Poached & Roasted Local Asparagus, Soft Duck Egg and Cured Parma Ham with Wild Cress Salad & Hollandaise Sauce

Ingredients (for one serving – multiply by appropriate number of servings required)

• 1 Free Range Duck Egg or Hen’s Egg
• 2 -3 Slices Cured Parma Ham
• 3 Medium Spears of Asparagus
• 1 small handful wild cress salad
• 50ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Good pinch of Salt and Pepper
• 3 Egg Yolks (for  the Hollandaise sauce)
• 1 Tablespoon White Wine Vinegar
• 1 packet  unsalted Butter (should be enough for 4 servings  easily)
• N.B.   You’ll need a total of 4 eggs for each serving – 3 yolks for the Hollandaise sauce and 1 soft boiled

Method

1. Snap the Asparagus spears at the root end using your thumb and finger.  They will snap at the “tenderness point”.
2. Place the Asparagus into boiling salted water for approx 3 minutes or until tender (important not to overcook and use plenty of salt).
3. Plunge the Asparagus into ICE cold water and leave.
4. Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the eggs for soft boiling.
5. Simmer for 5 minutes depending on egg size (water must simmer and bubble otherwise egg will not cook evenly).
6. Take the pan off the heat and leave the eggs in the water for 20 minutes.
7. Remove eggs from pan aside from the ones you will keep soft boiled for each serving and whisk egg yolks in a stainless steel bowl over hot water for 2 minutes until egg thickens (make sure bowl does not touch the water as this will scramble the egg yolk and be no good.
8. Add White Wine vinegar and a little warm water (1 tblsp) to the whisked egg in the bowl. This emulsifies the egg and vinegar and enables you to add the butter more easily.
9. When the mix has thickened, keep it warm (a gentle simmer will be sufficient).
10. Melt butter in microwave or in a pan.  The butter must be warm, if cold it will spilt.
11. Add the butter carefully to the warmed egg mixture whilst whisking at all times.
12. Once all the butter has been added, take off heat, taste and season, adjust thickness if you wish with a little warm water.
13. Leave somewhere warm.

Presenting the dish

1. Dry off asparagus and season with olive oil, salt and pepper.
2. Peel egg under cold water, dry off and cut lengthways (be careful as should be runny) and season egg with salt and pepper.
3. Arrange asparagus on plate, add cut egg, arrange salad cress with a little drizzle of Olive Oil, add Hollandaise over the asparagus or in a dish (as shown).

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Tags: asparagus, duck, egg, parma, recipe, sauce