Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–so glad you’re here!
Well, here we are–the summer is almost over. I can see the signs of fall everywhere and I’m reminded of how quickly time goes by. The turn of the season from summer to fall always makes me want to lean into comfort foods; and what better comfort food than Bearnaise sauce?!
Today, I’m continuing my exploration of my choice for the sixth “mother” sauce of California Cuisine, Hollandaise sauce, by highlighting one of its more well-known derivatives: Bearnaise sauce. And I love that it’s spelled “Bear-naise!” It’s easy to remember and given that California’s flag bears the California Grizzly Bear, I feel like it’s a natural fit for California Cuisine. OK, maybe that’s a stretch, but Bearnaise sauce is an incredibly versatile sauce and plays with meats just as well as it plays with eggs and vegetables–especially asparagus.
The first time I had Bearnaise sauce was on a trip up to the far northern coastal region of California. The weather in that area is almost always cool, cloudy and drizzly. We had pulled into our bed and breakfast at about 7:00 p.m. We were hungry, but we didn’t have reservations for dinner anywhere. We probably asked the innkeeper for a recommendation, I don’t remember, but we ended up at a lovely, cozy little restaurant snuggled up at a table next to the fireplace. The special that evening was a filet with Bearnaise sauce. I had no idea what Bearnaise sauce was, but after one taste, I was in heaven–HEA-VEN. It was silky, creamy, herby and had a freshness to it that cut through the rich steak. I remembered it, but never attempted to make it on my own until relatively recently.
Fast forward a couple of decades.
As I’ve mentioned many times, I’m a devoted farmer’s market shopper. Every Saturday morning, a little before 9:00, I’m hitting the pavement at the market, snapping up the freshest, choicest fruits and vegetables that the market has to offer. I love all the seasons at the market, but my hands-down favorite season has to be asparagus season. There is only one farmer at my market that sells asparagus and I know him so well that if he doesn’t see me by about 10:00, he will put aside 4-5 bundles of asparagus for me just to make sure I get my “fix.”
Now, as many of you farmer’s market devotees know, you get the best recipes from other market shoppers. A couple of years ago, another customer asked how I was going to fix my asparagus, and I said I mostly just steam them and eat them plain. He then shared his favorite preparation: with Bearnaise sauce! Queue my happy dance. I had been pining away for Bearnaise sauce since I had it on that rainy night in a Northern California restaurant, and as soon as he described the ingredients and preparation, I knew this was a sauce I could master on the first try. The recipe is dead simple, especially when made using an immersion blender, which is the recipe I’m sharing today. It’s decadent and delicious and has a little twist: Tabasco sauce. This sauce is incredibly easy to make and the best thing about it is that it’s made using ingredients you’ll very likely have on hand on a Tuesday night when you want to give your veggies a little extra something-something. Enjoy!
Tune in later in the week when I’ll be sharing my thoughts on prepared Hollandaise sauce.
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
