It's asparagus season again! And what's the best way to enjoy asparagus? With mayonnaise or Hollandaise sauce, preferably homemade, of course!
We'll show you how quick and easy it is in three short videos, and of course, we conveniently have everything you need.
As a bonus, we'll also share a clever tip for using all the egg whites left over from making these sauces – the perfect all-round inspiration for a spring-like asparagus menu with a sweet finale.
Enjoy watching, cooking, and, of course, feasting ... Bon appétit!
I. Homemade mayonnaise – perfect for a lovely asparagus starter:
Ingredients for the mayonnaise:
Optional: some lemon zest and capers for garnish
And here's how it's done:
Separate the egg yolk from the egg white and set the egg white aside. Add some mustard, a small dash of white vinegar and a pinch of salt to the egg yolk. Mix with a hand mixer, immersion blender or whisk. Continue mixing steadily and then slowly but continuously pour in the olive oil until the mayonnaise has reached the desired consistency. Season to taste with some lemon zest. Serve with briefly blanched asparagus, garnish with capers and enjoy!
II. Hollandaise sauce – the classic accompaniment to asparagus
Ingredients for Hollandaise sauce:
Optional: orange zest, blood orange juice, tarragon
And here's how it's done:
Melt the butter. Separate the egg yolk from the egg white and set the egg white aside. Beat the egg yolk and gradually pour in the melted butter. Continue mixing until the sauce has a lovely creamy, pourable consistency. Season with salt and some orange zest, and to taste with a dash of Vinho Verde.
For the "Béarnaise sauce" variant, simply add some chopped tarragon. It tastes wonderful with veal!
For a "Maltaise sauce", add some freshly squeezed (blood) orange juice.
Serve the briefly blanched asparagus with air-dried ham and the sauce. Bon appétit!
III. Île flottante on a berry sauce – a white finale
Île flottante (French for floating island) is a classic French dessert made with plenty of egg whites and some sugar, shaped into quenelles, boiled and then served on a sauce base. Traditionally, île flottante is served with vanilla sauce, but we felt like something fruity and therefore made a fruit coulis from strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, which we seasoned with ratafia. If you don't want to make it yourself or don't happen to have any fresh berries on hand: we also have a delicious ready-made fruit coulis on offer! Serve with a Craquant au caramel salé, our favourite biscuits, and enjoy!
Ingredients for île flottante:
- Egg whites,
- Sugar,
- Fruit of your choice and ratafia or ready-made fruit coulis,
- Craquants au caramel salé
And here's how it's done:
Sweeten the egg whites with sugar and beat until stiff. Bring water to a boil. Using two spoons, shape quenelles from the egg whites and place them in the boiling water. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side. Drain on kitchen paper.
Meanwhile, cook the berries and season with ratafia. Pour the sauce onto a plate, place a still-warm quenelle on top, garnish with a craquant au caramel salé and enjoy!
By the way, you should use the same wine for cooking as you drink. And since Vinho Verde from Portugal tastes particularly good with asparagus, we drank the wonderful Camaleão by João Cabral Almeida, made from 70% Loureiro and 30% Alvarinho, while cooking and also added it to our Hollandaise sauce.
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Here's the full 3:27-minute video, including a few funny outtakes ... Enjoy!
