GMA Recipe: Béarnaise Sauce

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Béarnaise Sauce
From former White House chef Walter Scheib
January 29, 2007

A favorite of President Clinton, former White House chef Walter Scheib served this sauce and special Porterhouse Steaks to the President while Mrs. Clinton was out of town.

If you clarify the butter and make the tarragon-shallot reduction ahead of time (up to one day), you can make the sauce while the meat is resting at room temperature. Refrigerate the butter and reduction in airtight containers until ready to use.

Ingredients

1/4 cup chopped fresh tarragon leaves

3 tablespoons dry white wine

3 tablespoons tarragon vinegar, champagne vinegar, or white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped shallots

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 large egg yolks

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, clarified

Salt

Directions

1. Put the tarragon, wine, vinegar, shallots, and pepper in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and let simmer until reduced by half, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let cool slightly to avoid scrambling the egg yolks in the next step. (At this stage, you can also let the reduction cool completely and refrigerate it in an airtight container overnight.)

2. Put the yolks in a medium stainless steel bowl, add the vinegar-shallot mixture to the yolks, and whisk together well.

3. Bring a small saucepan of water to a simmer, place the bowl on top and whisk the yolk and vinegar mixture over the heat until it thickens and becomes frothy. Move the bowl over and away from the simmering water periodically to keep eggs from scrambling.

4. Once the mixture is frothy, begin pouring in the clarified butter, a little at a time, whisking it in and continuing to periodically remove the bowl from the simmering water. Once all the butter has been incorporated, season it to taste with salt, cover, and keep it warm.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

To make clarified butter:

Put unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium heat, let it melt, and bring it to a simmer. Skim off and discard the froth (whey protein) that rises to the surface. Continue to skim until no further froth is produced. Let the butter rest for 5 minutes so that all milk solids sink to the bottom, then strain the melted butter through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl or storage container, leaving the milk solids in the pot.

You will lose about one quarter of the volume you begin with; so 2 sticks (1 cup) of butter will yield about 3/4 cup clarified butter, and so on. I recommend starting with at least 2 sticks of butter (it's difficult to work with any less in the pot). Extra clarified butter can be cooled and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Use the extra to dress cooked steaks and shellfish.

Recipe copyright chef Walter Scheib, 2007