Warm Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce
About this Recipe
By: Rachel
Some matches just seem to be made in heaven. Apples and cinnamon, burgers and fries, tomatoes and mozzarella… and asparagus and Hollandaise sauce. If you’re already feeling nervous about this classic French sauce—don’t be! It is easy to learn how to make Hollandaise sauce at home.
What Is Hollandaise Sauce?
This Warm Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce relies on my favorite of the mother sauces: Hollandaise.
In classic French cooking, there are five “mother sauces.” These are the basic sauces from which other sauces are made—essentially, variations on a theme. The five mother sauces are:
- Béchamel—A white sauce made by adding milk to roux.
- Espagnole—Brown stock thickened with roux.
- Tomate—Sauce made with tomatoes and stock.
- Velouté—Clear stock thickened with roux.
- Hollandaise—an emulsion of butter, egg yolk, and lemon.
The three ingredients in Hollandaise sauce are far more than the sum of their parts. The emulsification of butter and egg yolks with the brightness of fresh lemon combine to create a rich, unctuous sauce. We often encounter it on breakfast dishes, like Eggs Benedict. Hollandaise sauce atop poached eggs is simply divine.
Hollandaise is also traditionally served with asparagus; the rich sauce perfectly balances the bitterness of the asparagus. Steak and seafood, too, are excellent pairings for this tasty sauce.
Asparagus and Hollandaise: A Classic Combination
Asparagus with Hollandaise sauce is one of my favorite combinations. I have been known to pile a plate high with steamed asparagus and to fill a mug with warm Hollandaise sauce, dipping the asparagus into the sauce like French fries into ketchup. (My theory of incredibly rich sauces is as follows: as long as you’re eating it with vegetables, it doesn’t matter how much butter or cream they contain. The vegetables cancel out any fats).
There is nothing quite like warm asparagus with Hollandaise sauce. If you prepare this dish in spring or early summer, when asparagus is at its peak, the dish becomes even more wonderful.
How To Make Hollandaise Sauce At Home: Quality Ingredients and Simple Technique
As is true with all simple dishes, the quality of your ingredients count for a lot. Select a high-quality, unsalted butter. The very best butters have at least 82% butterfat, and are made from the milk of cows that graze on fresh grass. If available, choose farm-fresh eggs, produced from pastured ducks or chickens. The clover, grass, and insects these chickens eat results in richer, darker, more flavorful yolks. The best eggs have yolks that are a deep, dark orange hue, rather than pale yellow.
Hollandaise sauce is typically prepared by drizzling hot, melted butter into egg yolks and lemon. The sauce can break or separate easily, or not emulsify correctly, if the ingredients are overheated, not heated enough, or added in incorrect amounts. But don’t worry, my foolproof method takes the stress out of the equation! My easy method calls for whisking egg yolk and lemon together over a double-boiler until it thickens slightly. Then, whisk in cubes of cold butter.
What to Serve with Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce
This simple, elegant dish needs the perfect wine pairing. Below, Olivia offers expert guidance—a Sauvignon Blanc to highlight the vegetal asparagus, or a Chardonnay to highlight the creaminess of the sauce.
Beverage Pairing
By: Olivia
This dish is rich from the butter in the Hollandaise and the eggs in the sauce and poached on top. Your wine pairing can either play into the vegetal taste introduced by the asparagus or enhance the richness of the butter and yolks. If you’d like to bring out the greenness of the dish, a Sauvignon Blanc is the best pair. Its acidity will cut through the richness and complement the asparagus. If you want to amplify the creaminess, a lightly oaked Chardonnay will still bring in the right acidity to cut through the creaminess but will stand up to the buttery richness.
Warm Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce and a Poached Egg
Ingredients
- 1 pound (about ½ kilo) fresh asparagus tough ends discarded
- 4 fresh duck eggs or chicken eggs
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons (30g) freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon water
- 8 tablespoons (110g) cold, cubed unsalted butter
- Optional: Fresh chives, toasted challah, lox, prosciutto
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
- Blanch the asparagus by adding a little water (about a half-cup) to a skillet with the asparagus and cover. Let cook for 3-5 minutes, depending on thickness, until the asparagus is bright green but still crisp.Drain, and immediately plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Pat dry with a clean kitchen towel, and set aside.
Step 2
- Next, poach the eggs:Boil water in a small saucepan. Crack the eggs, two at a time, into a small ramekin, and set next to your stove. Once the water is boiling, stir the water rapidly in one direction using a wooden spoon, creating a “tornado” effect.Slide the eggs, two at a time, gently into the water, and immediately turn the heat down so the water simmers. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon after 2-3 minutes. A perfectly-poached egg has a firm white and a runny yolk, and will jiggle slightly when prodded.
Step 3
- Make the Hollandaise sauce:Heat a few inches of water in a saucepan until simmering (you will use this to create a double-boiler).In a heavy, shatterproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, water, and lemon until light in color. Now set the cold, cubed butter next to your saucepan.Set the bowl over the simmering water (ensure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water) and continue whisking until the yolks have thickened just slightly, about 2 minutes.
- Add the butter a few cubes at a time and whisk continuously, allowing the butter to melt before adding the next batch of cubes.
- Once you have added all the butter, the sauce should be thickened and ready to serve. Remove from heat.
Step 4
- To serve, divide the asparagus amongst four serving dishes and top each with a poached egg. Spoon Hollandaise sauce over each serving and garnish with chives if desired.To make this dish a little more substantial, serve the asparagus over toasted challah and add some lox or prosciutto before topping with the egg and Hollandaise sauce.
