Summer Day

Colorful chair on Canyon Road  in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean -
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down–
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

By Mary Oliver

Quote of the Day

It is not in the stars

to hold our destiny

but in ourselves.

William Shakespeare 

Orange Hollandaise Sauce Recipe

Sauce hollandaise is the classic sauce served warm with such dishes as the Eggs Benedict, steamed fish, or cooked asparagus. The sauce is traditionally made out of egg yolks and butter, and seasoned with lemon juice, white pepper and salt.

The history of the sauce is not quite clear. The name suggests that the sauce originated in Holland and was probably introduced to France by the French Protestants. 

A recipe for a thick egg sauce appeared in an old Dutch cookbook by Carel Baten in 1593. More than half a century later a Frenchman, François Pierre de la Varenne published a very influential cookbook "Le Cuisinier François" in which he described a butter sauce similar to hollandaise. His recipe called for butter, vinegar, nutmeg, salt and egg yolk.

Sauce hollandaise became quite popular in the 19th century. Sometimes called sauce Isigny after a town Isigny-sur-Mer that was known for its great-tasting butter, the sauce was generally known as the Dutch sauce for fish. 

Be warned, the sauce is not very easy to make and it requires a little practice. Once you mastered the art you will never ever buy a ready-made sauce at the grocery store. 

The recipe I am sharing with you here is a variation of the traditional hollandaise sauce. I am certain that you will love it. 

Ingredients:

• 3 egg yolks (use free range, organic eggs if you can)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter 
• 3 Tbsp freshly pressed orange juice
• 1/2 Tbsp freshly pressed lemon juice
• 1/3 tsp cayenne pepper
• Celtic sea salt to taste
• 1 Tbsp orange zest for garnish

Tools:

• double boiler (bain-marie)
• balloon whisk
• citrus zester 

Method:

• Fill the bottom pan of the double boiler with water and bring it to a simmer.
• Place the egg yolks, lemon juice and 2 Tbsp of the orange juice in the top pan of the double boiler. 
• Set the top pan on top of the pan with water and whisk the yolks vigorously until they begin to warm up and thicken. Be careful here. The top pan should not touch the water or you will get scrambled eggs!
• Add 1 Tbsp of butter and whisk until the butter melts and is fully incorporated into the sauce. Add another tablespoon of butter and repeat. Proceed in this manner until the whole butter is used up. Continue whisking until the sauce thickens again. The volume should almost double.
• Take the top pan off the pan with water and place it on the working surface. Season the sauce with salt and cayenne pepper and mix well. If the sauce is too thick, whisk in the remaining orange juice. The sauce should have creamy, almost velvety consistency.
• Serve your hollandaise with boiled white and green asparagus, garnish with orange zest and enjoy it in good company!

By Dominique Allmon

Dominique Allmon©2015