The most classic way to eat asparagus is with hollandaise sauce, considered one of the French mother sauces—automatically scary for most home cooks. It’s actually really easy to make, but you must pay attention and have a good whisking arm. Have all the ingredients and equipment ready to go. Make it ahead to ease anxiety or make a blender version, but never, ever make from a mix. That would be a disservice to your asparagus.
White Bordeaux differ from their cousins in that they usually have a good portion of Semillon in the wine and also spend some time in wood. G is barrel fermented and aged in oak, not to add wood flavours, but to create layers of complexity, flavour and texture. It’s a lovely example of the style, still crisp and fresh, with some gravitas and depth compared to some new world saavy.
To blanch asparagus:
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add asparagus and cook until tender-crisp and bright green, 1½-2 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain, then immediately plunge into a large bowl of ice water; set aside to cool, 2-3 minutes.
Drain again, transfer to a clean dishtowel, pat dry. Set aside.
Hollandaise Sauce
| 3 lge | egg yolks, room temperature |
| 4½ t | fresh lemon juice |
| 12 T | unsalted butter, melted and cooled |
| sea or kosher salt and white pepper | |
| warm water |
Place a pan filled with water on the stove and heat until barely simmering. Pour yolks into a large glass bowl. Whisk until they turn pale, about 1 minute. Whisk in 4½ teaspoon warm water.
Set bowl over the pan filled with barely simmering water and heat the yolk mixture over low heat, whisking vigorously, until thickened, about 2-3 minutes (do not overcook). Remove bowl from heat and whisk in the lemon juice.
Whisk in melted butter, one drop at a time, leaving milky solids behind.
Pour the hollandaise sauce over the blanched asparagus and serve. If making ahead, set the bowl over warm water, and keep sauce warm, whisking occasionally, up to 30 minutes. If the sauce becomes too thick, whisk in 1 teaspoon of warm water at a time to thin.
Note: you could also serve hollandaise on roasted or grilled asparagus.