Instructions

• Make the quick clarified butter: Place the butter in a heavy-duty kitchen bag and seal. Set it into a stockpot of simmering water. Once the butter has melted, transfer the bag to the refrigerator with one corner of the bag at the bottom most position. It is helpful to chill the bag in an ice bath or container of water to help maintain the position.
• Once the clarified butter has solidified, take the bag out of the refrigerator, hold it over a bowl, and snip the bottom corner to let the milk and solids drain into the bowl. Rinse the block of solidified clarified butter under a faucet for a few seconds, then dry to remove any remaining milk solids. Now you have clarified butter that can be cut into pieces for storage in the refrigerator or freezer, or melted down for immediate use.
• Make the hollandaise: Fill a saucepot with approximately 1 inch of water and bring to a gentle simmer. Separate 3 egg yolks and add them to the mixing bowl. Whisk in 25 grams of water to start (you may need to add more to maintain the emulsion). Then place the mixing bowl over the saucepot. Continue to whisk in a figure-eight motion, rotating the bowl and removing it from the heat as needed, aiming for constant, gentle heat. Using a double-boiler process takes about 2½ minutes. Look for cooked egg yolks. They should thicken and have a fluffy, ribbon consistency with a pale yellow appearance. (If they are overcooked, there will be little bits of egg that can be removed with a strainer.) Remove from heat and place the mixing bowl in a turban on the cutting board.
• While continuing to whisk, add juice of half a lemon and slowly drizzle in the warmed clarified butter. As with the process for mayonnaise, continue to add water and fat, and, for hollandaise, heat as needed to continue the emulsification process. As you reach a consistency you like, taste and season with additional lemon and salt.
• Set 2 poached eggs on top of toast and slowly spoon over the hollandaise so that it envelops each poached egg. Complete with a few grinds of black pepper and a sprinkle of finishing salt.
• If the sauce breaks, return it to the heat to completely break it, making the yolks look like curd. Then add in a little bit of egg yolk, warm it, and slowly drizzle back in the hollandaise. Reasons a sauce would break: too much heat, too rushed, or not enough water.