French cuisine is famous for its large number of different sauces. Some of them are prepared for specific dishes, others perfectly complement the taste of several dishes, and others are universal or almost universal. Béarnaise sauce belongs to the third group. Most often it is served with meat and poultry, but it harmonizes no less well with fish, seafood, and vegetables. The versatility of béarnaise sauce also lies in the fact that it is good both hot and cold. However, it must be taken out of the refrigerator in advance so that it warms up to at least room temperature, since otherwise its consistency will be too thick and it will be difficult to pour it over the dish. The sauce itself is quite thick and fluffy, and has a pleasant creamy tint. It is prepared on the basis of white wine vinegar, butter and raw yolks, with the addition of a certain set of herbs and spices that give the liquid seasoning a unique taste and aroma.

Cooking features

Some sauces require high culinary skill to prepare, while others are quite simple to prepare. Béarnaise sauce (also often called bearnaise sauce) has medium difficulty in preparation. This means that when preparing it, you must strictly follow the technology and know several subtleties. In this case, even an inexperienced cook can cope with the task.

• To prepare the sauce, raw yolks are required. Preference should be given to eggs from domestic chickens, as their yolks are brighter and give the sauce a more pleasant hue. At the same time, it is very important to be aware of the health status of laying hens so as not to become infected with salmonellosis. If you do not have such data and the eggs were purchased in a store, they must be thoroughly washed before use using soap and a sponge.
• The traditional recipe for béarnaise sauce calls for the use of shallots. It has a more subtle and noble taste compared to onions, but can be replaced with them if desired. This will not have a serious impact on the taste of the finished sauce.
• Another important ingredient is white wine vinegar. Substituting red vinegar may affect the color of the finished sauce. Therefore, if there is no white wine vinegar in the house, it is better to replace it with apple vinegar.
• The fourth ingredient is butter. It is required most of all to prepare the sauce, and the taste of the finished dish radically depends on its quality. In this case, replacing butter with spread will not work.
• Separately, it is worth mentioning the spices that are traditionally used to prepare béarnaise sauce. This is ethragon, also known as tarragon, and chervil - a spicy herb whose appearance, taste and aroma remind us all of the well-known parsley. It is difficult to find an adequate replacement for tarragon, but you can replace chervil with parsley without even thinking about it.
• Prepare bearnaise sauce in a water bath, gradually adding the ingredients and constantly whisking the sauce. If you put a bowl of sauce on the fire, it will immediately turn into an omelette. If you try to mix everything at once to speed up the process, the sauce will separate.
• If, despite all your efforts, your sauce still separates after cooking, you can add crushed ice and shake it up. If this does not help, try adding another yolk and then straining the sauce.

Serve béarnaise sauce with meat and fish dishes, poultry dishes, and vegetables. It will give their taste extraordinary shades.

Classic recipe for béarnaise sauce

• shallots – 30 g (or 25 g onions);
• butter – 150 g;
• water – 80 ml;
• white wine vinegar (6 percent) – 40 ml;
• ground white pepper - a pinch;
• chicken egg yolks – 2 pcs.;
• fresh chervil or parsley – 30 g (can be replaced with 10 g dried);
• fresh tarragon (tarragon) – 15 g (can be replaced with 5 g dried).

Cooking method:

• Wash and peel the onion, cut it into very small pieces.
• Separate the yolks from the whites. You won't need whites to make the sauce, but you shouldn't throw them away, because they can serve as the basis for preparing other delicious dishes.
• Melt the butter until liquid and leave for a while to cool to just above room temperature.
• Finely chop the fresh herbs and mix.
• Place onions and peppers in a small bowl or frying pan.
• Mix vinegar with two tablespoons of water. Pour this mixture over the onions and place over low heat. When the mixture has boiled by about half or even a little more, add the remaining water and bring the mixture to a boil. Transfer the onion to a container in which you will prepare the sauce in a water bath.
• Combine chicken yolks with a third of the melted butter and whisk. Pour into a container with the onion, beat again and place in a water bath.
• Heat, whisking, to about 40 degrees. Add butter in small portions, continuing to beat.
• When the sauce thickens sufficiently, add herbs and stir. At this stage the sauce can be slightly salted.

Despite the fact that béarnaise sauce can be served cold, the optimal temperature for it is considered to be about 60 degrees. You can heat it in a water bath. Béarnaise sauce cannot be heated in the microwave, as this will cause it to separate and lose its attractiveness.

