Tarragon with the Wind Blender Béarnaise Sauce Over Poached Egg on Crispy Hashbrown Cakes for #BlendsBash2021

For my fourth and final recipe developed for #BlendsBash2020, I may have saved the best for last. That's claiming a lot, since I am pretty happy with the recipes I have created so far (see the bottom of the post for links) but I have a special place in my heart for tarragon and for the easy Tarragon with the Wind Blender Béarnaise Sauce Over Poached Egg on Crispy Hashbrown Cakes that I made using The Book Club Cookbook's Book Blend.

Tarragon with the Wind gets it moniker from the 1936 book Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. More than 30 million copies of this beloved and often controversial book have been sold over the years. I watched the movie multiple times as a child with my mom and made my way through the book but never finished it a few years ago, so to be honest, my choosing the blend to work with had more to do with the tarragon than the title. On the bottle it says, "A bittersweet herb to help you survive difficult days." which couldn't be more timely right now. The bottle also notes, "A warm, sweet anise/minty aroma, very popular in many European cuisines. Good to use in dressings, sauces, and on salads. Works well in combination with basil, bay leaves, chives, dill, and parsley."

Similar to Gone with the Wind, tarragon  is not without controversy. It is one of those herbs like cilantro or dill, that people either seem to love or hate. I like the intensity and bite of anise flavor it gives a dish, it feels chic and French, and it is a featured ingredient in one of my favorite sauces, Béarnaise, the child of the French mother sauce Hollandaise. You see it served with steak a lot as it is strong enough to stand up to red meat, but as I only rarely eat meat, my favorite pairings for it are potatoes and eggs.

Made of butter (LOTS of butter), shallots, vinegar, egg yolks and tarragon, Béarnaise sauce is not too difficult to make but it can be finicky, separating easily and takes a fair amount of whisking which frankly, I am too lazy for. Having had great success with Hollandaise made in the blender (this one is a favorite), I assumed Béarnaise would be just as easy and indeed, there are plenty of recipes for Blender Béarnaise from Food Network to food sites and blogs. Some use fresh tarragon which can be difficult to find regularly here, so a good quality dried French tarragon like Tarragon with the Wind is a must in my kitchen.

My egg *needed* to be poached and rather than bread or an English muffin to rest it on, I wanted to work potatoes in. My friend gave me a mini electric grill for my birthday this year, so I cooked some hashbrowns into crispy rounds in it.  

I'm not going to give you recipes for the poached eggs (many people make them better and prettier than I do) or the potato cakes as not wanting to to add eggs, upon eggs, upon eggs, I simply packed packaged (non-frozen) hashbrowns into my greased and preheated mini grill pan and make two cakes for my individual serving. If you want, you can make potato cakes or just serve your egg and sauce on top of a pile crispy hashbrowns & it would be easier, faster, and taste just as good.

I will give you my recipe for the Blender Béarnaise which is pretty similar to the many recipes you find online. I just use Tarragon Vinegar for an extra punch but champagne vinegar will do nicely.

Tarragon with the Wind Blender Béarnaise Sauce

By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen

(Makes about 1 1/2 cups)

 

1 medium shallot, finely diced

1/4 cup white wine

1/4 cup tarragon vinegar (or white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar)

2 tsp Tarragon with the Wind French Tarragon, or to taste

3 egg yolks

 salt and black pepper to taste

1 1/4 cups butter (2 1/2 sticks)

 

Place the shallots, wine, tarragon vinegar, and Tarragon with the Wind in a small pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated down to about 2 tablespoons, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the butter in a small pan or in the microwave until hot and bubbling but not brown and set aside.

Place shallot mixture in blender jar. Add egg yolks, salt and pepper and blend on high speed until smooth. With blender running, remove the small hole covering and slowly pour in melted butter in a very small, slow and steady stream. Blend until smooth and luxurious. Serve warm.

  

To assemble my dish, I placed one hashbrown cake on the plate and topped it with some sauce, they layered the second cake on top.  I then carefully slid my poached egg onto the top of the second hashbrown cake and topped generously with more sauce. I ground fresh black pepper and sprinkled a tiny bit of the Tarragon with the Wind on top to garnish. Eat right away and enjoy.

Notes/Results: I am in love with the sauce; rich, smooth and creamy with the pop of acidity and the sharpness of the tarragon, I could pretty much eat it with a spoon, but why do that when you have crispy hashbrowns and yummy runny egg yolks to enjoy  it with?  This dish is not complicated but you do need to multi-task and have all three components ready so it is all fresh and warm. An indulgent dish but so worth it! I'd happily make it again.

Many thanks to Judy and The Book Club Cookbook for providing me with this fun and delicious seasoning and for letting me join in the fun. I received no compensation for taking part in the virtual 2020 #BlendsBash party and my thoughts and experience using the blends are my own.

I was very excited to contribute four recipes this year, joining  more than 30 other bloggers as part of the 2020 Blends Bash!  You can check out all the bloggers participating in the #BlendsBash and their delicious recipes here.

Here are the links to the other three recipes I developed:

• Dukkah Earl Grilled Eggplant Toasts with Whipped Feta & Dukkah

• One Flew Over the Couscous Nest Middle Eastern Minestrone with Chickpeas & Israeli Couscous 

• Lord of the Fries Seasoned Pan-Fried Gnocchi in Creamy Garlic Soup

Here's a sneak peek the blends I featured in their adorable packaging. These blends are so delicious and fun--they make wonderful gifts for your foodie friends and fans of the many book, TV and song blends they feature. Check out a list of blends here.