Aka. God-Damn it Hollandaise, why can I never make you right?
I am inept at this sauce. I made this twice tonight and the best I could do was "curdled but edible" it may be something do do with keeping a low heat under the eggs and having some patience. But this is so much more volatile than custard, where I can only guess the cream stabilises the egg yolk.
Also in this meal was another tricky customer that I’ve historically found very difficult, the poached egg. However some time ago this silken delight whispered its secrets into my ear after many years of coerceon (not to mention all the ruined eggs) The trick is not boiling your water, no more than a simmer, perhaps a touch less than that. The raging boil I have been slowly backing away from simply rips the eggs apart. Also freshness of eggs helps.
The combo here worked pretty well, I also spooned some of my chilli jam onto the potato cake for an extra piquancy. Not sure this is the way to go over a nice toasted brioche and a better hollandaise though.