Bearnaise is one of the few French words to which my computer’s spell-check gizmo adds the correct accent. I imagine this is not because my computer is gastronomically minded — although it should be, with all the recipes it holds in its files — but because Béarn is a real place, a region in southwest France.

Sadly, all too often when you come across beef or chicken à la béarnaise on a menu, it arrives not coated with a rich, tarragon-scented béarnaise sauce, but is cooked simply “in the style of” Béarn. The sauce is not indigenous to Béarn, but was made by a chef in the 1830s at a restaurant in the Île-de-France called Pavillon Henry IV. Béarn being the birth place of the bon vivant king, the sauce was christened Béarnaise.

It is traditionally made by first creating a reduction of vinegar and herbs (the main difference between béarnaise and hollandaise sauces), combining it with egg yolks, and whisking in lumps of butter. It is also traditionally very tricky to make.

My blender version is easier on the cook by combining the reduction with the eggs, then adding the hot butter and whizzing until emulsified. You still need to be careful during the final reheating, however, or you will end up with scrambled eggs.

Serve the béarnaise with grilled salmon, roast lamb or chicken or a grilled rib eye steak.

Ingredients
Serves 4 with watercress, green beans or broccoli.

Prep: 10min
Cook: 30min

4 rib eye steaks
2tsp olive oil
Béarnaise sauce: 50ml dry white wine
50ml white wine vinegar
1 shallot, finely chopped
2tbsp tarragon, finely chopped
3 egg yolks
1tsp cold water
125g butter
sea salt and black pepper

METHOD

To make the sauce, boil the wine, vinegar, shallots and half the tarragon in a pan until reduced to two tablespoons of liquid. Place in a food processor with the egg yolks and cold water and whiz briefly.

Melt the butter, skimming the milk solids from the top. Slowly pour the hot butter over the egg-yolk mixture in a steady stream, with the whisking motor running on low speed, until the sauce thickens. Transfer to a heat-proof bowl set above a pan of barely simmering water, and whisk constantly for 30 seconds.

Whisk in the salt, pepper and remaining tarragon, remove the pan from the heat, cover and leave for 15 minutes to thicken, whisking occasionally.

Brush the steaks with olive oil and grill or pan-sear on one side until well browned, then turn once and cook briefly on the other side, for a medium rare result. Season well and serve with a pot of the béarnaise.

www.timesonline.co.uk/foodandwine — for previous recipes from T2

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