Sauce Noisette
Hollandaise made with brown butter
Hollandaise made with beurre noisette — butter cooked until the milk solids toast and it smells of hazelnuts. Nutty and darker than the parent sauce, and very good with salmon or trout.
Ingredients
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- Kosher salt and cayenne
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a light-coloured pan over medium heat and cook until the foam subsides, the solids at the bottom turn golden brown, and it smells of hazelnuts, 5 to 7 minutes. Watch it closely at the end.
- Pour it carefully into a warm jug, leaving the darkest solids behind. Let it cool to warm.
- Set a bowl over barely simmering water. Whisk the yolks, water and lemon juice until thick and trailing, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Off the heat, add the warm brown butter drop by drop, then in a stream once the emulsion holds.
- Season with salt and cayenne.
Notes
- A light-coloured pan lets you see the colour change. In a black pan you will overshoot.