Béarnaise sauce

There was a time when the wealthy had greenhouses and could grow plants. Therefore, they could make delicacies any time of the year. The tarragon and chervil were always available. I can get chervil at the Farmer's Market only when the weather cooperates. I ran a netsearch on Béarnaise sauce and the citations returned are all a monotone. Martha Stewart's is the same as Epicurious', as Ina Garten's, as New York Times'. The guy at the Food Lab gets closest to the original. There may be another reason that this sauce is no longer made and I'm again guessing it is too much work. But haute cuisine is worthy of re-creating. So here goes. Words in brackets are mine.

Larousse Gastronomique. Page 817.

1 tbs. chopped shallot
2 tbs (3 tbs) tarragon and chervil [sic]
a sprig of thyme
a fragment of bay leaf
3 tbs vinegar
3 tbs white wine
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of mignonette pepper
2 egg yolks
1 tbs water
1 tbs water
4 ozs butter
a squeeze of lemon juice
a pinch of cayenne pepper
1 additional tbs of tarragon, garnish
1 additional tbs of chervil, garnish

None of the above recipes from these experts use the cayenne or bay leaf. My guess about the tarragon-chervil confusion is 2 T tarragon and 1 T chervil. But my instincts would prefer 2 T chervil. Your guess?

I'm giving the instructions in a proper order.

Take the butter from the frig and set on the counter to come to room temp. Chop the tarragon, cover and reserve. Chop the chervil, cover and reserve. Peel and chop the shallots. Reserve. Crack the eggs and separate the yolks. Reserve the yolks. Save the whites for other uses. Cut the lemon for convenient squeezing. In a mortar, crush the pepper.

In a small saucepan, put the wine and vinegar. Add the tarragon, chervil, thyme and bay leaf. Season with the salt and a pepper. Reduce by ⅔, remove from heat and bring to room temperature. Mix the yolks with the 1 tbs water. Whisk the sauce over very low heat. As soon as the eggs begin to thicken the sauce, stir in the butter in ½ inch cubes, one or two at a time, whisking continuously.

Season the sauce [add more salt if needed], sharpen the sauce with lemon juice and cayenne. Strain. Finish off with the tablespoons of chervil and tarragon. Keep warm in a double-boiler.

Cooks Note: the wine vinegar reduction of 3 fluid ounces becomes, when reduced 1 fluid ounces. There is a spelling error in the Larousse Index. Under the Sauce category the spelling of the sauce is Barnaise.

Roquefort Dressing with Chervil and Tarragon

3 ozs. Blue Cheese
2 tbs. cream, heavy
1⁄4 tsp. salt
1⁄4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. chervil, fresh, minced
1⁄4 tsp. tarragon leaves, fresh, minced
2 tbs. vinegar

The light 'triangles' is the sun through the glass jar.

Divide the cheese as follows:

1 oz. for the salad bits

2 ozs. for the dressing

Mince the chervil and tarragon.

To the 2 ozs. of cheese, add 2 tbs. of heavy cream or 1/2 and 1/2 or  milk.

Mix with a fork to make a paste.

By divide, I mean eyeball it. Please don't get out a scale and start weighing.

Blend in the salt and pepper.

Blend in the chervil and tarragon.

Stream the vinegar in slowly, stirring like a madman.

If it's not incorporated like this, the dairy will have an off taste.

Pour the mixture over the salad with the bits of remaining cheese and toss to dress. Using milk makes a thinner dressing.

Cook's Notes. On my first try I decided to use a stick blender to emulsify the cheese. It worked pretty well. The air mixed into the dressing made it light, without being fluffy, The dressing  was barely enough for a salad for 2 people. I cannot explain this you should just try and see.

If you cannot find fresh tarragon, I guess you could use tarragon wine vinegar. But without the fresh chervil, there is no point to this recipe. It's the sin qua non.

In the future I would make a double quantity. I would use half a bunch of chervil. I minced mine if an electric spice grinder. I had the chervil and tarragon mixed together. 

If you find yourself with leftover tarragon, put it in some wine vinegar and let it steep 6 weeks before use.

Herbes de Provence

My Carrera Marble Italian Mortar and Pestle

I had some Penzey's Herbes de Provence. The smallest possible jar. What they call .4 oz or a fourth of a cup. I will list the ingredients from the Penzey website:

The list is NOT in the order of the amounts of each herb. I cannot find a list of ingredients in the amounts of each ingredient from them.

Rosemary

Fennel Seeds

Thyme

Savory

Basil

Tarragon

Dill Weed

Oregano (they call their Turkish, but I call it Greek)

Lavendar

Chervil

Marjoram

I was down to my last half of a teaspoon when I decided to make some more of my own. Much to my surprise, I learned that rather than an ancient spice blend, Herbes de Provence came into commerce in the 1970s.

I looked at Martha Stewart's recipe and about a dozen or so more. I admit I like Penzey's. I did not want to buy dried savory, and chervil. Penzey's probably sells them but I was making a blend based on teaspoon measurement. If I had to buy those herbs, I would be into the same price range as buying more Penzey's. So I substituted 1/2 measure of sage leaves for the chervil and/or tarragon, dill weed and savory.

The Penzey's jar is a lovely size for making this recipe:

1 tsp. of rosemary, dried, needles? In any case, not powdered

1/2 tsp. fennel seeds

2 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. lavendar

1 tsp. marjoram.

I put the rosemary, fennel and lavender in the mortar first and ground that up a bit so that the seeds and flowers would give up their essence a little. All the other ingredients were then added and the pestle was used to mix them without using much force. I didn't want to heat the herbs, but only crush them slightly.

The above quantities just filled the Penzey's jar and I spent about 69¢ on the lavender at a nearby mom & pop Latin market. The other herbs are staples in my kitchen.

The quantities I used are based on seeing a variety of recipes on the web. This is (and has got to be) an individual taste. Yes, mixing differing quantities is a nuisance, but I guess you could buy all those spices and make up gifts for friends.

To my friend and source of inspiration in all foodways: Julia Child, where ever she may be cooking 

Julia

 Bon Appétit