Poached Hake With Hollandaise Sauce
Today's practical was not very difficult -- and the dish is pretty easy to make, except for the hollandaise sauce, which requires constant care. The bouillon used to poach the fish is a vegetable broth, made from chopped onions, shallots, carrots, garlic, peppercorns, celery, salt, and a bouquet garni, all simmered for about 25 minutes. The fish we used is hake -- a fairly large white fish, cleaned and cut into steaks. The only thing we needed to do to prep it was remove the inner black skin of the steak (the piece was one with part of the body cavity) and clean away any remaining blood or dark substances on the inside. The fish is poached towards the end for 5-8 minutes (it's not so easy to overcook fish by poaching) in the bouillon.
The sauce is not actually very difficult, just requires constant attention. Prepare a water bath by taking a pot, adding some cold water at the bottom, and get ready to put on a hot burner. Prepare a bowl that is large enough to sit on the pot (doesn't need to be touching the water), and add egg yolks and cold water to it. Prepare clarified butter kept at a temperature of 45-50 C (I'll explain why later). Take a deep breath, and prepare to be whisking for the next 10 minutes. Put the pot and the bowl on top on the stove, start whisking madly, in a figure eight. As the water heating, the yolks will starting cooking, and you have to keep whisking to preserve a smooth consistency. The mixture will increase in volume, thicken, and change color as it heats up and you continue whisking. You need to control the temperature of the water in the pot to just below boiling, moving the water bath on and off the stove if necessary, whisking all the while. When the mixture has achieved a thick enough consistency to stay slightly in the whisk, take the bowl off the pot, and add the clarified butter bit by bit, whisking all the while. Here's where the temperature of the clarified butter is important -- if it is too hot, it will cook the yolk too much and the sauce will not be smooth. If it is too cold, the butter will fail to mix in properly with the yolk. Once the butter is incorporated, you can add some cayenne pepper, salt, and lemon juice.
Keep the hollandaise sauce covered in a warm place before serving, but it is best if you use it as soon as possible, so make it at the last moment.
The other thing we did here was turn zucchini, potatoes, and carrots. What's cool is that I can tell that my skills are progressing -- I'm much more comfortable and my vegetables are much smoother and more regular than before (though that ain't saying much :) ).
The hollandaise sauce turned out great -- I'm looking forward to making my own eggs benedict. :)
posted by chezdavid @ 9:54 AM
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