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Did anyone else fall in love with French cooking after watching the iconic (too soon to use this word? I think not) Julia & Julia movie?! Sadly, the Julia Child cooking show and cookbook craze was before my time, so I’m a little embarrassed to say I knew little to nothing about the beloved ‘French food for Westerners’ chef before watching the movie. She had me at butter. Yes, butter does indeed make everything taste better. I love how French food takes simple, light ingredients and tops them with the most rich, bright, flavourful sauce you can imagine. It’s such a delightful way to eat. And thus became one of my absolute favourite, go to meals for the past decade.

If you’ve been following along for any amount of time you’ve probably noticed I have an obsession with pan seared meats. I’m convinced it’s the best way to eat any boneless single-serve portions of meat. I go into that more in my perfectly cooked meat post where we make some pan seared chicken, and also in my pan seared steak post. Guess what, salmon is equally as life changing with the pan seared method! It gets a gorgeous, crispy salt and pepper-y crust with a perfectly cooked, flaky, tender interior. It’s just in a whole other league than your typical squishy, soggy, mushy (or at worst rubbery) baked salmon… sorry I had to say it!

The combination of our crispy seared salmon with the rich, lemon-y, butter-y Hollondaise sauce is the ultimate pairing. I used to make hollandaise the old fashioned way, on the stovetop, which included lots of whisking, waiting, precise timing, whisking, watching… work. When the equally iconic Barefoot Contessa introduced me to the blender method of making Hollandaise, I was hooked. It’s now a sauce that comes together in seconds with little to no effort, practically fool proof. And it tastes just as good. Thank you, Ina! Have you been making Hollandaise with those little dry gravy-like packets? Friend, you need not do that anymore. Delicious, fresh, rich and flavourful Hollandaise sauce is only seconds away.

Now, I can already hear the salmon objectors… “I don’t like salmon!”, “I hate seafood”, etc. If you have no other objection than thinking you don’t like salmon, I dare you to try this and tell me it’s not delicious. Be brave! Alas, I realize there are many who for diet, allergy, or personal choices will not be eating salmon so I would like to assure you that you need not miss out. The Hollandaise recipe will be a sauce you can use again and again. Because it is so rich, it pairs well with light, simply prepared foods. Think roasted asparagus, steamed vegetables, boiled new potatoes, sautéed greens, seared meats/fish. If you want a show stopping breakfast, drizzle this Hollandaise on eggs benedict, or a jaw dropping breakfast poutine (thanks to my friend Jamie for introducing me to this delicacy). Today I served my salmon and Hollandaise on a bed of lentils (cooked simply with broth in my instant pot), topped with sautéed swiss chard (straight from my mother-in-law’s garden, thanks Karen!). So. Good.

A quick reminder – Hollandaise, as with most egg based sauces, does not reheat well. That is why you’ll see my recipe is half of the quantity that the original Barefoot Contessa recipe makes. I find the amount below (about 1 cup worth of sauce) is more than enough for all of us with usually some leftover. It was just wasteful to make a larger quantity since you can’t reheat and serve it the next day without breaking the sauce. I have found that if I drizzle any remaining sauce over leftovers and gently reheat it all together the next day, the food has soaked up the sauce so you get the delicious flavour without the unpleasing texture of a broken sauce. Give it a try if you happen to have a drop left 🙂

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5 from 1 vote

Pan Seared Salmon with Quick Hollandaise Sauce

Crispy seared salt and pepper salmon topped with the quickest, bright, righ Hollandaise sauce is one of my absolute favourite things to eat. The Hollandaise sauce is made in seconds in a food proccessor/blender and is delicious on any seared meat, steamed vegetables, potatoes, eggs benedict, etc.

Course Main Course

Cuisine French

Keyword gluten free, hollandaise, salmon

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Servings 4

Author Garnish at Home

Ingredients

Salmon:

• 4 fillets fresh salmon boneless, skinless
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Hollandaise:

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 large egg yolks room temperature
• 1 lemon, juiced about 1 1/2 tbsps
• pinch cayenne pepper
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

Salmon:

• Pat dry the salmon filets with paper towel. Drizzle with olive and season generously (very important not to skimp here) with salt and pepper.
  
• Heat a large cast iron skillet on medium heat until very hot.
• Add the salmon in a single layer or work in batches if you cannot fit them in one pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes without moving, until you see the sides and edges of the salmon turn light pink and the filets lift easily from the pan with a good colour sear on the bottom.
  
• Flip salmon filets and cook for another 4 minutes until just cooked through and nicely seared.
  
• Transfer to a plate and tent with foil until ready to serve.

Hollandaise:

• Add the egg yolks, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to the small bowl of a food processor, blender, or NutriBullet. This can sit for at least an hour until you are ready to make the sauce.
• When ready to make the sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan until simmering. If using a microwave, melt in 30 second increments, covered, until very hot.
  
• Blend the egg yolk mixture for 30 seconds.
• If using a food processor or blender with a feeding tube, slowly dribble in the hot butter and blend for another 30-60 seconds until thickened. For a magic bullet, slowly drizzle a few drops of the hot butter while whisking vigorously with a fork or whisk, then steadily add the rest of the hot butter while continuously whisking. Attach the lid and blend for 30-60 seconds until thickened.
  
• Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Serve immediately.
  
• Sauce can sit for up to 1 hour at room temperature. Blend again for a few seconds before serving and add 1 tsp hot tap water while blending if sauce has broken to bring it back together and reheat.
• Drizzle Hollandaise sauce over salmon and serve. This pairs well with roasted asparagus, boiled new potatoes, steamed vegetables, lentils, sauteed greens, etc.
  

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This post includes affiliate links, meaning I made a small commission at no extra cost to you, should you decide to click through the links and purchase anything. These are my honest opinions and I would never recommend anything to you I didn’t absolutely love and use on a regular basis. Hope you find these lists helpful!

NutriBullet – Sometimes it’s not practical to lug out the big food processor when I just want to make myself a smoothie, or puree a small batch of something. I’ve had my NutriBullet for several years now and it has served me very well – too many smoothies to count!

Lodge 12-inch Cast Iron Pan – My everyday go to, most used pan. I keep it on the stovetop because I use it so often there is no point in putting it away. I keep it nicely oiled and it is better than any non-stick pan I’ve ever had. It gives the best sear and I am happy knowing there are no weird chemicals or coating potentially going into our family’s food. The size is perfect for our large family. This is probably my number one staple piece of equipment in the kitchen.

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