Adapted recipe for béarnaise sauce

• onion – 60 g;
• apple cider vinegar (6 percent) – 100 ml;
• chicken egg yolks – 2 pcs.;
• butter – 0.24 kg;
• water – 20 ml;
• ground black pepper – 5 g;
• tarragon - 3 sprigs;
• thyme – 1 sprig;
• bay leaf – 1 pc.

Cooking method:

• Remove the skin from the onion and chop it finely.
• Tear off the leaves of tarragon and set aside.
• Place onion, bay leaf, thyme sprig and tarragon stalks (without leaves) in a small container, add pepper. Pour vinegar over it all and place on low heat. Reduce the mixture by about half. Strain through a sieve.
• Beat the yolks, adding a spoonful of cold water and vinegar that has cooled to room temperature, infused with the aromas of herbs.
• Heat in a water bath. Add the butter in small pieces, whisking the sauce each time until smooth.
• When the oil runs out, add finely chopped tarragon leaves to the sauce, stir and remove from the water bath.

The sauce prepared according to this recipe has the same consistency as the original béarnaise sauce and a very similar taste, a little spicier. To obtain a milder taste and an even more pleasant aroma, some housewives replace part of the vinegar with lemon juice, but not more than half.

Béarnaise sauce, which has a delicate consistency and creamy taste, is an excellent addition to any dish; it complements the taste of lean meat and poultry especially well.

A classic French sauce for meat and poultry, which in turn is derived from Hollandaise (Souce Hollandaise) - one of the five so-called. main sauces of French cuisine.

It’s not difficult to prepare - you will need about 15 minutes of time, but... This sauce is quite easy to spoil - for example, overheating - so it is important to follow the recipe exactly. It’s a good idea to have an electronic thermometer when cooking to correctly determine the temperature of the oil, but you can do without it.

For 4 servings you will need:

• one shallot bulb (if you can’t find shallots, then regular chopped onion will do - 1 tbsp.)
• 150 g butter
• 4 tbsp. spoons of water
• 2 tbsp. tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 4 whole white peppercorns (or a pinch of ground pepper)
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp. tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp. tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon (tarragon), or 1-2 teaspoons dried tarragon

First, prepare the ingredients: finely chop the onion, crush the pepper in a mortar, chop the herbs, separate the whites from the yolks.

Melt the butter and leave it to cool. Prepare hot water for a water bath.

Pour 2 tbsp into the bottom of the saucepan. spoons of water, 2 tbsp. spoons of vinegar, add onions and peppers, stir and put on fire. Bring to a boil and let almost all the liquid evaporate. When there is just a little liquid left, add another 2 tbsp. spoons of water, remove the saucepan from the heat and place in a water bath (in hot, but not boiling water).

Add the yolks to the saucepan, one at a time, whisking thoroughly. After thoroughly beating the yolks until smooth, remove the saucepan from the water bath and place it on a cloth soaked in cold water to cool. Let stand for 3-5 minutes.

Check the temperature of the melted butter - it should be 50-60 degrees, no more. Please note that at 70 degrees the sauce separates and spoils. Pour the oil into the sauce in a thin stream, whisking vigorously. When you have poured in all the oil, beat for a couple more minutes to obtain a creamy, homogeneous mass. Add chopped herbs to the sauce and mix well.

The sauce is ready - you can serve it to the table. Béarnaise sauce can be served cold or hot. If you want to heat it up, do not forget that it cannot be heated above 70 degrees, so do not place the saucepan on the stove, but heat it in a not too hot water bath, stirring thoroughly. And under no circumstances heat it in the microwave - it will immediately separate into fractions.

The sauce can be stored at room temperature for no more than one and a half days, or no more than three days in the refrigerator. The sauce becomes very thick in the refrigerator, so bring it to at least room temperature before serving.

