Blanched Asparagus with Healthy Hollandaise Sauce

Have a pot of salted boiling water ready for your asparagus.

For the Hollandaise sauce:
Fill about ¼ of a small sauce pot with water and bring to a very gentle simmer. Put egg yolk, red wine vinegar and water in a large heatproof bowl. Whisk together, then put bowl over simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Keep whisking egg yolk mixture, taking it off heat briefly every minute so that eggs don’t get too hot and start to curdle.

After about 5–10 minutes (5 minutes at least), the eggs should have frothed up and become pale and thick. Take the bowl off heat, then very slowly add vegetable oil while continuously whisking. Be sure to not add oil too fast.

Once all the oil is added and whisked through, I like to add another 1/2 tablespoon of water to thin it out a bit. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

For the asparagus:
Put ice in a large bowl and fill with water. Add asparagus to a pot of salted boiling water and blanch for about 2 ½ minutes. I like them to be cooked through but still have a bit of crunch. Remove with a pair of tongs then transfer to ice water. Leave for about 30 seconds. (I like to transfer the asparagus on to kitchen paper just to drain for half a minute.)

Place the asparagus on serving plates. Spoon sauce over asparagus. Top with parsley then serve with whatever you like: toast, eggs, bacon, etc.