Eggs Benedict with homemade hollandaise

Today I made eggs benedict for my father-in-law and husband for breakfast. It was a messy experience (and I realized just how bad that Hollandaise sauce is for you), but it was worth it! I followed Julia Child's recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The following is an adaptation from her recipe.

Hollandaise Sauce

Yields about 1 cup of sauce

3 egg yolks
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more later as needed
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter,
half at first and half later
1 1/2 sticks melted unsalted butter
Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Special equipment suggested: A 6-cup fairly heavy-bottomed stainless saucepan and a wire whisk; a pan and a small ladle for the melted butter

Preliminaries: Vigorously whisk the egg yolks in the saucepan for a good minute or so, until they are thick and pale yellow, then whisk in the lemon juice. Add 1 tablespoon of cold butter, which while melting slowly will act as a kind of anti-curdling insurance.

The egg-yolk sauce base: Set the pan over low heat, whisking at a moderate pace and watching carefully until in a minute or more (more... definitely more) the egg yolks have thickened and you can see the bottom of the pan between strokes. At once remove from heat and beat in the remaining 1 tablespoon cold butter a tablespoon to stop the cooking.

Adding the butter: By droplets, beat in the warm melted butter to make a thick sauce. Once it starts to thicken more, you can add more at a time. Whisk in the seasonings, adding a little more lemon juice if you feel it is needed.

Eggs Benedict: layer 1/2 English muffin, 1 slice warmed ham, poached egg, and hollandaise sauce.

~M