Asparagus has such a delicate and subtle flavor that it’s easily overwhelmed by too many other ingredients. But it always goes perfectly with three flavors: egg yolks, lemon, and butter. And when you combine those three other ingredients correctly, you get hollandaise sauce. One taste of this dish will reveal why hollandaise is the sauce that brings asparagus to life.

You can make hollandaise by hand in a double boiler, but I find the following method to be so much easier and really foolproof, that I’ve dispensed with the whisk and the worry.

SERVINGS

Serves 3 to 4

INGREDIENTS

1 pound fresh asparagus, prepared

For the Hollandaise

3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 stick (1/4 pound) butter

PREPARATION

1.    Steam the asparagus in a vegetable steamer for 4 to 5 minutes, until the spears are bright green and tender.

2.    To make the hollandaise sauce, put the yolks, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and a single grind of fresh black pepper in the blender. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low to medium heat, until the butter foams, but don’t let the butter brown. Put on the blender top and whiz on highest speed for a couple of seconds, then, with the blender running, uncover and pour in the melted butter in a steady drip of droplets—not a continuous stream. When most of the butter has been blended in, the sauce will be thick and creamy. Don’t add the whitish residue in the bottom of the pan. If the sauce fails to thicken, pour it out into a cup, then pour it back into the whirring blender. The sauce should be the consistency of fluffy mayonnaise.

3.    Immediately pour the sauce over asparagus on individual plates or in a serving dish, allowing some green to show against the beautiful light yellow sauce.

Healthy “Hollandaise”

Nothing can compare with the velvety smoothness of hollandaise, and I’d rather make the real thing and then avoid butter for the following few days, but if the sauce is just too much saturated fat for you, make a monounsaturated substitute by blending a ripe avocado with the juice of 1 lime, a few chopped basil leaves, 1 tablespoon of minced scallion (white part only), and a pinch or 2 each of salt and sugar. While the blender is whirring, drop in tablespoons of plain low-fat or nonfat yogurt until the mixture turns creamy.