Dinner tangent

Mmmm, dinner. Last night we had steak, baked potatoes and asparagus with hollandaise sauce. Interestingly, the spell check built into my browser does not recognize "hollandaise" as a word. This insult must be addressed...

Anyway, back on track. I wanted to share my family's recipe for hollandaise. In my opinion it is one of the best recipes I've ever had the opportunity to consume...and trust me, I've eaten it all over the world. The closest I've come to ranking near my dad's recipe came from a small eatery in Little Rock, Arkansas called the Olive Branch. It used to be located in the River Market downtown in the city. I'm not sure if it's still there, but they made an incredible breakfast sandwich.

Onward, ever onward. My recipe for hollandaise uses a blender. In some traditions the only good hollandaise is prepared over a double boiler as you whisk until your arm falls off. Save a microwave, I strongly advocate the use of electronic devices in your kitchen. I say with the exception of a microwave due in no small part to the fact that mine sits on the floor of my kitchen in a corner...because last time I tried to use it I think that it tried to light itself on fire. Bad microwave, no biscuit.

My dad is quite possible the world's greatest unpaid chef. This is a man that was accepted at Le Cordon Bleu and chose not to attend for a number of very good reasons, life being the primary one. I'm not saying that everything that comes out of his kitchen is perfect, but he's definitely had a few years over me to perfect some incredible food. I owe him my love of food, my interest in new things, and my adoration for hollandaise sauce.

Hollandaise Sauce, Ray style:

Ingredients

• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (add more to taste)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (add more to taste)
• pinch of sugar

Directions

1. Place egg yolks, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, salt and pinch (very small) of sugar in blender.
2. Pulse blender for a couple of seconds, just enough to mix the ingredients.
3. In a saucepan melt the butter, being careful that it does not burn.
4. When butter "speaks" pour it into the blender while simultaneously holding down the blend button.
5. As soon as butter is fully poured stop blending.
   

Ideally the sauce should be slightly thick, rich and creamy. If your sauce is too runny simply blend it a bit more. If it's too thick...well, you can add more lemon juice or just serve it thick...that's what I do. If for some reason the sauce didn't come together...well, I'm not sure why it does that sometimes. The sugar is used to keep the eggs from separating, so I rarely have a sauce now that doesn't come together as long as I remember to put in that pinch of sugar.

This hollandaise is excellent for eggs Benedict, as a dipping sauce for artichokes, topping broccoli or asparagus, or even over steak. I think that hollandaise could possible go with almost everything...or so my stomach tells me.