Last updated on December 2nd, 2011
IN SPRING, this gardening-gourmet’s fancy turns to luscious, lemony Hollandaise. Why? Because the sauce never fails to raise the season’s green offerings (like the asparagus pictured up top) up to new levels of deliciousness. I used to make the sauce in the slow, traditional manner, which involved much whisking (and much praying, too, that the egg yolks wouldn’t scramble as they heated). Today I know how to turn out perfect Hollandaise in 3 minutes flat, by using a blender instead of a whisk.
The only problem I’ve encountered with blender-Hollandaise is splattering. You see, the melted butter is added to the blended eggs while the machine is running. You can imagine the mess you’ll make if you try to do this with the blender’s lid completely removed. So hopefully your blender is equipped with a little pour-opening, like the one pictured above.
Fast & Fool-Proof Hollandaise
Ingredients for about 1 cup
3 egg yolks
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 pinch each salt and pepper
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter
1. Place egg yolks, lemon juice, and seasonings in the jar of the blender. Blend at highest speed for 5 seconds.
2. Cut the stick of butter lengthwise in half, then in quarters. Dice the quarters into 1/4-inch pieces. Melt these in a saucepan set over a low flame.
3. Remove the little pour-cap from the lid of the blender, turn the machine on (again, at highest speed), and add the melted butter first in droplets, then in a steady but very slow stream. The sauce will instantly thicken.
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Eric says
Kevin, looks great! And easy enough for a non-cook like me.
Adele says
I love hollandaise, but have never attempted it. I'll give your blender recipe a try…soon!
Yolanda says
Kevin, just wanted to let you know that I made this sauce last night, not in a blender, but in my food processor. It worked! This sauce is excellent!!! We dipped celery sticks in it, and when the celery was gone, we dipped…our fingers.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Yolanda – Yeah! Glad you liked the sauce. Easy, right?
BethElderton says
This sounds delicious!
Anonymous says
What a wonderful thing for you to share Kevin. I love your blog! I use to have the job of making this same hollandaise at a restaurant I cooked in-with a little tweaking: butter was melted in the microwave, and recipe called for a pinch of cayenne pepper. I remember it was important to add the butter hot. It was this recipe that made me realize what a miracle appliance the blender was. Robin in Seattle where everything is finally in bloom.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
BethElderton – Welcome to A Garden for the House. The sauce is truly divine.
Anonymous (Robin) – I'll have to try a little cayenne in my next batch of hollandaise…another reader on Facebook said she adds this ingredient, too. Did you send Seattle's wet weather this way? For the past week, not a day has passed without a heavy downpour, and/or thunderstorm!
Anne of Kinderhook says
I purchased fresh asparagus at a local farm store and tried your recipe for hollandaise. It is just superb!!!!!!! I so disliked cookbook recipes as the sauce could fail so easily but this is unique. After dining in luxury, I poured the juice and cooked ends of the asparagus back in the blender. I added other left over veggies and had a wonderful soup using every bit of the sauce. I can hardly wait for your next recipe!!!!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Anne of Kinderhook – Glad you like this easy way to make Hollandaise. Love your idea for using leftover sauce in a soup.