Béarnaise sauce (French: "sauce bearnaise") is a classic French sauce. Béarnaise is an emulsion of egg yolks and melted butter, that is, in essence, it is a variation of one of the “basic” sauces of classic “haute” French cuisine, Hollandaise sauce. But, unlike Hollandaise sauce, the main flavoring additives in Bearnaise sauce are shallots, tarragon and some other herbs (and lemon juice is usually added to Hollandaise.) This sauce, of course, is incredibly high in calories, so it is better to make it very rarely and not in large quantities. But it is also incredibly tasty, tender and soulful, so, of course, it’s worth trying :)
A classic dish served with bearnaise sauce is good, high quality. Indeed, medium-rare meat and this delicate but rich sauce are simply made for each other! Bearnaise sauce is also incredibly tasty with certain vegetables, such as asparagus. I really liked it with simply steamed broccoli.
Making béarnaise sauce is a rather delicate matter. This sauce is very capricious; at any moment the emulsion can separate, or the yolks can curdle due to overheating. So it’s better to take on this sauce if you already know how to make, for example, a simpler one or hollandaise. But, in principle, nothing is impossible, and my sauce turned out well, although not the first time. And, by the way, there are ways to “correct” the sauce if everything has gone awry, and I will talk about them below.
I made béarnaise using classical technology. For this sauce, finely chopped shallots and herbs are first simmered with white wine and vinegar to create a concentrated flavor base for the sauce. And then the yolks are beaten with this base, and melted warm butter is gradually added to this mixture. Traditionally, the sauce is whipped in a bowl over a steam bath, but now there are many recipes for making the sauce in a blender. By the way, the options in the blender and stand mixer just didn’t work out for me, but what I got was the “historical” steamed version, which I will describe below. But you can also try the blender version, perhaps you will have more luck with it than I did.
Ingredients:
40 ml good white wine vinegar
80 ml dry white wine
2 tbsp. finely chopped shallot (about half a medium onion)
3 tbsp. finely chopped tarragon leaves (leaves from about 4 large sprigs)
1/4 tsp. coarse salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3 large egg yolks (or 4 medium ones)
230 g butter

Chop the shallots very, very finely.

We also finely chop the tarragon leaves.

In a very small saucepan, combine vinegar, white wine, salt, pepper, shallot and 1 tbsp. tarragon. Place the saucepan on the fire, bring the mixture to a boil and simmer until about 3 tbsp remains. liquids.

Melt the butter and keep warm.
Place a medium-sized saucepan with a small amount of water on the fire, bring the water to a boil, and reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Select the appropriate size bowl. (When the bowl is on top of the pan, the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water.)
In a bowl, combine the yolks and 3 tbsp. boiled flavor base for the sauce. (In some recipes, this base is filtered, but you don’t have to strain it.) Using a mixer, beat the yolks with this liquid for about two minutes. Place the bowl with the yolk mixture in a steam bath and continue whisking. Carefully, literally in drops, we begin to add warm melted butter, without stopping whisking. It is important that the bottom of the bowl is not too hot, otherwise the yolks will cook. When the mixture begins to emulsify, you can add the remaining oil in a very thin stream.

The finished sauce should have the consistency of slightly runny mayonnaise.

Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the remaining finely chopped tarragon. Serve immediately.

Now about correcting errors if they occur.

• If the sauce separates when adding butter, add one or two teaspoons to it. water and continue whisking. The sauce usually emulsifies again after this.
• If this doesn't work, drain the sauce from the bowl, add an additional raw egg yolk to the bowl and whisk, gradually adding the separated sauce. This really helped me after I had an unsuccessful preparation of the sauce in a stand mixer.
• If the finished sauce is too thick, add a little white wine or water while whisking continuously.
• If the sauce begins to “stick” to the walls of the bowl while whisking, immediately remove the bowl from the steam bath. If the yolks curdle due to high temperature, the sauce cannot be corrected. Cool the bowl slightly and return it to the steam bath over very low heat.

Serve the sauce as an accompaniment for steak, chops, fish or vegetables.

Bon appetit!

Very tasty, with a rich aroma and good consistency, I invite you to cook French Béarnaise sauce with me! It is a well-known fact that the French are big fans of sauces, but I will try to prove to you today that these sauces are surprisingly popular by preparing this sauce at home, quickly, without any difficulties.

Béarnaise sauce refers to sauces based on eggs and butter, with the addition of traditional French herbs: tarragon and chervil, preferably fresh. I didn’t have any fresh herbs, so I added dried ones - the sauce still turned out aromatic.

I love this sauce for its ease of preparation, smooth texture and special taste.

So, let's prepare all the products according to the list. From the specified amount of products you will get 200 g of ready-made béarnaise sauce.

Chop the shallots (I use regular onions) as finely as possible. Pour in wine and wine vinegar.

Add tarragon and chervil. You can use twigs or dried herbs. Place the saucepan on the fire and simmer over medium heat for 4-7 minutes until the onion is soft and the liquid has evaporated by half.

Transfer the contents of the saucepan to a blender and blend well until smooth.

We separate the whites from the yolks. Use the whites for another dish; we only need the yolks.

Add 3-4 drops of water and a pinch of salt to the yolks and beat the yolks with a whisk until they turn a little white.

Mix the onion-wine mixture with the yolks in a larger container.

