Hollandaise Sauce

Serves 4
Preparation time 5 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes
Ingredients
20g butter
20g plain flour
275ml milk
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
pinch of fresh nutmeg

Method
1. Melt the butter in a small pan. Add the flour and stir over a low heat for one minute until the roux foams.

2. Remove from the heat and gradually add the milk: the sauce will thicken almost straight away, but the more milk you add, the thinner it will get. (If you don’t add the milk very slowly it will become lumpy.)

3. Place the pan back on the heat and stir until boiling. Boil for 2 minutes but continue to stir so it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan.

4. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle in the nutmeg to give it a bit of warmth.

Cheese sauce
To the white sauce, add 1 tsp Dijon mustard, a handful of Cheddar, a handful of gruyere and a sprinkling of Parmesan. Melt slowly for a rich cheese sauce.

Macaroni cheese
Cook 200g macaroni until very al dente, mix with the cheese sauce and pour into an oven proof dish. Top with more cheddar, and some sliced tomatoes, and then grill for 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted on top.

Hollandaise sauce

Serves 4
Preparation time 5 minutes
Cooking time 10 minutes
For the reduction
1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
6 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 blades mace

For the sauce
4 free-range egg yolks
Pinch of sea salt
225g hot melted butter
squeeze of lemon juice

Method
1. To make the reduction, place all the ingredients in a small pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the amount of liquid until you have two tablespoons left, then strain into a cold bowl.

2. Whiz the egg yolks in a food processor with a pinch of salt. Pour in half of the reduction.

3. Add the butter very, very slowly – one teaspoon at a time – until half the butter has been used up (the sauce should be fairly thick at this point). Pour the rest of the butter in a fine stream until all has combined. Alternatively you can beat the sauce together in the same way in a glass bowl, over a bain-marie with a balloon or electric whisk.

4. Add the salt, lemon juice and remaining reduction if the sauce needs it.

Bearnaise sauce

Add chopped tarragon and chervil to your finished hollandaise sauce, and serve with steak. An absolute classic!