Asparagus, steak tartare, pancetta and parsley oil

Use the blender to mix 20g parsley, 1 clove of garlic and 50ml olive oil. Put trough a small sieve, season with salt and pepper and reserve

Peel 4 asparagus

Cut 150g bavette in thin slices, then the slices into strips and the strips into small cubes. Season with salt and pepper

Mince a small shallot, mix with the meat with 2 tbsp olive oil,  a few drops of Worcester and Tabasco, 1/2 tsp Dyon mustard and 1 tsp tomato ketchup

Bring water to the boil with salt and a pinch of sugar, put in the asparagus and boil 5 mins, turn of the heat and keep (under a lid) for another 7 mins.

In the meantime hack 20g hazelnuts and 20g pumpkin seeds and toast them. Season with sea salt

Drain the asparagus, cool under running water and dry with kitchen paper. Use a kitchen burner to color the asparagus

Serve a shown, with slices of smoked pancetta, apple capers and the parsley oil

(Here Kris Herrijgers' original recipe in Flemish)

 

Scallops, asparagus, beurre Café de Paris

Mix 45g butter (room temperature), 20g finely cut anchovies, 1/2 finely cut shallot, 4 pressed cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp hacked parsley, the hacked leaves of a sprig of estragon, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp curry powder, 1/2 tsp Dyon mustard, 1/2 tsp Worcester sauce, 1/4 tsp paprika powder, 1/2 tsp ketchup, 1/2 tsp sea salt

Spoon mixture onto a 20cm-long piece of plastic wrap. Roll up to enclose and form a 12cm log. Twist ends to seal. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.

Peel 6 fat asparagus, cut off the tips, use the rest to make a nice soup.

Boil them 4 mins in boiling salted water, kill the heat and leave them under a lid for another 5 mins

Season 6 scallops with salt and pepper and panfry in a lightly oiled pan, crumble half of the Beurre Cafe de Paris, once it's melted kill the heat, turn the scallops and leave them 2-3 mins to absorb the heat.

Serve as shown, with some sea banana (and crusty bread to soak up the delicieus butter)

Freeze the rest of the butter

(Inspired by Alex Prichards recipe in Delicious Magazine)

Asparagus, black tiger gamba's, light red curry sauce

Peel 2 thick asparagus, boil them 5 mins in salted water, shut off the heat and leave them, under a lid, another 6 mins

Mix 1/2 tbsp Thai red curry with 75mk creamed coconut and the juice of 1/4 lime and warm

Pan fry 6 black tiger gamba's in olive oil

Start plating with 3 tbsp curry, put the asparagus on it and then fold the gamba's over the asparagus

Finish with lime zest (Feeds 2)

(Here Onno Kleyn's original recipe in Dutch)

Asparagus, King crab, mayonaise blanc and sea banana

Take 2 pre-boiled legs of King crab and use scissors to cut them open to remove the meat. Cut in 2 cm pieces and dry them on a plate between kitchen paper.

Whisk a mayonaise from 1 egg yolk, 1 tsp Dyon mustard, 1 tsp warm water, 1 tsp sushi vinegar and about 75 ml grapeseed oil

Whisk the remaining egg white in a second bowl till you can turn the bowl over while the beaten egg white stays firmly in place

Then, bit by bit, carefully spoon your mayonaise into the beaten egg white. This way you can double the amount of mayonaise without having to use more oil, which is much healthier.  Taste and season with pepper and salt. 

Remove the kitchen paper, and lightly brush the crab with molten butter. Put in a 70°C oven for a bit

Peel 6 asparagus. Boil them in salted water for 5 mins, then turn of the heat and leave them under a lid for 10 mins. 

Use a serving ring to spoon a circle of fluffy mayonaise blanc on 2 plates. Then position the asparagus as shown. Put the crab on top, with some more mayo.

Finish with sea bananas and some black pepper.

(Recipe by Janneke Muileboom)

Asparagus, crayfish and shrimp bisque

Boil 20 and peel 18 crayfish

Peel 2 white asparagus. Cover them just in water, bring to the boil, then boil for 3 mins. Shut down the heat and leave (under the lid) for 7 mins. Then drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process

Cut them in 4 pieces

Reduce 500 ml shrimp stock, add brandy and some double cream to create a nice thick bisque

Serve as shown with some dill

Steamed asparagus with jamón and crispy fried egg

Trim the woody ends of 16 green and 4 purple asparagus, then steam the green spears for three to four minutes, until tender to the tip of a knife and the purple for just 1 min.

