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Shavuot
A friend asked me "Did you know that it will be Shavuot this week?". No, quite frankly I did not; I know that it is one of the very important holidays we have - my father certainly gave it tremendous importance - but somehow we never made much of it. There is a rush to bake a cheese cake and everybody likes to think that hers or his is the best! Why cheese cake? I was told that its also a harvest holiday and that is why we usually make a dairy meal with cheese cake for dessert....this makes sense?

The "official" statement goes like that: "The origins of the widespread custom of consuming dairy products on the holiday are uncertain (possible explanations include that milk evokes the Torah's nourishment, or its purity) but the significant increase in dairy sales for Shavuot attests to just how prominent this distinctive feature is in the celebration of the holiday".

And, I tell you that the real reason is an excuse to bake cheese cake, because everybody loves it and on Shavuot - diet or no diet - one "has" to eat it! And let me tell you that I DO make the best cheese cake. Remember? We did it in Column No: 28... Yes! Column twenty eight! We are now in number 656! Can you believe it? Boggles the mind, but its really wonderful!

I have not done much cooking lately... Oh! I did the turkey necks: I just boiled them in water. That water became a marvellous stock and is in the form of ice cubes in the freezer right now! And I made something quite nice with the necks. I took frozen broccoli, which went right into hot oil in a pan; when it defrosted, after steaming it for a while, I chopped it up, added salt/pepper and chopped peanuts! Fried it for a few minutes and mixed it well. It was lovely!

And so, as I was saying, I did not do much cooking this week and as we are going to make a dairy meal, I would give you a sure-way to make Hollandaise Sauce. Everybody loves it and everybosy makes a mess of it! Somehow it never comes out right and it is a total frustration! So here it is, step by step. Follow it and you will succeed!

Here goes: 250g cold unsalted butter, 4 egg yolks, 1/4 lemon

1. Prepare the butter
Cut the butter into roughly 1cm cubes. The butter should be fridge-cold, and preferably unsalted, so it's easier to control the seasoning of the sauce. Put it in a small, heavy-based saucepan and, as insurance against disaster, fill the sink with cold water and boil a small amount in the kettle (see steps 4 and 7).

2. Prepare the eggs
Separate the eggs, and reserve the whites for something else - meringues, mousses, whiskey sours or depressingly low-fat omelettes. They'll keep, covered, in the fridge for a couple of days, or freeze in ice cube trays or bags (make sure you label the latter, so you know how many are in there). Put the yolks in the pan with the butter and add two tablespoons of cold water.

3. Start the sauce
Turn the heat on very low under the cold pan and start stirring - it's easiest to start with a wooden spoon. As the butter gradually melts, the sauce will begin to thicken: do not be tempted to hurry the process by turning the heat up, or the mixture is likely to curdle. The sides of the pan should be cool enough to touch at all times.

4. Start whisking
Keep stirring vigorously; then, as the butter melts, switch to whisking - it's important that you now don't stop whisking until the sauce is ready, so if the doorbell rings, plunge the pan into the cold water in the sink (see step 1) to halt the cooking process, otherwise you risk the egg scrambling...

5. Keep going until it's thickened
Once all the butter has melted, turn up the heat very slightly and whisk vigorously until the sauce has thickened sufficiently for your purposes (see step 8). If the sauce begins to steam at any point, plunge the pan into the cold water in the sink at once, and keep whisking until it calms down.

6. Season, then eat
Add a tablespoon of lemon juice, then season the sauce to taste. Keep warm until ready to serve: hollandaise will not reheat successfully, so it's best eaten at once, but if you do have to make it in advance, it's best stored in a Thermos flask or in a heatproof bowl set over, but not touching, a pan of simmering water.

7. And if it curdles ...
You may be able to rescue a curdled sauce by whisking in a little boiling water (hence the kettle in step 1), but if that fails to fix the problem, pour the split sauce into a heatproof jug, clean the pan and whisk another egg yolk with a splash of water in there. Gradually whisk in the curdled hollandaise until it's all incorporated, then carry on where you left off.

8. Thick or thin?
I like my hollandaise fairly liquid when serving it with asparagus, because it can be poured over the steamed spears, but if you're using it as a dip or making eggs benedict, you may prefer a more mayonnaise-like consistency. If it thickens too much, whisk in a little hot water from the kettle (see step 1) to thin it down.

So, there you are; I still think that I will continue to just melt some butter over my veggies, but you now have a choice! Have a Happy Shavuot!!!

Send your questions to The Wacky Cook: email: debbiemorgenshtern@gmail.com      

Debbie Morgenstern is the author of "My Life in Israel" and other short stories.
"My Life in Israel" can be purchased by accessing this link: "My Life in Israel"