Summer Bacon and Egg Salad with Hollandaise sauce

Summer Bacon and Egg Salad with Hollandaise sauce

It’s been one of those days. No time to shop, late home due to a cheeky Mohito with the girls after work, nothing exciting in the fridge and no inclination to produce the man-size meal my husband expects. I want a light supper, but I must conjure up something that will appeal to our very different appetites.

I have spent years trying to encourage my spouse to eat green food, and become particularly adept at trickery. A slight of hand, and I can fool my chap to believe that he is eating manly fare, not rabbit fodder. This month’s recipe is a magical warm garden salad that just sings of summer, rustled up from refrigerator basics. Abracadabra, we’ll have bacon and eggs, with a twist.

Ingredients (serves 2)

A selection of green vegetables

2 large eggs (sauce)

2 large eggs (for poaching)

10 ml of lemon juice

10 ml of white wine vinegar

4 oz butter

4 rashers of streaky bacon

Method:

Start with a melange of green vegetables. I chose garden peas and broad beans, freshly podded, the last of the summer asparagus, and fine beans. Spinach or tender-stem broccoli also work well.  Lightly boil or steam, then set aside.

Crisp the streaky bacon under the grill.

For your next trick, rustle up a hollandaise sauce. Now I am guessing that this is the point that you throw your hands into the air with frustration and curse me for telling you that this is an easy dish. Well, hollandaise is fairly straightforward, and certainly quick. I do not bother with a Bain Marie and hand-whisking until my wrist cramps; I use a blender. The doyenne of foolproof cookery, Delia Smith, swears by this method and I cannot argue with the UK’s best selling cookery author.

Place 2 large egg yolks in a blender and blitz for a minute. Heat 10 ml of white wine vinegar, 10 ml of lemon juice in a small pan until simmering point, then slowly add into the blender. Turn the blender off. Melt 4 oz of butter in the pan until the butter foams; do not allow it to brown. At this point add a pinch of salt and pepper. Turn the blender back on and add the butter in the slowest trickle possible. Make sure all the sauce has been incorporated. You will now have a smooth, thickened hollandaise. If this scares you, Waitrose sell it ready made.

Now poach an egg. As the sauce is creamy and wet, I prefer to take mine to the point just short of firm, but cook to your preference (my husband will settle for nothing less than a runny yolk.)

Plate up: Vegetables, topped with hollandaise, some bacon, and the egg as a final fanfare.

Ingredients (serves 2)

A selection of green vegetables

2 large eggs (sauce)

2 large eggs (poaching)

10 ml lemon juice

10 ml white wine vinegar

4 oz butter

4 rashers of streaky bacon