This asparagus season
Monday, May 23, 2011 at 12:27PM 
If I had shown you the collected plates of our last week or so, it would have made for the most boring slideshow in the history of the world. It's been pretty much one word, four syllables, at almost every meal.
Asparagus. Daily. There's been no complaints.
There it's been, with oozy-yolked dipper eggs to start the day, shaved into emerald-edged ribbons as a lunch salad, stir-fried with ginger, sesame and soy for dinner. When baking a cake left me with egg yolks left over, I took it as a sign and lickety-split made a herb-specked, lemon-heavy Hollandaise to drag our stalks through.
I was tempted to tell you the way I've liked it best, but it's not much of a recipe. Just a knob of butter melted in a heavy skillet and allowed to begin to brown, then stopped from going overboard by a scant pour of olive oil. In goes trimmed asparagus and another scant pour - water this time - quickly simmering/steaming the stalks to tender-crisp and setting their colour at its brightest. Once the water's bubbled away, the asparagus goes off the heat and onto a plate. There's salt and pepper to finish, along with a squeeze of lemon, an extra drop of oil and broad, lacy shavings of Parmesan. No trick to that.
And so instead, I thought I'd tell you about a dish that has a bit more going on but shares the same quick time from counter to table. It may not be my full-stop favourite, but it's up there and gaining a following.
It starts with a winner of a sauce - David Lebovitz's sauce gribiche. Like he says, it's one of those keep-it-in-your-back-pocket recipes that makes something kind of spectacular out of a few everyday ingredients. It's French in lineage, a loose sauce-meets-vinaigrette, with an emulsification of (cooked!) egg yolk and mustard to start, a good measure of olive oil, chopped egg, capers, cornichons and herbs.
That was where I was heading. Then, thumbing through Canal House Cooking Volume No. 3 - the winter and spring edition from last year - I was reminded of their take on the iceberg wedge; sharp, crunchy radicchio garnished with hard-boiled eggs, scallion and crisp pancetta. It's gorgeous. Their vinaigrette and garnish shares a lot of qualities with sauce gribiche, and that's when I decided to change course and take the best from both.
This vinaigrette ends up eggier than his sauce gribiche, and the cornichons are swapped out for the fresh pungency of scallion - that's the Canal House influence at work. My only original contribution was to fleck the dressing with dried red pepper flakes, which spark here and there.
We ate it at lunch yesterday with nothing else necessary than a slice of toasted granary bread as raft for the spears. The crumb opened up to the spiky, supple dressing, and the crust afforded the dish substantial chew. Use the last of your bread for sopping up all the extra bits and dregs of dressing - be greedy with the bread, I say.
One note on the asparagus itself; you can prepare it however you prefer, but can we talk about matters of size? Go straight for the thicker stalks, the kind that almost require a fork and knife when eating with anyone aside from the closest of company. Dainty, they are not, those sturdy ones.
The fat, juicy stalks really have the most flavour, and it's their fleshy sweetness that stands up to the piquancy of this dressing best. If those spindly stems we often see are thought of as pencil-thin, the sort you'll want here are more the magic-marker variety.
As with a traditional sauce gribiche, this vinaigrette would be happy to pal around with some boiled new potatoes or a nice bit of fish. Or, to tweak the Canal House example, I'd like it this over grilled wedges of radicchio at the next barbeque. I've got ideas of blanched green beans when they're around.
That said, I've not tried any of those suggestions. We've only gone so far as asparagus and stopped quite stubbornly there. For right now, in this asparagus season that is so quickly passing, that's far enough for me.
Asparagus with Hard-boiled Egg Vinaigrette
Adapted from from Canal House Cooking and David Lebovitz, with thanks.
Ingredients
Kosher salt
2 scallions, white and light green parts separated and finely sliced
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/3-1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
10 capers, rinsed and dried
Approximately 1/8 teaspoon dried chili flakes
1 handful of fresh, flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1 pound thick asparagus, peeled if needed, trimmed and cooked to your liking
In a small bowl, pinch together 1/8 teaspoon salt with the white part of the sliced scallions. Once the scallion begins to release some juice, stir in the red wine vinegar and set aside.
Separate the egg yolks from the hard boiled eggs. Place one egg yolk in a medium bowl. Chop the other egg yolk and egg whites separately, and keep both aside for later.
Mix the Dijon mustard into whole egg yolk until smooth. Using the back of a spoon or fork, beat in 1/3 cup of the olive oil in a thin, steady stream. Once emulsified, stir in the vinegar and white scallions.
Add the reserved egg whites to the sauce, along with the capers, the chili flakes and most of the parsley. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. It'll be quite kicky. If the sauce seems too thick, loosen with the extra olive oil.
To serve, arrange the cooked asparagus on a plate. Spoon over the sauce, then garnish with the chopped egg yolk, reserved parsley and scallion greens.
Serves 2.
asparagus, eggs in light lunch, side dish 
Reader Comments (38)
stunning. <3
We have such beautiful Jersey asparagus this month. I posted the same simple dish on my site on Friday. I wish it would never end!
Lovely colors - what a tease!
hi all! it was a bit of a mistake that these photos published early - the rest will be up soon! sorry about that.
I have a bunch of asparagus in the fridge that need loving care! I'll try this out! Thank you for the lovely photos as well.
I always love the lighting and composition of your pictures!
Every time I came to a new sauce in your post, I seemed to perch further and further forward in my chair in attempts to get closer to the words on the screen, as if that would help me paint the picture of the lovely green stalks swathed in their newest gown.
I was at my favorite market last week and was very excited to see some fresh asparagus. Upon further inspection, I realized it was from California, so I put it back with a sigh, and hoped spring time will be upon us soon here in Boston.
Oh, I love asparagus from the bottom of my heart. The sauce gribiche sounds like a perfect partner!
I cannot resist the asparagus at the farmers' markets these days -- inevitably I arrive home with a bunch. So I've been eating it at basically every meal, too -- heaven :) I love it with eggs, and this vinaigrette sounds like the perfect combination ... bookmarking this for my next batch.
What gorgeous, vibrant photos!
All of your ideas look wonderful, especially your full-stop favourite. I'm a sucker for beautiful simplicity.
Simple and yet stunning. And I'm sure delicious too. x
I love how this recipe truly highlights the asparagus, and doesn't overwhelm it. It looks delicious and so elegant!
Such gorgeous photos! That is the best looking asparagus I've seen!
This looks so good!! Definitely how I'm going to serve asparagus next time!!! I agree, your photos are gorgeous...
looks divine :) I love asparagus on the grill when its gets all charred yum. I am so enjoying the season right now!
Our plates have been partners, these past few weeks, all asparagus, all the time.
If the season holds, I intend to try both routes.
So beautiful! I am greedily snatching up as much asparagus as possible before the season is over. This recipe looks like a winner.
I love that I get several recipe ideas out of this one post, so thank you!! We put asparagus in our garden last year, so this season, we only allowed ourselves a few stalks, but I will file these delectible recipe ideas away for next year and patiently await... Okay, that's not true- I'm going to hit up the market tomorrow and make this! Yum!
You guys, I have a confession to make. The day after posting this I went out and snagged more asparagus. Two bunches, this time. I obviously have a problem.
Thanks for all the enthusiasm and hip, hip to asparagus season!
The pee in your household must stiiiiiiiink.
I like asparagus too. Yummy photos! and thank you for the recipe.
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poor english talk to you !
love love love ! your photos are stunning!
With some orange zests and cream, asparagus are delicious too!