Hollandaise Sauce

It is currently 10:32 pm that I am typing this down and instead of writing my overly romantic novel, I just had to watch Julie & Julia, and I just had to see the part where the delicious Hollandaise sauce was made, and I just had to get inspired and think to myself - "Eggs and butter? Sure!"

And so I rushed downstairs, remembered the recipe in my head, and literally winged it. One, because I currently do not own a whisk. My lovely old one was broken months ago, and I'm suspecting one for my birthday, so I see no need to buy one. Besides, I haven't made anything that requires a whisk in months. I had about three egg yolks, and eight heaping tablespoons of cold butter. Not to mention lemon juice, and my own personal seasonings.

I whipped together the egg yolks and lemon juice with a fork, and then put the bowl on top of a pot filled with boiling water. Then I whipped the egg mixture until it was slightly warm, and then started to add butter, a tablespoon at a time. The whole time I was adding butter, I kept thinking "please don't let this be like last time." I was referring to when I first tried this sauce without the correct ratios and I failed. I wasted eggs, and butter.

It was thick, and creamy, and... sour. Not overly sour that I couldn't eat it, but I added salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and that toned it down. The next time I make this, I will add less lemon juice. The acidity from the lemon helps the yolk and butter emulsify but I don't think I need as much as I put in.

I boiled some snap-peas quickly, and it was like I died and went to heaven. The sauce... was amazing.

Very fattening, but very delicious.

I absolutely promise you that once I really make the sauce work and taste even more delicious, Julia Child's Hollandaise sauce will definitely be on here!

Sloppy Joes!

So I said I was inventing some vegan, vegetarian, and meat burgers - yeah... they tasted delicious, but they were more of a... unsloppy, sloppy Joe to put on burgers. Bottom line, I couldn't figure out what to add to make them hold together more. So in place of the burgers, here's a quick sloppy Joe recipe that I'm proud to say I invented myself! This is probably the first with meat.


Ingredients:
Half of a large onion, diced
1 1/2 cups ground beef
2 cloves finely minced garlic
6 white mushrooms, sliced
1 diced tomato
156 ml can of tomato paste (or simply 150 ml of tomato paste if you can't get a can)
1 cup beef broth
1 small carrot, chopped
1 tablespoon paprika spice
Pepper flakes (optional)

Step 1: On medium-high heat, saute the onions, ground beef, and garlic. Once the beef is cooked, add the mushrooms and coat them evenly.
Step 2: Turn heat to medium-low and add the diced tomato, tomato paste, and broth. Stir to combine and cook for five minutes. Stir occasionally.
Step 3: Add the carrot, the paprika, and the pepper flakes if you prefer. Do not cover, and continue to cook for 30-40 minutes or until the carrot pieces have become soft. Adjust your seasonings (add more salt if needed).
Step 4: Get big bread buns out, and ladle on some sloppy Joe!

This should serve about 3-4 people, depending on how much you eat.