Béarnaise sauce is a beautiful French sauce typically served with steak in fine dining establishments and high-end steakhouses. It’s traditionally made by hand. Over a double boiler, egg yolks are mixed with an herb-infused vinegar reduction, then melted butter is poured in slowly while whisking. If you stir the sauce too quickly, it will split. The eggs will scramble if the temperature is too high and won’t thicken appropriately if it’s too cold.
Bearnaise sauce is a beautiful French sauce typically served with steak in fine dining establishments and high-end steakhouses. It’s traditionally made by hand. Over a double boiler, egg yolks are mixed with an herb-infused vinegar reduction, then melted butter is poured in slowly while whisking. Bearnaise sauce is velvety smooth and flavorful. This sauce’s somewhat sour flavor pairs well with grilled steak or vegetables, and Bearnaise sauce goes well with beef and roasted veggies like green asparagus.
What is Bearnaise Sauce?
Bearnaise Sauce is a traditional French sauce used with grilled fish or meat. Egg yolks, vinegar, butter, and shallots are cooked over low heat and seasoned with chervil or tarragon. This sauce is a highly delicate blend that might be challenging to master.
It’s a luscious, creamy beef topping. Bearnaise sauce is a delectable and creamy classic French sauce created with vinegar and wine, shallots, tarragon, and (sometimes) chervil, thickened with egg yolks and butter.
Meat, fish, eggs, or vegetables usually accompany it. Since its invention in 1836, when Chef Collinet opened his restaurant in Paris, France, this luscious sauce has satisfied many taste buds.
How to Make Bearnaise Sauce Recipe?
Béarnaise sauce contains shallots, tarragon, and crushed black peppercorns and is rich, buttery, and aromatic. It’s one of the most delicious sauces to accompany the grilled steak.
Bearnaise is an emulsified sauce made the same as Hollandaise sauce: Warm clarified butter and other flavoring components are stirred into egg yolks. For further information, see this step-by-step explanation of preparing Hollandaise sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 cup clarified butter
- Four large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns
- Two tablespoons of chopped shallots
- One tablespoon of chopped fresh tarragon
- One tablespoon of chopped fresh chervil or parsley
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Cayenne pepper, or Tabasco sauce, to taste
- Lemon juice, to taste
Steps to Make it
- Heat an inch or two of water in a saucepan over medium heat. Your clarified butter should also be warm, not hot.
- Heat the vinegar, shallots, peppercorns, and half of the tarragon in a separate pot to a simmer, then reduce until the mixture is nearly dry (au sec). Only approximately two teaspoons of liquid should be left. Remove from the heat and place in a glass or stainless steel mixing bowl (not aluminum).
- Whisk in the egg yolks for about a minute or until the mixture is light and frothy.
- In the saucepan, the water should have started to simmer. Place the bowl right on top of the hot water in the saucepan. The water should not come into contact with the bowl’s bottom.
- Remove the bowl from the heat and constantly whisk while gently adding the melted butter, a few drops. The emulsion will shatter if you add it too rapidly.
- Continue to incorporate the melted butter. You can gradually increase the rate as you add the sauce as it thickens, although slower is ideal.
- Strain the sauce into a second bowl after adding the butter, tossing the chervil and the remaining tarragon. Season with lemon juice, Kosher salt, and cayenne pepper to taste (or a dash of Tabasco sauce). The béarnaise sauce will be smooth and firm when completed. If the consistency is too thick, add a few drops of warm water to thin it out.
- Béarnaise ought to be consumed right away, though it can be kept heated for about an hour. You should toss it out after two hours for quality and safety reasons.
Bearnaise Sauce Recipe
How to Keep Bearnaise Sauce Warm for Serving?
The stress of making sauces like Hollandaise and Béarnaise Sauce right before serving was one reason that kept me from making them at dinner parties. They can be made before, refrigerated, and then reheated, but it’s dangerous and easily split. More so than Hollandaise, Bearnaise.
Prep everything ahead and make it while protein is resting –I attempted this with salmon last weekend, and it was a no-brainer. Have the butter cut and ready to melt in a jug, the vinegar infused, the herbs minced, and the jar and stick blender. Then, as the salmon rested, it took 2 minutes to blitz it all up.
What to Serve with Bearnaise Sauce?
Béarnaise is a renowned steak sauce that you’ll find nearly exclusively in high-end steakhouses and classic French restaurants. It goes particularly well with meat. But give it a shot with salmon. It’s Fantastic — with a capital F!!
With egg yolks, butter, white wine vinegar, shallots, and tarragon, Bearnaise builds on hollandaise. The mildness of these seasonings makes them ideal for chicken, meat, and shellfish. This delectable sauce is perfect for grilled or broiled meats, such as Broiled Lamb Chops.
What is the Flavor of Bearnaise Sauce?
Béarnaise sauce is a fiery offspring of hollandaise, one of French cuisine’s “mother sauces.” It’s an emulsion of egg yolks and butter, cut through with vinegar flavored with tarragon and shallots and a sprinkling of black pepper.
Bearnaise is a pale yellow sauce with green herbs and a smooth, creamy texture. White wine vinegar, rather than the lemon juice used in hollandaise sauce, gives Béarnaise its acidity. Shallots and fresh herbs like tarragon and chervil also flavor them.
How Long will Bearnaise Last?
It’s preferable to use Béarnaise Sauce right away. You may keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days and then reheat it. In the refrigerator, it will solidify. Break it up into pieces and reheat it over low heat, stirring regularly and vigorously and removing the saucepan from the flame to melt too quickly.
It’s preferable to use Béarnaise Sauce right away. You may keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days and then reheat it. In the refrigerator, it will solidify. Break it up into pieces and reheat it over low heat, stirring regularly and vigorously and removing the saucepan from the flame to melt too quickly.
Can you Store Bearnaise?
It’s preferable to serve your Bearnaise sauce immediately, but store them in Tupperware if you have any leftovers. Then spread it on bread like butter. Alternatively, reheat it.
Bearnaise is an egg/butter/vinegar emulsion sauce that does not require refrigeration. As a result, once opened, keep it refrigerated. Reheating an emulsion is difficult; don’t overheat it or separate it.
Conclusion
This sauce is from France and is frequently served as a meat topping. Although the components are simple, learning the technique of making this sauce is challenging. Chef Collinet is credited with coining the term “bearnaise sauce.” In 1836, he opened “Le Pavillon Henri IV,” a restaurant outside Paris.
Béarnaise sauce is a traditional French condiment served with grilled meat or fish, and it has a creamy texture. The sauce is produced with simple ingredients, but it requires some practice to create it without curdling. An egg yolk combination is emulsified with unsalted butter and acid to make Hollandaise sauce.
With egg yolks, butter, white wine vinegar, shallots, and tarragon, Béarnaise sauce builds on hollandaise. Silky Bearnaise takes only 4 minutes to prepare and has no artificial flavors or MSG other than naturally occurring glutamates. This essential sauce mix makes 1 1/4 cups of homestyle sauce, ideal for weekday dinners and other simple recipes.
