I'm out and about this month promoting my latest cookbook, Bake, which is just out! It's a collection of delicious and easy recipes - including cakes and bakes, tarts and pies, quiches and casseroles and you can buy your copy now at amazon.co.uk
- Heart-shaped Toast with Eggs, Asparagus and Truffe Hollandaise Sauce
Heart-shaped Toast with Eggs, Asparagus and Truffe Hollandaise Sauce
I know there is a bit of work involved in making this, but this is the ultimate romantic breakfast in bed. The divine truffle hollandaise sauce is just a simple variation on a basic hollandaise but takes it to another dimension altogether. It works well with fish, too. If you don't have truffle oil, just serve it with plain hollandaise. Don't worry - you'll still get a kiss!
Serves 2, vegetarian
For the truffle hollandaise sauce _and asparagus
1 large egg yolk
50g (2oz) butter, cut into cubes
1 tsp white trufle oil
6 large or 10 small asparagus stalks
Salt
Knob of butter
for the toast
2 thick slices of good white bread, each slice 2cm (1/2in) thick
15g (1/2oz) butter
2 eggs
1 To make the hollandaise sauce, place the egg yolk in a heatproof bowl. Heat the butter in a saucepan until it is foaming, and then pour gradually onto the egg yolk, whisking all the time. Add the truffle oil and then pour into a heatproof measuring jug. Half-full a saucepan with hot water from the kettle and place the jug of hollandaise in the saucepan to keep warm; it will sit quite happily like this for a couple of hours. When the water cools, just put the saucepan on a gentle heat but do not let the water boil too long or the sauce will scramble.
2 Remove the tough woody ends from the asparagus stalks by simply snapping them off. Discard. Place a large saucepan on the heat with about 3cm (11/4in) of water in it. Add a good pinch of salt and cook the asparagus, uncovered, for 3-6 minutes, until just soft. Drain and return to the saucepan. Add a small knob of butter and toss to coat the asparagus. Keep warm.
3 Using a heart-shaped cutter or knife, cut out heart shapes from the slices of bread). Heat a medium-sized frying pan on a medium heat and preheat a grill to hot. Place the butter in the pan and, once melted, add the slices of bread. Break each egg into each cut-out heart shape and cook on the heat until the bread is golden underneath and the egg white is looking opaque.
4 Take it off the heat and place under the grill and cook until the bread is slightly toasted and the eggs are cooked. Transfer to two warmed plates, drizzle with the truffle hollandaise sauce and arrange the asparagus around the toast on the plate. Serve and watch him or her swoon!
These lovely biscuits are surprisingly delicate even though they contain hearty oats. Tasty and sweet, but with no chocolate to melt in the picnic basket, they make a perfect springtime treat.
Makes about 40 biscuits
Vegetarian
275g (10oz) oats
110g (4oz) plain flour
150g (5oz) caster sugar
150g (5oz) caster sugar
1 level tsp salt
225g (8oz) butter, softened
1 Preheat the oven to 180oC (350oF), Gas mark 4. 2 Whiz the oats in a food processor until they are quite fine. Then add the remaining ingredients and whiz again until the dough comes together.
3 Roll out the dough on a floured work surface to a thickness of about 5mm (1/4 in). Cut into squares, circles or shapes with biscuit cutters and place on baking trays (no need to grease or line).
4 Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until pale golden and slightly firm. Remove from the oven and carefully transfer onto a wire rack to cool. These will keep for five or six days in an airtight container, and they freeze well too.