Béarnaise

Ingredients

• 2 egg yolks
• 125g unsalted butter
• 110ml white wine vinegar
• 70g shallot (2)
• 15g taragon sprigs
• 6 pepper corns
• 1 teaspoon of oil
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ teaspoon of lemon juice

Preparation Time: 40 minutes
Cooking Time: N/A
Serves: 4

Method

1. Peel and roughly chop one of the shallots and separate the leaves from the stalks of the tarragon (keeping both).
2. In to a saucepan, put the chopped shallot, the stalks of the tarragon, the pepper corns, the bay leaf and the vinegar, bring to the boil and reduce the liquid by half.
3. Remove the vinegar reduction from the heat and leave it to infuse for 15 minutes.
4. Pour the vinegar reduction through a sieve into a bowl and put 1 tablespoon of it into a liquidizer.
5. In another saucepan, heat the butter until it has completely melted and is bubbling and then pour it into a jug.
6. Add the egg yolks into the liquidizer, turn it on and then pour in the melted butter in a slow, steady stream.
7. Once all the butter is in, season with salt & pepper, add the lemon juice and leave the liquidizer running for a further 30 seconds.
8. Pour the béarnaise into a bowl.
9. Peel and finely dice the remaining shallot and roughly chop the tarragon leaves.
10. In a pan, heat the oil and cook the shallot for one minute until it is soft but not brown.
11. Stir the shallot and tarragon into the sauce and serve.

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Useful Information

Can it be frozen? No.
Can it be prepared in advance? Yes, up to 7 days to stage 4 or it can be finished up to 1 hour in advance.
Will leftovers be nice? No.

Notes