespoon? It depends on what you're measuring. ...
Grams are a unit of mass (or weight) and a tablespoon is a unit of volume. Therefore it depends entirely on what you are measuring -- it depends on the density of the substance. A tablespoon of lead will be much heavier than a tablespoon of feathers. ... Similarly, a tablespoon of butter weighs a different number of grams than a tablespoon of salt."

This is the fourth time I have attempted bearnaise, but the first time using this recipe, and I nailed it! Thank you, Sam Sifton!!!

Keep béarnaise and hollandaise warm in a bain marie.

Here's a terrific online conversion calculator, and it 'goes both ways', i.e. from US to metric and from metric to US:

http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/tools.measures/Measur...