Hollandaise or Mayonnaise?

So where to start? Lets work with the basics of sauce..as Manu on MKR says.."Wheres the sauce??" In this house there has to be a a sauce of some kind with a meal. No sauce will lead to lots of complaints and the men in this house reaching for the tomato sauce in default.

What sauces then? This question was answered by my son Raiden.

My son was watching me make lemon mayonnaise the other day. We got on the topic of mayonnaise versus one of his favorite sauces hollandaise (son does love eggs benedict).  Simplistically I said oil versus butter. Mayonnaise uses oil in the emulsion and hollandaise uses melted butter. I know there are no doubt many other differences but to a novice cook this is a simple answer.

Then there is the way you make it.  I admit Im not a fan of beating things over hot water while ensuring that the water doesn't hit the bowl and trying to slowly pour the butter or oil in..I don't have 5 arms and Im really quite clumsy. I needed an easier way. I found it in a good blender.

So for mayonnaise. I love mayonnaise with a zing of lemon or some herbs or rocket. You can make the mayonnaise simply without the lemon in this recipe if you choose but you will need an acid so include some mustard and or some white wine vinegar to the mix instead. Also I use canola because its not as strong taste wise as say olive oil.

My lemon mayo:

3 egg yolks
1 clove of garlic crushed
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp salt
1 cup of canola oil

Place all the ingredients bar the canola oil into a blender and give it a whiz quickly until mixed. Then slowly add the oil in a slow stream while the blender is running and process until the mayo thickens.

Thats it. Put your mayonnaise in a clean jar or container and it will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks. This recipe is great with fish and chicken dishes.  I use it in burgers and well generally anything that requires dipping :)

My hollandaise:

3 egg yolks
1 clove of garlic crushed
juice of 1 lemon
splash of white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
150 to 200gm melted butter

I melt the butter in a jug in the microwave first.  I then let it sit on the bench to cool slightly as I find that  putting boiling hot butter into the mix risks the whole thing curdling.

You may also be wondering why I put lemon and white wine vinegar in? Basically Im covering the bases to ensure there is sufficient acidity in the mix. My lemons aren't strong enough sometimes and if there isn't enough acidity all the butter in the world won't make this sauce thicken.  But Im not a fan of too much vinegar so I mix with lemon to ensure the flavor of the sauce isn't overpowered by the vinegar.

Back to the recipe. Place all ingredients bar the butter in the blender and whiz it quickly to mix. Then slowly pour the slightly cooled butter in a slow stream while the blender is running and process until the hollandaise thickens.

Hollandaise is harder then mayo to make because of the heat of the butter. If it starts to curdle throw it out. If it won't thicken then there may not be enough acidity. I have saved a sauce by putting a further splash of vinegar in and adding more butter but generally that is the exception not the rule. In such situations you may be better off starting again. Note whether in a blender or over a pot this is the curse of hollandaise.  Don't be afraid to try it though as nothing is better then home made hollandaise.

Like mayo you can flavor your basic hollandaise. Sometimes I put a little cayenne pepper in the blender when making if Im using with roast veges or if serving over seafood I put some dill in the blender.

All I can say is have a go with both recipes and experiment :)

Me xx