Claremont Farm Asparagus

Serves four

For the Asparagus
12 spears of jumbo size Claremont farm asparagus peeled and trimmed. 1 bunch of watercress.

For the Hollandaise Sauce

• 2 large shallots
• 300ml white wine
• 10 black peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig thyme
• 2 egg yolks
• 250g butter
• A squeeze of lemon juice and zest of lemon to taste
• Maldon sea salt

For the Gazpacho

• 1 punnet of purple cress (or red chard)
• 5 vine tomatoes (ripe)
• ½ cucumber peeled and diced
• Juice of half a lemon 2 shallots
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 100ml tomato juice
• 50ml olive oil
• Fresh basil and parsley to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil for dressing
• Cracked black pepper to taste
• Maldon sea salt to taste
• Pinch of pimento (smoked paprika) for seasoning
• 2 slices of stale bread 250ml water

Gazpacho (make in advance up to a day before and serve chilled)

1. Cut the vine tomatoes into chunks, peel the cucumber and cut into chunks, tear 2 slices of stale bread into pieces and place into blender with olive oil, lemon juice, shallots, tomato juice, 1 clove of garlic, 250ml of water and a couple of ice cubes.
2. Process until smooth, adding water or straining if necessary.
3. Season then refrigerate.
4. Garnish with olive oil and cress before serving.

Asparagus

1. In a pan bring some water to the boil with 2 tbsp of Maldon salt.
2. Once boiling, drop in the washed and peeled asparagus, for no more than 2 minutes and refresh in a bowl of iced water.

Hollandaise Sauce

1. Peel and chop the shallots, put then in a pan with the white wine, lemon zest and juice, black peppercorns, bay leaf and sprig of thyme, reduce by half, pass through a conical sieve to create liquor.
2. Melt the butter and carefully remove the opaque film that has formed on the top (taking care not to over-heat) add the egg yolks to the liquor and hand whisk to emulsify to a ‘ribbon’ or custard consistency, adding butter in small quantities until it is all incorporated.
3. When at the required consistency, season.