Spring radishes with anchovy creme fraiche and asparagus with toasted sesame and hollandaise sauce, from the Ethicurean Cookbook
Spring radishes with anchovy creme fraiche
This simple anchovy dip pairs beautifully with fresh radishes. What's great about radishes is that as the weather begins to warm, so does their inherent fiery-pepperiness.
Serves 4-6
radishes 2 bunches
For the anchovy crème fraîche
rapeseed or groundnut oil a little
spring onion 1, finely sliced
garlic 2 cloves
marinated white anchovy fillets 35g, finely chopped
creme fraiche 75ml
Heat a splash of oil in a small frying pan, add the spring onion and garlic and fry over a medium heat until soft. Add the anchovies and cook for a couple more minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and leave to cool. Stir in the creme fraiche and season to taste.
Thoroughly clean the radishes and their leaves, keeping the leaves attached. Holding the leaves allows you to dip the radishes into the sauce, before biting them clean off their greenery.
Asparagus with toasted sesame and hollandaise sauce
sesame seeds 2 tbsp
tarragon 4 sprigs
asparagus spears, trimmed 20
For the hollandaise sauce
egg yolks 3
vintage cider vinegar 1 tbsp
chilled salted or unsalted butter, cut into 1cm cubes 125g
First make the hollandaise sauce. Fill a saucepan two-thirds full with water and bring to a rapid boil. Put the egg yolks and vinegar in a heatproof bowl and whisk for about 1 minute, until pale and fluffy. Take the pan of boiling water off the heat and set the bowl over it, ensuring the base of the bowl is not touching the water. Quickly add all the butter to the bowl and whisk steadily with a balloon whisk until the heat from the water melts the butter and cooks the eggs. After a few minutes of constant, gentle whisking, the hollandaise will thicken. When it is the consistency of a thin custard, take the bowl off the pan and continue whisking until the consistency changes to that of an immaculate, velvety custard.
Toast the sesame seeds in a frying pan over a low heat until they are light golden brown. Once they begin browning they can burn very easily, so stir regularly for an even colour. Remove from the pan and leave to cool.
Place the tarragon in a pan large enough to fit a steamer basket on top. Add 7-8cm of boiling water, place on a medium heat and put the steamer basket on it. When the water is simmering, add the asparagus to the basket, cover and steam for 3-4 minutes, until the spears are tender but retain a bit of bite.
Place the spears on 4 serving plates, pour over the hollandaise and garnish with the toasted sesame.
Extracted from The Ethicurean Cookbook by Matthew Pennington, Iain Pennington, Paûla Zarate and Jack Adair Bevan, published by Ebury Press at £25 on 16 May 2013. To order a copy for £20 with free UK p&p, click here