Monday, May 11, 2009

asparagus and seared shallots in a lemmon butter sauce


  • 2 bunches fresh asparagus, cut on the bias (at an angle)
  • 5 shallots
  • 2 tablespoons butter (or Olivio)
  • 1/2 lemon

Melt butter over medium flame, add shallots and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add asparagus and saute for about 5 minutes or until asparagus is a bright green and crisp, but not raw. Turn off heat and add juice of lemon half. Season to taste with coarse salt and fresh ground pepper, stir until blended.

The dish: Almost every time I see asparagus it's hiding out beneath a blanket of hollandaise sauce. It's not that I don't enjoy that preparation, it's just that I got curious and looked up how to make that velvety yellow sauce; take about a third of your body weight in butter and egg yolks and add some lemon to the mix. I'm not too strict with keeping a healthy diet, but I can't justify being that decadent without at least looking for an alternative. This dish gives you the fresh lemon and butter flavor without drowning the greens, and the shallots add a nice earthy touch. The ingredients for this dish were purchased in the middle of the night with faithful reader, Mike from Brooklyn. If you ever want to meet your blogger just go to Hannaford long after all the same people are done shopping for the day and look for the dude comparing heads of lettuce, that's most likely me.

3 comments:

  1. Computer Whizzzzzz I LOVED IT!!! It's even better than Hollaindaise sauce! Do you think it would work on Eggs Benedict, too?

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  2. What better way to make up for losing 2 hours of your life at the Star Trek movie than to go to Hannaford and fondle produce? At least I learned that the potatos go to sleep at night under a nice blanket.

    Oh, and Cheryl admits that the egg & cheese sandwich at the diner was the bestest ever.

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  3. whizz- I don't think anything can replace real eggs benedict, but I bet an asparagus omlette done this way would rock.

    Mike- yeah, those two hours are gone, but time at Hannaford is always a plus. As usual, the diner did not let down either

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