and how the simplest of recipes can go wrong.
Asparagus season is upon us. The weather is glorious, blue skies, sun and a slight wind. Just as I like it. So today is the day for the pilgrimage to Brantham in Suffolk for asparagus. We had discovered this little shed by accident after our usual habit of trying to find a short cut. An unexpected rustic sign for fresh asparagus and a dirt track beckoned to us. We felt brave and turned in. I have ventured down many little tracks in the hope that I would find an array of wonderful produce only to be disappointed with a mediocre selection of tired and passed-it specimens, followed by the sinking guilty feeling that to be able to get back in and drive away I am going to have to buy something with the guarantee that I never have to return.
Well, this rustic sign did lead us to a wonderful treasure of not only asparagus but rhubarb and eggs to name but a few. This rustic sign is firmly on the list to visit annually. A pilgrimage would sound as if it were a one off – but we will be going often until the asparagus season is over.
Lunch was now sorted – fresh asparagus and hollandaise sauce – life couldn’t be better. Except that by the time I got home via a couple of nurseries time had marched by and I was now having to rush. As I started to get things out to prepare the asparagus I happened on a brainwave of microwaving the hollandaise. What a short cut, what a triumph it will be. Disaster is what it was!
I shall say that the moment I put the butter in the microwave to melt did my problems begin. I was too busy fussing over the gentle cooking of the asparagus to remember the butter until the sound of a minor explosion from the microwave started the unraveling of my calm. I decided to ignore the issue of the butter coated microwave and continued to pour the remainder of the hot butter onto the eggs and vinegar giving it a quick beat and then without a glance shuffling it back into the microwave for a few short blasts, it wasn’t until a couple of blasts that I noticed the sauce begin to split and curdle. With each blast the splitting and curdling got worse. The asparagus by now was at its perfect cooked state. So in a fit of panic I decided to resuscitate the sauce by blitzing it with the Bamix – the stuff went everywhere – hot curdled butter can travel and not in a good way.
Abandonment was the only option. The asparagus that I served for lunch with melted seasoned butter was very nice.
After lunch I convinced myself dramatically that my relationship with hollandaise was over and I would never make it again.
By early evening I was over it – I love hollandaise too much to turn my back on it. Made by the Marco Pierre White’s method works for me.
Asparagus
Wash and trim the bottoms of the asparagus. If I have bought them straight from the farm I just want to get them cooked and on the plate as quickly as possible. So I either steam them or if I haven’t got my asparagus pan to hand I use a frying pan, that way I can leave the tips outside the water and at the last minute push them in. I find this a quick method but one that needs constant watching as the asparagus only take a few minutes to cook. To judge when they are done push the point of a sharp knife into the flesh.
Hollandaise Sauce
Ingredients
25ml vinegar/lemon juice (either or both)
2 large egg yolks
200ml melted butter
Salt and pepper
Method
Place the egg yolks in a bowl that will fit over a saucepan, you don’t want the bottom of the bowl touching the water.
Add the vinegar and beat.
Add the melted butter and beat.
Now place the bowl over the saucepan and keep lightly beating. After a few minutes the sauce will begin to thicken.
Serve.
Hollandaise needs to be eaten and not stored.
Maria Dernikos 
Yum!! Asparagus and Hollandaise…two of my favorites! Don’t you just love spring? What a lucky find you stumbled upon. 🙂
Spring has come so quickly after a really dull start, and yes I am getting very excited about it. I can see that everything is coming into season. You wouldn’t think that that shabby shed would hold such delights. Thank you for commenting.
So delicious, so fresh and without a doubt, one of the ultimate joys to behold. I love Hollandaise and though it’s not necessarily ‘Asparagus’ season now, (in Australia,) that silky, yellow velvet of a sauce beckons to me for breakfast…
Hollandaise is a bit of a naughty sauce in my book – the amount of butter it uses, but it can coat so many other things!
Hilarious story, Maria! What a great find with the fresh veggies.
As for the microwave, I’m glad you tried again. I’ve blown up many a dish in my day as well. You can only move on or try again! Thanks for sharing. That asparagus is beautiful!
Thank you. Do you know – no one I know has ever confessed to things blowing up in the microwave, it seems its rather a common occurrence. The asparagus tasted as good as it looked.
I don’t think there’s a microwave owner that hasn’t opened its door to find it coated in butter. Would that it only happens one time! Your final photo of the asparagus with Hollandaise is perfection on a plate, Maria. It’s been ages since I made it but that’s got to change. Thanks for the inspiration!
It’s comforting to know its not just me. Like so many recipes John you make them often, you love them and then forget about them! Since writing this blog I have revisited recipes I had long forgotten and fallen in love again – I can’t help myself I love my food.
Yes, Maria, unfortunately, we all have microwave war-stories. 😉
I love hollandaise sauce, especially over eggs benedict. Fresh farm asparagas, Yum! Thanks for including the video link, it really helps. 😀
You too! When making it yourself you realise how much butter is in it. I too love hollandaise but think its only for special occasions.
What a wonderful recipe, Maria! And absolutely don’t give up on hollandaise sauce! It is way to good to renounce it just because of… a microwave! 🙂
You made me crave for asparagus now! 🙂
Have a great weekend
Sometimes there are no short cuts!!
love this, of course, Maria! I make my hollandaise in my food processor – a mini thing. Asparagus is just starting in Ontario. I will experience the season twice this year – first in France – now here. Would love to see your asparagus stand…
I think Asparagus has really caught on this year. The asparagus shed is situated in a place you wouldn’t expect it! Interesting to know which asparagus you prefer best French or Canadian?
I’m not sure – I’ll have to go back to France and do more taste testing!
Maria, every cook has its ups and downs. You should see my downs! 😉 I do not have a good recipe for the Hollandaise sauce. Yours looks amazing. On my to do list. Thank you, Maria.
Francesca making the sauce is the easy bit, knowing how much butter is in it is the hard bit!!!
At least you didn’t try boiling an egg – complete with shell – which a friend of mine did to save time, having discovered he was running late. He saw the funny side when retelling the story and hearing of my mishaps with microwave cooking, but at the time of the explosion, admitted he was not laughing as he cleared the debris off the walls and floor of his kitchen.
In the back of your mind you know that microwaving an egg in its shell isn’t going to work, but on the other hand it just might! I don’t envy him the clearing up.
Maria, we’ve all had catastrophes such as yours with the butter and sauce! I like your idea of cooking the asparagus in a frying pan and pushing the tips into the water at the last minute. I’ve also place them upright (tips up) in a deep pan with a little water, put the lid on, and the bottom and middle cook faster than the tips. Any way you look at it, asparagus is awesome!
Its the clearing up I object to! they say more haste less speed and its true. Asparagus is awesome you are very right and good for us.