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I love smoking vegetables on my Traeger alongside a big piece of meat that’s been going all day. Tender, smoked asparagus is a Spring-time treat. The tips of the asparagus really absorb the smoke flavor and the stems become creamy and sweet with slow cooking. Served with lemony hollandaise sauce and smoked chicken or pork loin, this is a simple and delicious meal and perfect for special occasions when you do want to fuss too much.
Hollandaise sauce is one of my favorite sauces. It reminds me of being a kid in the 90’s and having artichokes at home, served with a side of Knorr Hollandaise from the powder packets. This was a special meal as artichokes were pretty foreign in New England at that time. Not surprisingly, home-made hollandaise made with just a few simple ingredients – butter, egg yolks, lemon juice, and spices, tastes better than the processed powdered variety. This sauce is perfect for eggs benedicts, artichokes, chicken, fish, pork, broccoli, and asparagus.
Making hollandaise the traditional way is a somewhat nerve-racking and difficult process, even for experienced cooks. Hollandaise, and its cousin aioli, were two things I would always delegate out to the cook who could focus on that one singular task until it was finished. Whisking egg yolks and lemon juice in a double boiler with one hand while very, very (painfully) slowly adding hot butter, a couple of drops at a time with the other hand can be a challenge, especially when you have a lot of other projects going on simultaneously. In a busy kitchen, it is the equivalent of rubbing your belly while patting your head and balancing a tray full of dishes on one raised knee while standing. It takes total concentration. If the butter is added too quickly the sauce will break and then the best you can do is to try to beat it into submission while adding water which thins it out, beyond what is ideal. Luckily for us, there is an easier and more forgiving method: using an emersion blender (or standard blender or food processor). This is one of those recipes and techniques that you’ll want to memorize and keep up your sleeve.
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Smoked Asparagus with the “Easiest Hollandaise Sauce” recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: smoker
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
For the Asparagus
1 lb fresh asaparagus
Olive oil to coat
Salt and Pepper to taste
Hollandaise Sauce Recipe
3 egg yolks
10 Tablespoons salted butter, melted in the microwave and still hot
pinch of sugar
pinch of fresh ground pepper
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 dash Tobasco
Instructions
Preheat smoker to 225 F.
Rinse and dry the asparagus and trim off woody ends.
Toss the asparagus with oil, salt, and pepper, and place in a grill basket or on a sheet of tin foil with holes poked through it on the grate of the smoker.
Smoke the asparagus for about 1 hour or until tender, stirring once halfway through the cooking process.
10 minutes before the asparagus is slated to come off the smoker, measure out 10 Tablespoons of butter into a microwave safe liquid measuring cup. Cook 1 minute at a time in the microwave until melted and very hot, careful though, not to boil away all the water content of the butter.
Meanwhile, separate the egg yolks from the whites. Discard or reserve the whites for another use. Place the yolks in the blender cup for an emersion blender. Add the lemon juice, dijon, Tobasco, sugar, and pepper. Blend this mixture for 30-60 seconds. While the emersion/hand blender is going, add a couple of drops of butter. Move the blender head up and down to incorporate the butter. Add a couple more drops and repeat. Then add the rest of the butter in a slow and steady stream, moving the blender up and down as needed. You can also use a small food processor or a standard blender for this as well.
Keep the sauce in a warm place until ready to use it.
Remove the asparagus from the grill. Drizzle the hollandaise over it and serve. You could also serve the hollandaise from a gravy boat at the table.
Hollandaise is best enjoyed right after it is made. You can keep it warm on the stove in a double boiler for 30 minutes or so. In theory you can reheat it (very very gently), maybe whisking in a little hot water if needed, but it is just never the same the next day.
Notes
TROUBLE SHOOTING
You shouldn’t need these tips with this method but they are good to know and also work for aioli:
If the sauce is too thick- add water, a little bit at a at a time while blending/whisking
If the sauce is too thin- keep blending for 30-60 seconds. This will heat up the egg yolks and help with thickening. If this doesn’t thicken it up, you can transfer hollandaise to a heavy bottom pan over low heat and gently warm while stirring constantly. As soon as it begins to thicken, remove it from the burner and continue stirring/whisking.
If the sauce breaks – add water a little water at a time while whisking/blending. This will also thin it. But a thin sauce is better than a broken sauce.
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