Meanwhile, put 75 ml olive oil in a nonstick pan on a medium-high heat, until it starts to shimmer. Add 2 free range eggs and fry until the whites are bubbly and crisp at the edges but the yolks are still runny. Remove with a spatula and pat their bottoms dry on a sheet of kitchen roll.

Arrange the asparagus on two warmed plates, top each portion with an egg and 3 slices of Serano jamón, then drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and scatter with flaky sea salt and black pepper. 

Brush thick slices of Turkish bread with olive oil and panfry in a hot griddle pan.

Sprinkle over some chives , decorate with the purple petals of a chives flower and serve as a lovely starter or light lunch.

(Here José Pizarro's original recipe)

PS In the end I decided to panfry some more Serano slices and the crispness added extra flavour (not on the photo)

Salmon mi-cuit, asparagus, Hollandaise

Peel 3 asparagus, slice in 3. Put in salted water, bring to the boil, boil for 4 mins, then turn of the heat. Keep the lid on

Peel and grate 1 potato. Rinse well, then dry.

Mix 2 egg yolks with 2 tbsp white wine and 1 tbsp water. Whisk au bain marie into a sauce. From the heat whisk in 50 g cubes of cold butter. Add a few drops of lemon juice and a whiff of cayenne. Keep warm

Pre heat the grill

Lightly oil 2 plates and season them with salt and pepper

Thinly slice 300g salmon and cover the plates with the salmon slices.

Put under the hot grill till just done, inside the salmon should remain raw.

In the meantime deep fry the grated potato in 150°C arachide oil till crisp. Season with salt.

Add the asparagus and the crispy potato to the salmon.

Finish with the Hollandaise and some chives

(Here the original recipe in Flemish)

Guinea fowl, beurre Café de Paris

Begin a day in advance with the beurre Café de Paris:

Place 1 tbsp ketchup, 1 tsp Dyon mustard, 40g finely diced shallot, 1/2 minced clove of garlic, 2 tsp hacked capers, 2 finely hacked anchovies, 1 tsp red port, 1 tsp cognac, 1 tsp Worcestersauce, 1 tbsp hacked parsley, 10 hacked sprigs if chives, 1 tbsp hacked estragon, 1 tsp paprika powder, 1/2 tsp curry powder, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp lemon zest, 1/2 tsp salt and 250g butter in a bowl until combined. 

It might take a bit of effort because we’re mixing water-based ingredients (Worcestershire sauce, lemon) with fat (the butter). Mash / mix / smear as needed to make it happen!

Place on cling wrap – Place the butter on a piece of cling wrap and roughly shape into a 20cm/8″ log.

Roll up in the cling wrap.

Twist ends to tighten the cling wrap around the log. The tighter the ends twist, the firmer and neater the log will become!

Secure ends as needed to hold the log shape. Usually, the cling wrap holds itself in place well enough to not worry about doing knots, or you can tuck the ends under the log so the weight of the log stops them unravelling. But if it is loosening, just tie the ends tightly.

Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight until firm.

The next day pre heat the oven at 170°C and remove the butter from the fridge and slice while firm and cold. Let it come to room temperature, so it melts easily on the hot meat.

Pan-fry 2 guinea fowl breasts in butter, softly so the don't dry out, about 4 mins on the skin side, then turn and fry for another 2 mins. Then put in the oven for 12 mins.

During the last 4 mins boil some  green asparagus, after 3 mins add baby asparagus

Serve as shown, with rösti

Or with white asparagus and crispy crushed baby potatoes.

Boil baby potatoes and cool them thoroughly. Then crush them with a glass. Brush with olive oil and lightly dust them with paprika powder, onion powder and curry powder before baking them in a 220°C oven for about 25 mins.

(Here the original recipe in Flemish from Hap&Tap)

Asparagus carbonara

Peel 4 asparagus. Halve lengthwise, then cut each in 3 parts. 

Fry in 1 tbsp olive oil with 1/2 minced clove of garlic, for 5 mins.

Season with salt and pepper when nicely browned, deglaze with 35ml white wine and reduce the wine till 20% is left.

Add 100ml double cream, put the lid on the pan and softly boil for another 5 mins.

Get from the heat and cool down a bit, before stirring in an egg yolk

Serve as shown with grated Parmesan and black pepper

(A Blend Brother recipe)

Follow me on Instagram @peterschoenmaker7and have a look at my book Breakfast in Gascony on Amazon for your Kindle

Pretty in purple

Boil 4 purple potatoes without peeling, otherwise they'll loose their colour. After 19 mins drain them and let them cool.

Cut the end from 6 purple asparagus spears. There is no need to peel them and can be eaten raw. 

