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Warmed olive oil is used in lieu of butter in this classic recipe.

This is the second dish that we contributed to our Supper Club's Gordon Ramsay themed dinner this month.

I was really excited to try out chef Ramsay's method for making hollandaise using a double boiler, but let's just say that I ran into some... issues.

A photo posted by Ashley Covelli (@bigflavors) on Apr 2, 2016 at 2:32pm PDT

Things were going beautifully up until I had to add the olive oil. It just wasn't combining properly, and it ended up totally ruining the texture.

I should have gone with my gut from the start and streamed in the oil in the blender instead of this whole taking it off and on the heat and adding a bit at a time. It was nuts.

Luckily, a trip to the blender ended up making the sauce emulsify just fine.

I think next time, I'll just do the whole thing in the blender. The flavor was great, and the asparagus was gorgeous. I just spent a lot of time and energy on a method that wasn't working out for me.

This went great with the rest of the dishes from Chef Ramsay at our dinner party.

One thing I did change a bit was to remove the asparagus and pop them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process, since I wasn't going to be serving them for a while. This way they kept their gorgeous bright green color and didn't overcook.

I'll definitely give this one another shot sometime. But I am glad that I did try out his method.

📖 Recipe

Gordon Ramsay’s Asparagus with Lemon and Tarragon Hollandaise

Overhead view of asparagus and hollandaise sauce.

Warmed olive oil is used in lieu of butter in this classic recipe.

Gordon Ramsay

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Servings: 4 Servings

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: French

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 20

Total Time 25

Ingredients

450 g asparagus trimmed

For the hollandaise sauce:

3 large egg yolks
Squeeze of lemon juice plus extra to taste
200 ml olive oil
2 tablespoon chopped tarragon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

First make the hollandaise sauce. Using a large balloon whisk, beat the egg yolks with a squeeze of lemon juice and seasoning in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Beat vigorously for about 10 minutes until the mixture thickens. (To make sure the sauce doesn't overheat, take it on and off the heat while you whisk, scraping around the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula.) The aim is to achieve a golden, airy sauce that forms ribbons on the surface when the whisk is lifted.
Warm the olive oil in a small pan, then set aside. Off the heat, gradually add a little of the warmed olive oil at a time to the egg mix, then return the bowl over a gentle heat to cook a little more. Remove from the heat again and whisk in another dash of warm oil.Repeat until all the oil is incorporated and the sauce has a thick, mayonnaise-like consistency.
Whisk in lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, plus 2–3 tablespoons of warm water to give the mixture a pouring consistency, then add the chopped tarragon.
Blanch the asparagus by plunging it into boiling salted water for 2–3 minutes until its rawness has been removed but it is still crunchy. Drain well and serve with the hollandaise.