Béarnaise sauce


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.
364 K 4.3/5 (15 reviews)
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Last modified on: May 22th 2016
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For 6 people, you will need:

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Times for this recipe
Preparation: 40 min.
Cooking: 30 min.
All in all: 1 hour 6 min.
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Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - ⌛ 10 min.
Béarnaise sauce : Stage 1
Peel and chop finely 1 shallot.

Chop tarragon and chervil finely.

Reserve one teaspoon of chopped herbs for garnishing.

Stage 2 - ⌛ 1 min.
Béarnaise sauce : Stage 2
Put shallot and herbs in a small pan, salt and pepper generously.

Stage 3 - ⌛ 15 min.
Béarnaise sauce : Stage 3
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.
Béarnaise sauce : Stage 4
Pour the contents of the pan into a chinois or a strainer, and squeeze herbs to extract the juices.

Stage 5
Béarnaise sauce : 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.
Béarnaise sauce : Stage 6
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.
Béarnaise sauce : Stage 7
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.
Béarnaise sauce : Stage 8
Put over low heat, and beat to form a sabayon.

Stage 9
Béarnaise sauce : Stage 9
Continue to beat until it thickens, and "holds" the whisk.

Stage 10
Béarnaise sauce : Stage 10
Then add the melted butter, a little at a time, while beating continously.

Stage 11 - ⌛ 15 min.
Béarnaise sauce : Stage 11
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.
Béarnaise sauce : Stage 12
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.
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 recipe8 RDI=3 %6 RDI=1 %220 RDI=30 %2,070 RDI=100 %8,650 RDI: 100 %
Per 100 g1 RDI=1 %1 RDI=0 %40 RDI=6 %390 RDI=20 %1,620 RDI: 20 %
Per person1 RDI=1 %1 RDI=0 %40 RDI=6 %340 RDI=20 %1,440 RDI: 20 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman
Possible allergens in this recipe: egg, milk, Sulfites, Gluten
How much will it cost?
  • For 6 people : 5.45 €
  • Per person : 0.95 €

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Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
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