Asparagus and Hollandaise sauce…heaven on a plate!

It is of course asparagus season right now here in Britain and I like to do my patriotic duty by eating as much of it as possible. After buying yet more at the farmers’ market yesterday, it came to my attention that about the only way I haven’t sampled this delicacy is the traditional way with hollandaise sauce…

As a butter lover, it would be no challenge to rectify this omission. All I needed to know was how to make hollandaise. I had an idea that it was a rather complicated procedure so I wanted to get it right first time. Luckily for me, I have the answer to all cooking queries in the wonderful I Know How To Cook by Ginette Mathiot and there on page 74 was a very straightforward recipe to follow.

I tossed my asparagus in olive oil and salt and pepper and heated the griddle pan to cook it on and then turned my attention to the ingredients for the sauce. Separating the yolks was easy-peasy. Dealing with the eye watering amount of butter needed was much harder.

I put the yolks and water on to heat up and was still so shaken by my butter mountain that I managed to turn the wrong cooker ring on. I only noticed this when the pan behind the one I was using started to give off smoke. I was beginning to regret trying something so fancy for a Monday evening dinner…

I finally got the correct ring on and the yolks heated through enough to stir the butter in properly and put the bowl back over the pan to allow the sauce to thicken. This is where I expected to find things tricky, but with the water simmering gently beneath the bowl and some even stirring with a whisk, it was surprisingly easy. The sauce thickened slowly and evenly without even the merest threat of splitting or scrambling, ending up unctuous and glossy after about 10 minutes.

I then stirred in some lemon juice and spooned a hearty big dollop of this gorgeous sauce over the griddled asparagus and savoured every glorious mouthful. The two flavours really do work beautifully together and I could have eaten twice the amount. I’m delighted to have finally sampled this delicacy, but slightly worried for my waistline to have discovered how easy hollandaise sauce is to make!