Looking for hollandaise sauce

[AllenOK]

I have to make Sabayon (a.k.a. Zabaglione in Italian) ocassionally at work. I never use butter, at all. Just sugar, egg yolk, and booze. I do mine in a stainless steel bowl, over direct heat, while rotating my body 90° to bring the bowl over the flame, whisk for a few, then rotate away so the yolks don't scramble. I can do a pretty fast figure-8 whisking motion, but, in the time it takes to get the sabayon to thicken properly, my arm starts cramping. I've got to learn to do a figure-8 left-handed.

Even though I don't use butter, I still get that wonderful texture. I learned to make this from one of my executive chefs, who never used a recipe, he just did it to taste. I don't even know if the way I make it is classical or not.

 

[ironchef]

Sabayon is never usually made with butter. Are you making a hollandaise base and turning that into a sabayon? Sabayon should be egg yolks, sugar, and some sort of liquid be it alcohol, fruit, cream, milk, etc.

 

[Dina]

Hmm. Had some leftover hollandaise sauce and don't know how long it keeps in the fridge. Any one knows?

 

[AllenOK]

Hollandaise is one of those that you can't really save. If you store it hot, the egg yolks will cook and the sauce breaks. If you refrigerate it, the butter congeals, and the sauce breaks. Use it when you make it, but you need to use all of it, as you can't really save it.

 

[Dina]

Thanks Allen. I'll discard the leftovers then and make just enough next time.

 

[DigitalCubano]

Sorry, I wasn't clear: I was adding the butter after making the sabayon to make the hollandaise sauce. Anyhow, problem solved: stainless steel bowl over a pot of simmering water (poor man's double boiler) works like a charm! I got it to a nice ribbon and added the clarified butter. Yum! It made quite the breakfast treat for my wife and I this morning: wheat bagel halve, topped with a slice of canadian bacon, scrambled egg whites (from the egg yolks used to make the Hollandaise Sauce), a slice of tomato, the sauce, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper and a parsely sprig. Next up: Bearnaise!