Place the container in the steam bath. Melt the butter in the microwave and add 1-2 tablespoons at a time to the container, whisking constantly. Continue whisking the mixture until it thickens. Taste the mixture, add salt if necessary, and also add a pinch of ground black pepper.

This is what the finished Béarnaise sauce should look like.

I often use Béarnaise instead of hollandaise sauce for beef, chicken and asparagus dishes.

Béarnaise sauce is especially good served with grilled fish!

Bon appetit!

Béarnaise sauce (French: "sauce bearnaise") is a classic French sauce. Béarnaise is an emulsion of egg yolks and melted butter, that is, in essence, it is a variation of one of the “basic” sauces of classic “haute” French cuisine, Hollandaise sauce. But, unlike Hollandaise sauce, the main flavoring additives in Bearnaise sauce are shallots, tarragon and some other herbs (and lemon juice is usually added to Hollandaise.) This sauce, of course, is incredibly high in calories, so it is better to make it very rarely and not in large quantities. But it is also incredibly tasty, tender and soulful, so, of course, it’s worth trying :)
A classic dish served with béarnaise sauce is a good, high-quality beef steak. Indeed, medium-rare meat and this delicate but rich sauce are simply made for each other! Bearnaise sauce is also incredibly tasty with certain vegetables, such as asparagus. I really liked it with simply steamed broccoli.
Making béarnaise sauce is a rather delicate matter. This sauce is very capricious; at any moment the emulsion can separate, or the yolks can curdle due to overheating. So it’s better to take on this sauce if you already know how to make, for example, a simpler classic mayonnaise or hollandaise. But, in principle, nothing is impossible, and my sauce turned out well, although not the first time. And, by the way, there are ways to “correct” the sauce if everything has gone awry, and I will talk about them below.
I made béarnaise using classical technology. For this sauce, finely chopped shallots and herbs are first simmered with white wine and vinegar to create a concentrated flavor base for the sauce. And then the yolks are beaten with this base, and melted warm butter is gradually added to this mixture. Traditionally, the sauce is whipped in a bowl over a steam bath, but now there are many recipes for making the sauce in a blender. By the way, the options in the blender and stand mixer just didn’t work out for me, but what I got was the “historical” steamed version, which I will describe below. But you can also try the blender version, perhaps you will have more luck with it than I did.
Ingredients:
40 ml good white wine vinegar
80 ml dry white wine
2 tbsp. finely chopped shallot (about half a medium onion)
3 tbsp. finely chopped tarragon leaves (leaves from about 4 large sprigs)
1/4 tsp. coarse salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3 large egg yolks (or 4 medium ones)
230 g butter

Chop the shallots very, very finely.

We also finely chop the tarragon leaves.

In a very small saucepan, combine vinegar, white wine, salt, pepper, shallot and 1 tbsp. tarragon. Place the saucepan on the fire, bring the mixture to a boil and simmer until about 3 tbsp remains. liquids.

Melt the butter and keep warm.
Place a medium-sized saucepan with a small amount of water on the fire, bring the water to a boil, and reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Select the appropriate size bowl. (When the bowl is on top of the pan, the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water.)
In a bowl, combine the yolks and 3 tbsp. boiled flavor base for the sauce. (In some recipes, this base is filtered, but you don’t have to strain it.) Using a mixer, beat the yolks with this liquid for about two minutes. Place the bowl with the yolk mixture in a steam bath and continue whisking. Carefully, literally in drops, we begin to add warm melted butter, without stopping whisking. It is important that the bottom of the bowl is not too hot, otherwise the yolks will cook. When the mixture begins to emulsify, you can add the remaining oil in a very thin stream.

The finished sauce should have the consistency of slightly runny mayonnaise.

Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the remaining finely chopped tarragon. Serve immediately.

Now about correcting errors if they occur.

• If the sauce separates when adding butter, add one or two teaspoons to it. water and continue whisking. The sauce usually emulsifies again after this.
• If this doesn't work, drain the sauce from the bowl, add an additional raw egg yolk to the bowl and whisk, gradually adding the separated sauce. This really helped me after I had an unsuccessful preparation of the sauce in a stand mixer.
• If the finished sauce is too thick, add a little white wine or water while whisking continuously.
• If the sauce begins to “stick” to the walls of the bowl while whisking, immediately remove the bowl from the steam bath. If the yolks curdle due to high temperature, the sauce cannot be corrected. Cool the bowl slightly and return it to the steam bath over very low heat.

Serve the sauce as an accompaniment for steak, chops, fish or vegetables.

Bon appetit!