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.
336K 4.3/5 based on 15 reviews
Last modified on: May 22th 2016
Keywords for this recipe:
2 
250 g 
1 bunch Chervil
1 bunch 
100 ml 
100 ml white (spirit) vinegar
1 pinch 
1 
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 36 min.
Cooking: 30 min.
All in all: 1 hour 6 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
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.
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.
Reduce over low heat until you are left with about 1/5 of the original volume.
Stage 4 - 3 min.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Usually chefs make bearnaise in a different way: everything in a single pan, without a bain-marie. Faster, but more difficult.
Keeping: A few minutes, not more.
Source: Nicolas.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 8 3 % | 6 1 % | 220 30 % | 2,070 100 % | 8,650 100 % |
| Per 100 g | 1 1 % | 1 0 % | 40 6 % | 390 20 % | 1,620 20 % |
| Per person | 1 1 % | 1 0 % | 40 6 % | 340 20 % | 1,440 20 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 6 people : 5.40 €
- Per person : 0.90 €
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Butter
Like these other recipes: Dublin fruit scones, Leek and broccoli "à la flamande", Kouign-amann, French Family Cake, Nantes Tourton, ... See them all 448
Dry white wine
Like these other recipes: Filet mignon with mustard and tarragon sauce, Saltimbocca, Rabbit terrine, Hot box cheese , Quiche Bretonne, ... See them all 67
White (spirit) vinegar
Like these other recipes: Provençal remoulade sauce, How to prepare broccoli, Sautéed chicken with leeks, How to prepare sorrel, How to prepare a lettuce, ... See them all 18
Egg yolk
Like these other recipes: Key Lime Pie for Jeremy, Household cake (Gâteau de ménage), Gâteau Breton (Brittany butter cake), You should not leave egg yolks in contact with sugar, Panettone, ... See them all 72
Other recipes you may also like
Candied grapefruit peel
Not really a dessert, more a kind of sweet. After soakiing, strips of grapefruit skin are cooked very slowly to conservethem in sugar. It's a real treat with coffee at the end of a meal.December 20th 2018364K 14 1 day 1 hour 21 min.
Baked apples from St Aubin le Vertueux
Under this pretty name, my personal version of "Les pommes au four" (baked apples).February 21th 2011243K 24.2 1 hour 7 min.
Rice pudding (riz au lait)
My personal version of this classic family recipe.December 18th 2018389K5 38 min.
Tiramisu
Classic italian recipe (the name means "pull me up" or more poetically, "take me up to the sky"). It's similar to a charlotte in its structure: layers of flavoured biscuits between layers of smooth cream.July 27th 2013488K5 49 min.
Chocolate madeleines
Simple and delicious, goes very well with tea or coffee.March 10th 2019300K3.8 1 hour 15 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2024-09-22)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.