2008年7月4日金曜日

Asparagus in 3 sauces



Components:

For 4 People:

2KG white asparagus, salt, 1Table Spoon sugar, 2TS butter, 3 TS Lemon juice.

For the Dutch Sauce (sauce hollandaise)

250 gram. butter, 4 egg yolk, 1TS lemon juice.

For Herb-mayonnaise Sauce.

1 or 2 bunches of herbs, for instance sweet basil, dill leaves, parsley, curry (estragon)

when minced they should give about 8 TS of herbs.

2 egg yolk, salt, pepper, 1 pinch of sugar, 1/4 litre of olive oil, 5-6 TS lemon juice.

Ham –chervil sauces

150 gram of cooked ham, 1 bunch of chervil, 4TS butter, salt, 200 gram farmer cheese (20% fat.) 1/8 litre of milk, 2 egg yolk, white pepper, 100 cream.

1. Wash and peel the asparagus. Cut the dry ends off.

2. Boil 1.5 litre water (or more if you think you need it) in a big wide pot. Add sugar, butter and lemon juice. Cook the asparagus for 15-20 minutes in a covered pot until it is soft. Pull it out with a ladle and serve with the sauces.


The Sauces:

1. Dutch sauces.

melt the butter in a small pan/pot, let it froth and put aside. Prepare a water-bath. Put egg yolk, 2 pinches of salt and 4TS of water into a steel bowl floating in hot water. Stir it until smooth and creamy. Carefully add warm and fluid butter leaving the froth out. First drip it slowly in and after a while pour it in a slow and thin stream. At the end give lemon juice.

Herb sauce.

Separate the bundle and wash the herbs. Shake the water off them until dry. Mince it into a fine mixture.

Using an electric mixer stir the egg yolk, a bit of salt pepper and sugar into a smooth mixture. Add oil, first drip it in and then add in a very thin stream so that it doest curdle. Mix it all the time until you have thick mayonnaise.

Add the herbs and lemon juice.

Ham – chervil sauce

cut the ham into small pieces (cubes). Wash the chervil and cut the leaves finely. Melt the butter in a small pan, add a pinch of salt and carefully fry until slightly brown. Mix the farmer cheese and milk until smooth.

Mix the browned butter into it, add pepper as preferable. Whip the cream stiff, and mix with chervil just before serving.

TIP:

the asparagus is ready when you can stick a knifepoint through the end of the stalk easily.

Bon appetite.