The answer is true! It only takes some patience and knowing your
microwave. I tried this recipe from
Instructables. Whenever I had some extra eggs in my fridge, I would attempt
this method, and on my third try, I got it!
What is a béarnaise sauce? It is derived from hollandaise - one the five mother sauces. The French mother sauces include béchamel, velouté, espagnole, and sauce tomat. Each sauce has a thickening agent (either flour or egg) mixed and cooked with butter to create an emulsion. The key for the hollandaise is to slowly cook the eggs and butter, a similarly employed method to when making custard. You don't want to cook your eggs too quickly, or you'll end up with a scrambled egg mess!
To prepare a hollandaise, classical
methods acidify the eggs with lemon juice or vinegar to help aid in the
emulsion, and then the mixture cooks slowly over a water bath. Melted butter is
then whisked in to create the emulsion. Julia Child's method in the Joy of Cooking has the egg mixture directly over
stove top and melted butter is added to the eggs. To create the béarnaise,
vinegar is spruced up with shallots, tarragon, and pepper and then reduced (and
cooled) prior to adding the butter.
Making a hollandaise/béarnaise over stove
top is no easy feat. It is essential to have control of the temperature, which
is key to this sauce. The microwave oven doesn't really make this sauce
preparation easier. Many think that microwave ovens heat food "from the
inside out," but this isn't true. Microwaves agitate each molecule of your
food source. As the molecules move, they create heat. It is this residual heat
that cooks your food, and because every molecule is moving at the same time,
the food source cooks quickly. In traditional cooking methods (oven, stovetop,
water baths), heat has to penetrate the out layer first and then moves
inwards.
I followed the Instructable recipe, but I
was very cautious on my timing. You need to use short bursts of heat and whisk vigorously
when using your microwave. I used seven second intervals to control my emulsion
temperature, and I took my time whisking. Eventually, you will notice your
emulsion change from a frothy, pale yellow to a bold, golden yellow. Note, you
can also over cook your emulsion, so be careful not to over nuke your food!
