It’s all about the Sauce Part 3: Mother Sauces – Espagnole, Tomato, Hollandaise

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm, MST

Part three of our signature sauce series explores three essential French mother sauces—Espagnole, Tomato, and Hollandaise—that serve as the foundation for countless dishes across global cuisines. Throughout the class, Chef Mike will demonstrate how to use Wolf products to create professional-quality sauces with ease.

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Recipes from this event

Hollandaise Sauce

by: Chef Mike Shannon

Compatible Wolf Appliances:

Introduction

Hollandaise sauce has become an essential component of breakfast dishes with its rich and decadent egg-base and creamy, buttery flavor. It is one of the 5 mother sauces, the title used for 5 classic sauces associated with French cuisine, and can be the base for other sauces like choron, bearnaise sauce, or flavored hollandaise. Serve Hollandaise sauce right away because it does not hold well and is sensitive to time and temperature.

YIELDS
6-8
Servings
Prep Time
5
minutes
Cook Time
5
minutes

Ingredients

  • 6 large egg yolks

  • 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

  • 1 Tablespoon white wine

  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

  • 1 1/2 cups clarified butter or unsalted butter, melted

  • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Prepare the Double Boiler

Fill a medium-sized saucepan with a few inches of water.

Bring the water to a simmer over medium heat on a Wolf Burner.

Once simmering, reduce the heat to low to maintain a gentle simmer.

Place a heatproof bowl over the saucepan to create a double boiler. Ensure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.

Whisk the Egg Yolk Base

In the heatproof bowl, whisk together: egg yolks, lemon juice, and wine.

Whisk until the mixture is well combined.

Cook and Thicken

Continuously whisk vigorously over the gentle simmer.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl constantly to prevent curdling.

Continue whisking for 2–3 minutes, until the mixture is thickened and has turned pale yellow.

Remove from Heat

Carefully lift the bowl off the saucepan.

Turn the Wolf Burner off completely.

Place a kitchen towel over the now-cool burner grate or surface.

Set the bowl on top of the towel to stabilize it while you emulsify the butter.

Emulsify the Butter

While whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the melted butter.

Add the butter gradually to prevent the sauce from breaking.

Continue whisking until the sauce is smooth, glossy, and fully emulsified.

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Chef Mike Shannon

Chef Mike Shannon

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Mike is a classically trained chef with a degree in culinary arts from Le Cordon Bleu-Minneapolis. He has over 35 years of leadership experience and more than 18 years of culinary experience focused on consumer-level culinary instruction, recipe development and public speaking. As a recovering Mechanical Engineer who turned a lifelong passion for food into a new career path, Mike now brings his southern food heritage to life with a focus on simple ingredients and local farms.

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