Thinly slice a red onion and slice a spring onion.

Whisk a dressing from 1 tsp Dyon mustard, the juice of 1/2 lime and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

There is no need to peel the potatoes, but it looks nicer if you do.

Crumble 100g feta cheese and shred 10 leaves of mint.

Mix everything in a big bowl. I added some leftover broad beans and lime zest.

(Based on a House&Garden recipe)

Follow me on Instagram @peterschoenmaker7

and have a look at my book Breakfast in Gascony on Amazon for your Kindle

White asparagus, burrata and dukkah

Peel 4 white asparagus, put in a pan, cover them with just enough water and bring to the boil. Lid on. Boil for 2 mins, then turn off the heat but keep them in for another 9 mins.

Boil 120g frozen peas for 3 mins in vegetable stock, drain and blend with 1tbsp crême fraiche. season with salt and pepper.

Make a dukkah (pronounced doo-kah, is a traditional Egyptian blend of nuts, seeds, and warm spices) in the blender from 30g toasted almonds and the leaves from 3 sprigs of tarragon.

Start plating with a spoonful of the pureed peas.

Cover with 3 asparagus spears with 1/2 burrata on top.

Finish with the dukkah and some tarragon.

(Recipe by Culy Homemade) 

Follow me on Instagram @peterschoenmaker7

and have a look at my book Breakfast in Gascony on Amazon for your Kindle

Scallop, asparagus, caviar on Parmesan wafer

Pre heat the oven at 180°C

Put 2 heaps of 10g grated Parmesan on a paper covered baking tray, flatten them and bake for 10 mins. Cool on kitchen paper to stay crisp.

Peel 4 white asparagus, put in a pan, cover them with just enough water and bring to the boil. Lid on. Boil for 2 mins, then kill the heat but keep them for another 9 mins.

Toast a1 tbsp almond slivers in a dry pan, the pulverise them in the blender.

Pan fry a scallop for 1 min per side, Then halve, season with sea salt and pepper.

Slice the asparagus in 3 parts. Whisk 1 tbsp butter and 1 tsp white wine vinegar,  stir in the asparagus.

Start plating with the Parmesan wafers on each plate with 4 pieces of asparagus stacked two by two. Dust them with almond powder. Follow with the halved scallop, a tsp of caviar and finally some leek cress. 

(Recipe from Catherine Nicolas' Amuse glaasjes)

Follow me on Instagram @peterschoenmaker7

and have a look at my book Breakfast in Gascony on Amazon for your Kindle

Asparagus Japanese style

Peel 4 asparagus spears and cut them in 4 cm pieces. Cover them with just enough water, bring to the boil. Boil for 2 mins, then turn of the heat and keep for seven minutes.

Finely slice 2 shallots.

Wok the shallots during 2 mins in 1 tsp sesame oil with 1 tbsp grated ginger

Add 1/2 tbsp mirin, 1 tbsp light soy sauce and 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce.

After 2 mins add the asparagus.

Serve with 1/2 tbsp black sesame seeds

(Here Karola's original recipe in Flemish)

Follow me on Instagram @peterschoenmaker7 and visit Amazon to have a look at my book Breakfast in Gascony, for your Kindle

Asparagus and potato salad

Boil 2 tbsp mustard seeds during 20 mins. Rinse under cold water and put in a jam jar.

Bring 150ml water to the boil with 50ml vinegar and 100g caster sugar. Pour over the mustard seeds and cool.

Boil 300g peeled Nicola potatoes in water with some sprigs of thyme, 3 halved cloves of garlic and salt. In a separate pan boil 2 unpeeled truffle potatoes.

Peel 5 asparagus spears and boil them in 10 mins in unsalted water and 1 tbsp butter

Break an egg in a mixing beaker with 1 tbsp estragon vinegar and 1/2 tbsp Dyon mustard.

Add 150 ml grape seed oil.

Start your stick blender at the bottom and slowly go up and up. After 10 seconds your homemade mayonaise will be ready.

Season with salt and pepper.

Mix 50g mayo with 10g mustard, scrape the seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod and add to the mayo.

Cut the asparagus in 4 parts, mix with the Nicola potatoes and the vanilla mayo.

Plate as shown, then add slices of truffle potato and small spoonfuls of mustard seeds

(Based on a Blendbrothers recipe)

Follow me on Instagram @peterschoenmaker7 and visit Amazon to have a look at my book Breakfast in Gascony, for your Kindle

Asparagus on ham, sauce Hollandaise

Ask the butcher to slice the ham 3 mm thick

Peel 2 asparagus, remove the last 4 cm. Cover with just enough salted water, bring to the boil, boil for 2 mins, then turn off the heat and leave for 9 mins.

