Easy Low Fat Hollandaise Sauce

I have a fascination with quirky chemical reactions in the kitchen, like how cornstarch thickens liquids, how cakes can be microwaved, and the various ways of "setting" puddings.  This recipe isn't terribly unusual ... it's basically a roux thickened sauce ... but still something interesting to show the kids :-)  While most Hollandaise recipes call for tons of butter and the use of a blender, this one uses just 1-2 T of butter ...


Ingredients:
1 T butter
1 T flour
1 C boiling water

2 egg yolks
1/2 T vinegar or lemon juice
1 T corn oil / butter
1 t mustard

Roux ("roo"): Melt the butter over low heat in a saucepan.  When butter is melted & frothy, stir in the flour.  Cook the roux for about 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Turn off the fire. Add a little of the boiling water & stir the resulting paste rapidly with a whisk till smooth.  Add the rest of the boiling water gradually stirring vigorously all the while to prevent lumps from forming.  Turn on the heat and cook until the sauce is thick & glossy (5-10 minutes).

Turn off the fire again and stir in the rest of the ingredients until smooth. If lumpy, whizz through with a hand blender.  Serve this with fish like salmon or over poached eggs like in Eggs Benedict.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Roux is the base for ...

- Bechamel Sauce ... A rich white sauce made with roux & milk.  Season it with salt & pepper.  It is used for: lasagne, lobster thermidor, seafood pies, macaroni cheese, oyster mornay ... pour the sauce over the top of whatever, sprinkle cheese over, and brown under the grill.

- Veloute Sauce ...  A thick sauce made with roux & stock (fish / chicken).

- Supreme Sauce ... To veloute made with chicken stock, stir in 1/4 C heated cream (microwave for 30 seconds), a small knob of butter, a squeeze of lemon, salt & pepper. Serve with chicken.

- White Wine Sauce ... To veloute made with fish sauce, stir in 1/4 C of white wine which has been heated till reduced (microwave for 1 minute) & simmer for a while till reduced.  Take off flame.  Stir in 1-2 T heated cream, a squeeze of lemon, salt & pepper.  Serve with fish or seafood dishes.

- Mushroom Sauce ... Heat 2 T butter & 1 T lemon juice in a pan.  Add 1 C sliced mushrooms & saute for 5 mins till softened.  Add in Supreme Sauce made with chicken stock.  Serve with meat or pasta.

- Mornay Sauce ... Add some grated gruyere & parmesan cheese to Bechamel sauce. Heat till cheeses have melted.   This is a nice sauce for eggs, pasta, fish, vegetables (like broccoli & cauliflower) & oyster mornay. 

- Thick Soups ... like clam chowder, potato soup, gumbo. For each cup of liquid, use 4T butter + 4T flour.  Melt the butter (can allow it to brown slight for more flavour), add flour and cook roux for 1-2 minutes.  Cool to room temperature, then add to boiling soup, stirring till dissolved. Reduce heat & simmer a further 5-10 minutes till soup is thickened.