Saturday, April 30, 2005

OK Guy Cooking

One of my great pleasures in life is good food. You can tell from this photo that beer is high on my list as well. I have found over the years, with few exceptions, I can make better than I can buy or at least when I cook for myself the food pleases me and it has very few false notes. The same can not be said for most restaurants. In the above image I’m making Hollandaise for some beautiful fresh asparagus. I like to make Hollandaise over a direct flame. Three egg yokes, a ¼ pound of butter, a few drops of water, stirring over heat until the butter and eggs are an emulsion. Then season with salt, white pepper, and a dash of cayenne pepper, add fresh lemon juice to taste. The same basic sauce works for so many other foods as an example if you want BĂ©arnaise for a steak just add some fresh chopped tarragon and shallots to the sauce. It is so easy and so much better than anything you can buy.

1 comment:

  1. Ken, glad you are back blogging. We eat out fairly often here in San Miguel but there comes a time when you just gotta cook. It is so much a part of the "good life."

    Another sauce I like for steak is a mustard sauce. Cook sliced shallots in butter for a minute or two. Maybe a bit of wine and reduce, add cream, let it thicken a bit, then add mustard...maybe up to a tablespoon total. I know the original recipe gave proportions but over time I have just done it. I usually add some regular mustard and also some dijon mustard.
    Billie

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