Happy Canada Day!
JT celebrated a birthday in mid-June and we always do something special. This year, instead of going out for dinner, he requested a Steak Dinner with a Baked Potato, Grilled Caesar Salad and Béarnaise Sauce; I also I baked him flourless chocolate cake with cherry sauce and whipped cream. JT cooked up the steak on the Big Green Egg while I made the baked potato, Caesar Dressing and Béarnaise sauce. It was a huge success and the Béarnaise was so tasty against the earthy meat.
Béarnaise Sauce
Ingredients:
114 g unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ cubes
30 g minced shallots
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
30 mL Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
2 large egg yolks
15 mL (or more) fresh lemon juice (we used 25 mL)
15 mL finely chopped fresh tarragon
Directions:
- In a small, heavy bottom saucepan, melt 15 g butter and add the shallots, a small amount of salt and stir to coat. Add the vinegar and reduce heat and cook until the vinegar has evaporated (about 3-4 minutes). Reduce the heat and continue to cook until the shallots have softened (about 5 minutes). Transfer shallots to another vessel and allow to cool.
- Warm the blender vessel with hot water and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter and heat until foamy. Transfer to an easily pourable vessel, like a measuring cup.
- Pour the water out of the blender and dry well. Add the egg yolks, lemon juice and about 15 mL water and purée the mixture until it is smooth. Continue to run the blender and slowly pour in the hot, melted butter in a thin stream, omitting the milk solids at the bottom of the container. Blend until you get a smooth, creamy sauce (about 2-3 minutes). Taste for seasoning, I added more lemon at this point and blended a bit more.
- Pour the sauce into the shallot reduction and stir well. Serve at room temperature.
Note:
- The egg yolks cook somewhat with the hot butter but to avoid any issues, it’s best to use pasteurized eggs.
Later that week, we had dear friends for dinner so I baked a cake for JTs birthday. I saw this German Chocolate Cake on my friend Liz’s blog and knew I had to make it. It has a lot of ingredients but the recipe is easy to follow and it’s delicious. But be warned, it has 3.5 cups of sugar and 3/4 lb of chocolate, so you really need a crowd to share it with.
Eva, the béarnaise sauce looks perfect (I love it, I could eat it with a spoon on its own!) and the cake, well it looks simply professional! I don’t know how you’ve managed to make it so perfectly!
By the way, my husband would also love such a birthday meal!
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You’ve been a busy cook. I hope you had a Happy Holiday. GREG
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JT is a very lucky man! Happy Birthday to him! 😀
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In terms of food this was probably better than going out to dinner! I’m impressed you made the béarnaise the traditional way. I use a cheat that makes it much easier: https://stefangourmet.com/2015/05/03/easy-foolproof-bearnaise-sauce/
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Beautiful sauce. I hope one day to make it but I just keep making the Hollandaise … maybe cause I’d have to source ingredients that I don’t normally use esp: fresh tarragon (not fond of anise/liquorice flavour) and the scallions. Even the white wine vinegar isn’t in my pantry. I bought the red and I see there ARE recipes that use it instead of the white. 🙂
On my bucket list is making all 5 French mother sauces. Espagnole is the last one on the list. (sigh!!!) Cooking is an endlessly fascinating hobby.
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I haven’t made Béarnaise Sauce in a very long time. Sounds like a wonderful meal! Happy Canada Day. And happy belated birthday to JT!
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Bearnaise sauce makes (practically) everything taste better don’t you think? Especially steak.
How do you like your Big Green Egg, by the way?
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Well that sounds like a wonderful meal! I’m making a very similar dinner for a friend’s birthday tonight, but I made a compound butter using smoked Bleu cheese. Too late to change now, but I’m definitely printing this recipe!
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That’s one of my favourite cakes :-)) Yours looks terrific, Eva. My husband would love it for his soon coming birthday too.
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JT and Bill would get along well! His birthday dinner request would work well for Bill’s bday, too, although, I don’t think he knows what a bernaise sauce is—but I know he’d approve! P.S. Beautiful job with the cake!!
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