béarnaise sauce

Add the white wine vinegar, pepper, chopped shallots and 2 tbsp chopped tarragon to a small saucepan over medium low heat. Bring it to a boil and then simmer till the vinegar is reduced to half, then remove from stove and let it stand for 5 minutes to infuse.

Strain, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. You should have around 1-2 tbsp of liquid. Set it aside and cool to room temperature.

Melt the ghee (or butter) and set aside.

Fill another small saucepan (or double broiler) with about an inch of water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, transfer the cooled vinegar mixture to a small heatproof bowl (that will fit atop the saucepan with simmering water). Add 1 tablespoon of room temperature water and the egg yolks to the vinegar mixture and whisk to combine.

Reduce water saucepan heat to low and set the bowl with the egg mixture over the saucepan, making sure it doesn’t touch the water (this is VERY important, else you will be left with scrambled eggs!). Whisk the yolk mixture until thickened and almost doubled in volume, about 5-7 minutes.

Add the melted ghee (or butter) 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking slowly between each addition until emulsified (Pro-tip: You should be able to coat the back of your spoon with the sauce and it should not run off). Occasionally remove the bowl from the heat to keep the sauce from overheating (I follow the 10 seconds on and 10 seconds off).

Season with salt and pepper, then add the remaining tarragon and serve immediately.