Consider 20-15: Vary the Butter Sauces to be the advanced version of 20-13: Béarnaise and Hollandaise Sauces. There’s probably something that bridges the two better (whatever 20-14 is, but I don’t have that card in my collection), so 5-4: Eggs Benedict will have to do. This set of recipes is part of the Cooking School, the back section of Simply Delicious that provides instructions in basic techniques, ingredients, and recipes that any skilled cook should be familiar with.
Like I said in 20-13: Béarnaise and Hollandaise Sauces, Hollandaise and its variations comprise one of the five mother sauces, a big part of French cuisine. Mastering it (and the others) is one of the marks of an accomplished and talented chef. I’ve always appreciated a well-made butter sauce, and these variations are intriguing–I’d be interested in eventually trying each one out.
I haven’t tried any of these yet besides the recipe for 5-4: Eggs Benedict that suggests using Mousseline sauce instead of Hollandaise (which I ignored and did Hollandaise anyway). I didn’t know if I’d have any other opportunities to post this one with a relevant recipe, so I took this as my chance.
However, you may be wondering: what happened to the actual card on this one? Well, as I explained in the very first entry (where I laid out what this whole project was about), in my first apartment after college I had a very bad roach problem that grew exponentially worse with each passing month I resided there (about 2.5 years in all). I had a set of built-in shelves under a countertop in the kitchen (where the roach problem was centralized) where these cookbooks resided, and one day I pulled one out to look up a recipe when a TON of roaches came flying out with it.
After FREAKING OUT and assaulting them with probably WAY too much roach spray (causing the some of the pages in Group 10: Lamb and Veal to stick together and get messed up), I called my boyfriend to complain/cry about my terrible apartment and the roaches that ruined my books. He said enough was enough and that I needed to get out of that apartment–we soon got a place together, eventually got engaged, married, and here we are today–he’s also my co-author on this project. Random story that has nothing to do with butter sauces, but this card (and project) has a lot more to it for me than a few recipes and some old roach residue.
Fun fact: this is the very last card I have in my collection, which also explains a bit why it’s so trashed-looking. It’s probably not the very last card they made, though–I know I’m missing at least a few. I’ve considered seeking out and completing the recipes I don’t have, but as this project goes on, feels like it’s more about the memories the books have associated with them than the actual completion of the whole series itself–the state in which it’s always existed for me personally is more than enough.
