Monday, August 31, 2009

How to Fix a Broken Hollandaise

The Eggs Benedict Florentine you see here was posted on my Twitter page during our trip down to the Santa Maria Inn. It was delicious, but it reminded me of my days, long, long ago, as a brunch cook dealing with the nightmare of the end-of-the-service broken hollandaise.

It's the ultimate Murphy's Law in the kitchen, the hollandaise is fine until you get down to those last few orders and then it "breaks." The egg and butter separate, and you are basically screwed.

As a young cook I remember feverishly whisking up a small, new batch of sauce as the rest of the table's food was going out. I don't remember when, but eventually someone showed me how to save a broken hollandaise, and my life has been significantly better since.

I was doing a little practice for my shoot tomorrow in LA with Brand New Entertainment, and was playing around with making and breaking a hollandaise sauce, so I decided to turn on the camera for a quick little demo. Enjoy!



Make Your Own Eggs Benedict


Check out my old, but still effective video recipe for Eggs Benedict. I cover the poaching, the hollandaise, and the final plating.

16 comments:

Jesse from Detroit said...

This fix is so easy.. why isn't it in every recipe for Hollandaise? (Would've saved me quite a few *bleeps* had I known this 2 years ago.)

Antonio White said...

You are a magician! Thanks for the great tip!

Food Junkie said...

That is really amazing Chef John. It is cool to know that something so easy to break is also easy to fix.

Unknown said...

Tomorrow:

SFO - LAX - BNE - BAL

We've got our finger's crossed: we're thinking about you, and we're wishing you the very best!

Break A Leg!

tho x. bui said...

Can you fix broken mayonnaise the same way? I have a lot more problems with mayo than I do with Hollandaise.

Chef John said...

ive never tried, but would be a great experiment

Shelly- Mom Files said...

wow, that is so cool and not anything I would ever of thought of!! You are a beast Chef John!!!

Eric Brown said...

Very cool to see. Thanks for posting. Is it at all possible to then store unused Hollandaise Sauce and fix it in a similar way? Putting it in the fridge kills it.

Anonymous said...

That is a great way to do it. I always used the dash of cream method to bring it back together. I like yours better because it stays more true to the ingredients. Thanks!

Elaine said...

That looks great. What video camera do you use? I'm thinking of buying one to record my jazz piano playing. thanks..

Chef John said...

a very cheap Panasonic MiniDV

~j~ said...

Thank you so much Chef John! Today was the first time I have ever tried to make Hollandaise from scratch. I thought I was being careful with the water temp but my sauce broke anyway. Being loath to throw out 4 egg yolks and a cup of butter, I ran to the Internet to find a solution. Your video made it look so easy! RAn back to the kitchen and lo and behold! It worked!

Lamez0rs said...

where can I buy your hollandaise senses fear shirt?

Chef John said...

here u go http://www.cafepress.com/hollandaise

JP said...

Yes this works with broken mayo. I just tried it.

Adrian Brooks Collins said...

Works like charm, and I'm SO grateful that it does. Now I can enjoy my Benedict craving!