Poached cod fish with hollandaise sauce with baby asparagus

hollandaise

Serves 4

4xcod fillets about 250g each

Court bouillon au lait:

500 ml water

500 ml milk

1 bouquet garni

1 onion, studded with cloves

Decoration:

2 lemons

Parsley sprigs

Sauce hollandaise:

2 egg yolks

50ml boiled white wine

200g clarified butter (made from 250g whole butter)

Lemon juice, to taste

Salt, to taste

Cayenne pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1. Clarify the butter – melt the butter in a bowl, which you place inside a pot with simmering water. Make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.

Do not stir the butter, just let it slowly melt and you’ll see that it will start to separate. Remove as much of the white milk granules from the surface and put the rest of the melted butter through a sieve into a new bowl. Keep warm over a bain marie (the method used to melt it) on very low heat.

2. Bring the wine to boiling point, remove from the heat and leave aside.

3. Prepare a pan with an inch of simmering water to be used to make the hollandaise.

4. Clean, trim and blanch the asparagus.

Cooking:

1. Place all the ingredients of the court bouillon in a large pan and heat up.

2. Put the egg yolks in a large, round bowl that will fit but not fall into the pan with the simmering water already prepared.

3. Add the wine and place on the bain-marie. Using a large whisk, heat the egg yolks and wine mix up to 55 C. It will have light, warm and foamy consistency.

4. Now remove the water from the pan and put the bowl back on the “empty bain-marie” but not on the heat. The steam and heat remaining in the pan with be enough.

5. ncorporate the clarified butter slowly while whisking vigorously continuously.

6. Once all the butter has been added, season with lemon juice, salt and cayenne pepper to taste.

7. The hollandaise now needs to be kept in a warm place, as it will otherwise split.

Poaching the fish:

1. Place the fish in the infusion.  Do not boil, leave at a slow simmer for about 10 min. Turn the fish around after about 5 min.

In the meantime, bring a pot of water to boil and warm up the already blanched asparagus. 

To serve:

1. Remove the skin of the fish. 

2. Arrange on a plate, serve hollandaise in a little separate dish or on the fish. Decorate with a lemon wedge or half a lemon wrapped in muslin cloth and a parsley sprig.