Good morning! It’s a
Farmer’s Market day….so let’s jump right in.
I’ve got stuff to do;)
Today I am going to show you how to make a favorite of
mine. You all know that veggies aren’t
my thing…..but I love them when they are wrapped in bacon;) I’d love just about anything if it is wrapped
in bacon. Especially asparagus.
A little back story here….My mom took me to Disneyland when
I was 19. Yes, I had been before, but
this trip was really memorable. Mainly
because I had bacon wrapped grilled asparagus.
On a stick. I think it was in a
little booth across from the Jungle Cruise.
I didn’t know that I liked asparagus before that. I had always stayed away from it because it
is green…..and a vegetable. But I fell
in love with this. It was smoky, salty,
fresh….and again…..on a stick. Since
then, I have frequently enjoyed asparagus….especially wrapped in bacon.
Today’s little treat isn’t just bacon wrapped
asparagus. I am also going to show you
how to make a Carolina Style Hollandaise sauce that is unbelievable drizzled
over the tops of these guys, or served as a dipping sauce for your asparagus. Do you
know what hollandaise sauce is? It is a
thick sauce made from melted butter, lemon and egg yolks. I jazz mine up with my smoky, sweet and tangy
BBQ sauce.
This is a perfect side dish, appetizer, or even brunch dish. You will love this.
The bacon wrapped asparagus component to this is really
easy. It really is just bacon and
asparagus.
I don’t normally buy my asparagus all pretty and trimmed
like in the picture above, but the asparagus sold in bunches at my store was
really thin. You need a big fat
asparagus for this. You need sturdiness
to hold up to the bacon. Plus, if you
are grilling this, you don’t want it to fall through the grill.
I wrapped each piece of asparagus in ½ a slice of
bacon. You probably noticed that I have
mine on a baking sheet. Yes, I am
roasting mine as opposed to grilling.
Your choice. I didn’t feel like
starting my BBQ.
I put mine on a rack set on a baking sheet. This way, the hot air can go all the way
around the asparagus and the bottoms won’t get soggy.
I roasted mine at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. The bacon gets crispy and the asparagus gets
tender. Perfection.
If you grill yours, grill it for about 20 minutes or until
the bacon looks brown and crispy and the asparagus looks ever so slightly
charred.
Done.
Salty deliciousness.
Let me show you the sauce…because that sends this over the
top. Maybe the little booth across from
the Jungle Cruise (does that even exist anymore?) should offer a dippin’ sauce.
I’ve shown you this sauce before…..but here it is
again. It is so good, it deserves to be
posted twice.
I used butter, lemon juice, egg yolks and Gourmet Rooster Carolina
Style BBQ Sauce.
I make this in a blender, which really is the easiest way to
make a hollandaise sauce. No double
boilers or anything fancy-shmancy.
That is the inside of my blender. Isn’t it an artsy shot?;)
That is the lemon juice and egg yolks.
Then the BBQ sauce.
Then, I slowly drizzled in the melted butter through the
opening at the top. You don’t get to see
that because it was a two-hand job. I
needed both hand to steady the bowl that I was pouring from. You really do want to drizzle this in slowly,
while the engine is running. This will
emulsify the sauce and make it smooth and thick.
Hollandaise sauce doesn’t need to intimidate you. It is super easy.
Yum! Like I said, you
can serve this as an amazing appetizer…..
Watch out for double dippers!
Or you can serve it as a side dish with the sauce drizzled
over….like so:
So delicious. You must
make this. Hurry up and do it while the
asparagus is still good!
Too bad mine isn’t on a stick. I will work on that.
Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
1 ½ lbs. fresh asparagus, washed and trimmed
1 lb. bacon, each slice cut in half
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Warp each piece of asparagus in a ½ slice of bacon. Place on rack set on top of a baking sheet,
making sure ends of bacon are tucked underneath.
Bake at 400 degree for 30 minutes, or until bacon is crispy
and asparagus is tender.
Carolina Style Hollandaise Sauce
3 egg yolks
10 tablespoons butter, melted
The juice of one large lemon
¼ cup Gourmet Rooster Carolina Style BBQ Sauce
In a blender, blend the egg yolks and lemon juice. Add in the BBQ sauce and blend. Through the opening at the top, slowly
drizzle in the melted butter while the motor is running. The sauce should be thick and creamy.
yum!!
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