I have never been one for sauces. I usually prefer my meat to be unadorned, placed glowing and alone on my supper plate. That’s not to say I don’t marinate, or love a good braising liquid, but sauces themselves can often be overpowering. But not bearnaise!

I was just a wee one when I first tasted that smooth, delightfully creamy sauce. I had gone out to a swank, old fashioned steak house with my family. When my steak arrived, there was a sunny blob of a buttery substance languishing over the steak. I asked my mother what it was, and she replied, “That’s bearnaise sauce; try it, I’m sure that you will like it.” It was delicious, smooth, delicate almost, the perfect pairing to a robust steak.

It had been too many years since I last tasted bearnaise, so I decided to mix up a batch to be served with steak at our old skool dinner. Now granted, bearnaise sauce is not on the list of healthy accoutrements, with a stick of butter and egg yolks, some would even say it is a heart attack in a bowl. But for special occasions, it simply can’t be beat. Heart attack? Schmeart attack. It’s butteriness in a bowl, and really what goes better with steak than butter. So I say go ahead, bring back the bearnaise. And don’t forget to roast some potatoes to sop up any of the remaining juices!