Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–so glad you’re here!
Today, I’m continuing my series on the foundational sauces of California Cuisine. So far in this series, I have shared recipes and information about mayonnaise, salsas, vinaigrettes, pesto sauces, tomato sauce and now Hollandaise sauce and its derivatives.
This blog is devoted to California Cuisine, and so naturally, I try to use fresh, seasonal ingredients. But for my regular readers, you also know that I’m a realist and understand that one can’t always make things from scratch.
Over the years, I have tried several different shelf-stable Hollandaise sauce alternatives. I’m sorry to say that I haven’t found a good version of premade Hollandaise sauce in either a can or a bottle. But the good news is that the hybrid alternative of a powdered mix to which you add your own fresh butter, milk and a little cayenne or chipotle pepper is pretty darned good. I’m talking about Knorr Instant Hollandaise sauce:
Is it as rich and yummy as freshly made? No. Is it pretty good? Yes. And the other good news is that it reheats nicely, too–you have to reheat it slowly in the microwave in 10-12 second bursts, stirring between each burst of heat to help it avoid separating. The best part about it? The instant powder keeps for 12-18 months in your pantry, is no fuss, no muss and uses ingredients you will more than likely have on hand on any given Tuesday night when you want to jazz up your asparagus. I’ve been using this no fuss alternative for decades, and while I prefer freshly made, this is a perfectly good alternative in a pinch.
Tune in later in the week for my final thoughts on Hollandaise sauces, and a final recipe for Sauce Charon.
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
