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Béarnaise sauce

This very tasty sauce, flavoured with tarragon, chervil and shallot, with its hint of acidity, is perfect for grilled fish or meats. Its well-known as a difficult sauce, but here are all the tips that you need to succeed.

248,9084.5/5 for 8 ratings

Last modified on: May 22^th 2016

For 6 people, you will need:

1 2 egg yolks
2 250 g butter
3 1 bunch chervil
4 1 bunch tarragon
5 100 ml dry white wine
6 100 ml white (spirit) vinegar
7 1 pinch flour
8 1 shallot
9 salt
10 pepper
Total weight: 535 grams

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Measures:

How long does it take?

Time required

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
36 min.	30 min.	1 hour 6 min.

Keeping:

A few minutes, not more.

At what time?

When will I finish if I start the recipe at a certain time?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at a certain time?

Work this out...

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 10 min.

Peel and chop finely 1 shallot.

Chop tarragon and chervil finely.

Reserve one teaspoon of chopped herbs for garnishing.

Stage 2 - 1 min.

Put shallot and herbs in a small pan, salt and pepper generously.

Stage 3 - 15 min.

Pour in 100 ml white (spirit) vinegar and 100 ml dry white wine.

Reduce over low heat until you are left with about 1/5 of the original volume.

Stage 4 - 3 min.

Pour the contents of the pan into a chinois or a strainer, and squeeze herbs to extract the juices.

Stage 5

You should get only 2 to 4 tablespoons of this tasty liquid which is the base for your sauce.

This base could be made several days beforehand, and kept in a sealed jar in the fridge.

Stage 6 - 5 min.

On the day, melt 250 g butter, remove the foam which rises to the top and discard it.

Your goal is to clarify the butter, removing as far as possbile the white impurities (whey) which will be left on the bottom.

Leave to cool.

Stage 7 - 5 min.

Prepare a bain-marie.

Put 2 egg yolks, sauce base, and 1 pinch flour in the bowl over the bain-marie.

Stage 8 - 10 min.

Put over low heat, and beat to form a sabayon.

Stage 9

Continue to beat until it thickens, and "holds" the whisk.

Stage 10

Then add the melted butter, a little at a time, while beating continously.

Stage 11 - 15 min.

Your Béarnaise will develop its texture. Continue until all the butter is added, apart from the very last bit in the container with all the impurities (discard).

Stage 12 - 2 min.

And finally add the spoonful of herbs.

Serve without too much delay. If your dish is not ready, leave the sauce to wait in the bain-marie, not too hot, with a lid.

Remarks

Some technical words: Béarnaise is a sauce of the warm emulsified kind (like hollandaise and mousseline), which means a hot base, here a well-flavoured sabayon, where butter is added to get this smooth texture.

Usually chefs make bearnaise in a different way: everything in a single pan, without a bain-marie. Faster, but more difficult.

Nutritional information

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2000 k-calories or 8400 k-joules by day for a woman (change to a man).

How much will it cost?

For 6 people : 5.50 €
Per person : 0.92 €

Note : These prices are only approximate

Change currency:

Source

Nicolas.

More recipes?

This recipe uses (among others)

	Butter: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: French onion soup, Crème de foie gras, Scrambled eggs (Oeufs brouillés), Scallops with fondue of leeks, Winemaker's toast, ... All
	Dry white wine: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Filet mignon with mustard and tarragon sauce, Seven-hour lamb, Rabbit terrine, Seafood sauerkraut, Spring veal sauté , ... All
	White (spirit) vinegar: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Fresh pasta dough, Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée), Poached eggs, Pickled gherkins, Fish petals, vegetables julienne, and beurre blanc, ... All
	Egg yolk: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Salmon chard rolls, Little lemon biscuits, Pistachio confectioner's custard, Chocolate cream with a crunch, irish coffee mousse, Paris-Brest, ... All

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