In the meantime make the Hollandaise:

Step 1: melt 125g butter in a saucepan and skim any white solids from the surface. Or use store-bought clarified butter. Keep the butter warm. 

Step 2: put 3 egg yolks, 1½ tbsp white wine, 1 tbsp tarragon vinegar, a pinch of salt and in a metal or glass bowl that will fit over a small pan with barely simmering hot water.
Whisk for a few mins,  whisk continuously until pale and thick, about 3-5 mins.

Step 3: kill  the heat and slowly whisk in the melted butter, bit by bit until it’s all incorporated and you have a creamy hollandaise. 

(If it gets too thick, add a splash of warm water.)

Step 4: season with a squeeze of lemon juice and a little cayenne pepper. Keep warm until needed.

Hardboil an egg, crumble the yolk.

Serve as shown, with chives

Tip from John Ash: No matter how skilled you are in the kitchen, emulsion sauces like hollandaise sometimes “break,” or separate. If this happens, you can try to correct it by whisking in a teaspoon or two of boiling water, a drop at a time. If that doesn’t work, put another egg yolk in a bowl and very slowly whisk in the broken sauce. Usually, the sauce will come back together with one of these methods.

Follow me on Instagram @peterschoenmaker7

and have a look at my book Breakfast in Gascony on Amazonfor your Kindle

Brill, asparagus, samphire, brown shrimps, lobster sauce

Start with the sauce. Per 2 persons sweat a sliced shallot in some butter. Add 130 ml  lobster or shrimp bisque and 100 ml white wine. Boil softly for about 10 mins. Put through a sieve. Reduce for 50%. Add 35 ml cream and boil till you have a nice thick sauce.

Peel 6 white asparagus, remove the ends and boil during 6 mins in salted water. 

Add 50g samphire during the last 3 mins.

Dust 4 brill fillets in flour and fry in butter.

Serve as shown, with brown shrimps

(A Johan Seegers recipe) 

Follow me on Instagram: peterschoenmaker7

Panfried asparagus, scrambled eggs, toasted brioche

Pre heat the oven at 180° C

Peel 6 white asparagus, remove the ends and boil during 6 mins in salted water. 

Whisk 4 eggs with some cream. Season with salt, pepper and parsley

Brush 2 thick slices of brioche with olive oil and toast them in the hot oven for about 10 mins.

Slice each asparagus in 3 parts, pan fry a few mins in butter, then add the eggs and scramble them.

Serve as shown with cress

(Here the video of Jeroen Meeus with his recipe, in Flemish)

Follow me on Instagram: peterschoenmaker7

Courgette flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies

First remove the (bitter) pistil of the flowers. Then stuff them with some mozzarella and an anchovies.  

Close the stuffed flowers like this:

Make a batter from 100 g flour and 100 ml ice-cold beer.

Drag the flowers trough the batter and deep-fry for 3 mins in 170°C oil

Served with a pink asparagus, that can be eaten raw.

(Recipe from Lydia Delectorskaya, the housekeeper of Matisse)

Follow me on Instagram:@peterschoenmaker7

Asparagus, baby potatoes, smoked salmon, sauce Hollandaise

See my post of May 11 for the sauce recipe

Follow me on Instagram: peterschoenmaker7

Hollandaise sauce

Here served with asparagus (al dente, cooked for 9 mins) and fillets of flatfish)

Step 1: melt 125g butter in a saucepan and skim any white solids from the surface. Keep the butter warm. 

Step 2: put 3 egg yolks, 1½ tbsp white wine, 1 tbsp tarragon vinegar, a pinch of salt and in a metal or glass bowl that will fit over a small pan with barely simmering hot water.
Whisk for a few mins,  whisk continuously until pale and thick, about 3-5 mins.

Step 3: kill  the heat and slowly whisk in the melted butter, bit by bit until it’s all incorporated and you have a creamy hollandaise. 

(If it gets too thick, add a splash of water.)

Step 4: season with a squeeze of lemon juice and a little cayenne pepper. Keep warm until needed.

Tip from John Ash: No matter how skilled you are in the kitchen, emulsion sauces like hollandaise sometimes “break,” or separate. If this happens, you can try to correct it by whisking in a teaspoon or two of boiling water, a drop at a time. If that doesn’t work, put another egg yolk in a bowl and very slowly whisk in the broken sauce. Usually, the sauce will come back together with one of these methods.

Follow me on Instagram @peterschoenmaker7

and have a look at my book Breakfast in Gascony on Amazonfor your Kindle