Hollandaise Sauce

Hollandaise Sauce
Adapted from: Julia Child & More Company by Julia Child
Makes about 1 1/2 Cups (6 Servings).

INGREDIENTS 
1 1/2 to 2 sticks butter
3 egg yolks
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (or more if needed)
1 tablespoons water (or fish stock)
1/4 teaspoon salt, or more if needed
Big pinch white pepper; more as needed
2 tablespoons additional butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon or so fish stock and/or cream

EQUIPMENT
Measuring cups/spoons
Small nonreactive saucepan
Wire whisk

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Set aside.

In a non-reactive saucepan, beat egg yolks vigorously with a wire whisk for a good minute, until
they have thickened into a cream. Beat in the lemon juice and water (or fish stock), 1/4
teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper, plus lemon rind if using. Add additional tablespoon butter;
by melting slowly as you proceed in the next step, the butter will discourage the eggs from
suffering heat shock, which might curdle them.

Set pan over moderate heat and stir with wire whip, covering entire bottom of the pan and taking
about a half-second to cover each turn. As the yolks slowly heat, they will begin to foam. Keep
testing them with your finger, and when they feel hot, they are almost ready. Watch for a wisp of
steam rising from the surface, which will also indicate that they are almost ready. As soon as
the egg yolks have warmed, thickened and creamed -- which will happen suddenly -- remove
from heat and beat for a minute to cool them and stop the cooking.

By droplets, beat the melted butter into the warm egg yolks very slowly at first, or else the yolks
can't absorb the butter. Use as much butter as you wish, up to the maximum, to make a thick,
creamy sauce. Taste carefully for seasoning, adding more lemon juice, salt and pepper as
needed. To lighten the sauce, add droplets of fish stock or cream.

NOTE: If sauce refuses to thicken or if finished sauce thins out or curdles, sometimes beating in a
tablespoon of cold water or an ice cube will bring it back. If not, beat a teaspoon of lemon juice and a
tablespoon of the sauce in a small bowl until they cream and thicken. Then, drop by drop at first, beat
in the rest of the sauce until you again have a creamy mass. However, if you have overheated the
sauce and curdled the yolks, the best thing to do is to heat it more until they release most of their
butter, strain it out, then start over using fresh egg yolks, but the same butter.