Hollandaise....yum

I've been making this sauce for a long time now. I barely can order it in a restaurant because Anthony Bourdain RUINED it for me! RUINED. I read his book Kitchen Confidential... and there was this section about eating out do's and don'ts and Hollandaise sauce was included in the "don't you F**king dare order it unless you want salmonella poisoning" section. So unless I am going to a restaurant where I know it's good and fresh, like Portland City Grill, I just make it at home. SO, Brit - this is for you!

Hollandaise Sauce

4 Egg Yolks
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 Teaspoon White Wine Vinegar (or just plain vinegar)
1/2 Cup (1 stick) butter, melted
Pinch of salt
Pinch of Pepper
A couple of Dashes of Tabasco (or a pinch of Cayenne)

1. Melt the butter in a heat proof bowl or measuring cup
2. In a double boiler over medium heat(or heat proof bowl a-top a pot of simmering hot water) whisk egg yolks with lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, and Tabasco (or Cayenne) until completely combined.
3. Slowly add the melted butter, whisking butter into yolks vigorously until butter and yolk mixture are a creamy consistency. Serve immediately.

** If it's too thick for you, add a little bit of warm water until you reach desired consistency. If it's not lemony enough, add another teaspoon of lemon juice or for super zing, add 1 teaspoon of lemon zest.

*** To prevent curdle, do not have heat on higher than medium. If sauce does curdle, remove from heat and whisk in a teaspoon of water until sauce is creamy.

Enjoy!!!

Sauce

I am convinced that you should keep certain things in your pantry. I always like to have cooking wine or sherry, Dijon and course grain mustard, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chicken stock, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, tomato sauce, lemon juice, unsalted butter, eggs, garlic, shallot, salt, and pepper. With those ingredients I can make about 5 different salad dressings, hollindaise sauce, barbecue sauce, aioli, and a few different sauces for chicken or pork dishes. Today, we will start with my mustard sauce that I use for both chicken and pork and that is featured in the above photo.

Mustard Sauce

2 Garlic Cloves Minced
1/2 Cup Chicken Stock
1/4 Cup Sherry or White Wine
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 Tablespoon Course Mustard
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste

After pan frying either pork tenderloin chops or thin cut chicken breast, add the butter to the same pan, over medium heat. Let the butter melt and scrape up some of the brown bits from the meat. Next add the garlic and cook until fragrant and slightly browned.

Add the stock and wine, stirring constantly scraping up more of the brown bits from the meat. Add both mustard and stir until combined. You will want to watch over this and stir the sauce frequently. It will start reducing quickly and thicken up. Add the meat back to the pan and continuously spoon the sauce over the meat until the sauce is nearly evaporated and is mostly on the meat.

Remove the meat from the pan and plate it. Pour any remaining sauce on to meat. All done. And this whole cooking process takes about 15-20 minutes. This is a quick dinner, especially if you are using thin cut chops or cutlets.

Enjoy!