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The egg yolks must be heated slowly and gradually so they will thicken into a smooth cream.
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It is not hard but attention is needed and it is good to have all the ingredients ready in advance.
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Place the egg yolks in a saucepan and using a whisk beat for about one minute until they become thick and sticky.
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Add the water, lemon juice and salt and beat for another 30 seconds.
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Place the saucepan over low heat, or gently simmering water (a double boiler or baine marie).
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Constantly stir the mixture with the whisk as it slowly heats up.
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It will take one to two minutes or so to thicken, keep stirring.
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If the mixture seems to be thickening too thickly or if there it seems to becoming a bit lumpy immediately place the saucepan into cold water to cool it and continue stirring.
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Then continue over low heat.
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When the egg yolks have thickened enough you will start to see the bottom of the pot between strokes, you may also notice that the mixture forms a light cream colour on the wires of the whip.
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Remove from the heat and beat in the 1 tablespoon of cold butter to cool the egg yolks and stop the cooking.
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Beat the egg yolks with the wire whip and begin slowly adding the melted butter a few drops at a time (about 1/4 teaspoon at a time) until the sauce thickens into a heavy cream.
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Then you can add the butter more rapidly beating with the whip the entire time.
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Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
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Serve warm.
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To make things a bit lower in fat I normally only add a few tablespoons of butter instead of the entire 1/2 cup and it turns out just great.
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Hollandaise sauce is served warm and not hot.
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If you keep it too warm it will curdle or thin out.
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It can be held warm for an hour or more in a pan of lukewarm water.
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The more butter used the harder it is to hold for an extended period of time.
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If making an hour in advance use only a bit of butter and beat in softened butter just before serving.
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Other hints:
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A teaspoon of cornstarch added at the beginning will help to hold the sauce if kept warm for an extended period of time (hours).
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Sauce is too thick... beat in one or two tablespoons of hot water, stock or milk.
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Sauce refuses to thicken... this is usually because the butter was beaten in too quickly.
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Rinse out a stainless mixing bowl with hot water then add a teaspoon of lemon juice and a tablespoon of sauce.
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Beat with a wire whip until it creams.
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Then beat in the remaining sauce a little bit at a time until it has thickened and then add some more.
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Repeat.
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Sauce curdles or separates... beat in a tablespoon of cold water to bring it back, if not use the Sauce refuses to thicken technique above.
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Leftover sauce... can be kept in the fridge for a day or two or can be frozen!
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You can use it to enrich other sauces, just beat it in a tablespoon at a time.
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To use it as Hollandaise again, beat two tablespoons of the leftover sauce over very low heat or simmering water in a double boiler then gradually beat in the rest of the sauce a tablespoonful at a time.
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Hints, tips and direction based upon a combination of directions in Larousse Gastronomique, and Julia Childs', Simone Beck's and Louisette Bertholle's Mastering the Art of French cooking.
