Roasted asparagus is no big deal, right? To roast asparagus, you basically just roast asparagus – not really worthy of a dedicated blog post. But pair this under-appreciated vegetable with a traditional Béarnaise sauce and you’ve got something spectacular. It’s funny what a few egg yolks and some butter can do.
Asparagus is an ancient vegetable, found in records dating back 5,000 years. In fact, an asparagus recipe appears in the oldest surviving cookbook (Apicuius, 4th century AD). While widely used by the Greeks and Romans, it nearly disappeared after the fall of the Roman Empire, only to be reintroduced in the late Middle Ages by the French.
Béarnaise sauce is relatively modern, first developed in the 19th century. It is often associated with Hollandaise sauce, as it employs a similar technique of emulsifying fat (butter) in egg yolks and acid. While Hollandaise is made with lemon juice, a Béarnaise is made with an herb-infused vinegar reduction. The sauce has nothing to do with bears, or the capital of Switzerland (Bern), but rather is named after Béarn, a former province in southwest France. Fun fact: d’Artagnan (one of the main characters in The Three Musketeers) was from Béarn.
My friends at Pacific Merchants donated this Enamour dish for my recipe, which was pretty cool of them. Enamel-coated stoneware is very sturdy and versatile, and this dish is a thing of beauty. It can be used for baking and broiling, but in this case I used it as a serving dish. They are also offering 25% off purchases on their site for my readers, valid March 4-12, 2014! Use code DomesticMan at checkout.
Roasted Asparagus with Béarnaise Sauce
Béarnaise sauce adapted from Saveur and Mastering the Art of French Cooking
1 shallot, minced
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves (4 sprigs), finely chopped, divided
1 lb asparagus, ends trimmed 1/2″
2 tbsp cooking fat (lard, duck fat, olive oil, ghee)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 egg yolks
1 stick butter (or 8 tbsp ghee), cut into 8 pieces
salt to taste
1. Preheat your oven to 450F. In a small saucepan, combine the shallot, vinegar, wine, salt, pepper, and 1 tbsp of the tarragon. Bring to a boil on med-high heat and simmer until reduced to approximately 2 tbsp of liquid, about 4 minutes. Strain the liquid into a metal bowl (or a double boiler insert if you have one) and set aside, discarding the solids. This reduction will be your Béarnaise sauce base (similar to lemon juice’s function when making Hollandaise sauce).
2. Wash and trim the asparagus, then arrange on a baking sheet. Drizzle with your favorite cooking fat (I prefer lard) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until softened, about 10 minutes.
3. As the asparagus is cooking, let’s finish your Béarnaise sauce using a double-boiler setup. Bring some water to simmer in a saucepan, then place the metal bowl (the one with the Béarnaise sauce base) over the saucepan. You want the bowl to rest on the edges of the saucepan, suspended above the water but not touching it. This will allow you to gently heat the sauce and prevent the egg yolks and butter from separating.
4. Place the metal bowl over the gently simmering water and whisk the egg yolks into the Béarnaise sauce base. Whisk constantly as the yolks slightly thicken but before they solidify, about 20 seconds, then add a piece of butter, continuing to whisk constantly. As the piece of butter is just about melted, add the next piece of butter, and repeat until all of the butter is incorporated. Alternatively, you can use melted butter or ghee, adding in 1/8 of it at a time. Once all of the butter is incorporated, whisk in the remaining tarragon and salt to taste; you should be able to leave it in the double boiler for a couple minutes (stirring often) as you wait for the asparagus to finish, but with any luck it’ll finish at the same time as your veggies.
5. Once the asparagus is done roasting, place it in a serving dish and pour the sauce over it. Serve immediately.
** This dish pairs best with a rich protein, like steak or fish.
Wait until the piece of butter is almost melted before adding the next piece.
The Domestic Man 
Yum! Love asparagus and love bearnaise sauce. Thank you for the recipe. The dish looks very nice too. Have a great day! :)
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Thanks!
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When you’re cooking asparagus (roasting or otherwise), do you cut off the ends of snap them off with your hands? I wonder if taking the ends off by hand wastes too much of the vegetable…
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I feel the end of the stalk with my fingers and cut off up to where the asparagus no longer feels dried out, it’s usually about 1/2″ from the bottom. Hope that makes sense!
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It does, thanks so much!
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Ooooohhhh Bearnaise sause.. yumm yumm yumm! Interesting Musketeer fact too.
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Yeah, I didn’t know it until after digging around on the internet a bit! He was my favorite Musketeer :)
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I’ve always wondered what Béarnaise is! I need to invest in a metal bowl to make a double boil with…
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I make roasted asparagus all the time…this sauce will up its game :) Love the history lesson, too!
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I think you’ll find that it’s a delicious way to spend your time while waiting for the asparagus to roast :)
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Yummy!
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Reblogged this on The Official Pacific Merchants Blog and commented:
Our friend Russ at The Domestic Man posted an awesome asparagus and bearnaise sauce recipe today on his blog, featuring our Mason Cash Enamour Oval Dish. Read on to learn how to make this delicious veggie dish, and for a special coupon code to our website for all Domestic Man devotees.
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This looks amazing! I make roasted asparagus all the time, but never added a sauce. Pinned it to Pinterest!
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Awesome, thanks!
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Love it! Always been afraid to hit the Bearnaise!!
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It’s funny, but for some reason many cooks are intimidated by Hollandaise and Bearnaise, I guess it’s the fear of the sauce breaking. Double boiler does the trick every time!
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Yum. I love asparagus and find roasting one of the best way to bring out the gentle nutty flavour. Love the enamel dish too.
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Thanks Leah!
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Mm this looks divine. I love asparagus.
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Oh, yum. Actually, I’m pretty sure I’ve done this before on my own, and it is not only delicious but satisfying! Won’t stop me from sharing yours, though. ;)
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My husband is obsessed with asparagus. It’s his fave vegetable, he’d be quite happy if I just served him a pile of asparagus and either steak or salmon every night. I think he’d pretty much gape at me in wonderment if I made this bearnaise-doused asparagus dish. Looks absolutely delicious Russ, thanks for the extra tips on making the perfect bearnaise also… I’ve only made hollandaise and bearnaise a couple of times before so it’s always great to get tips from the experienced ones amongst us!
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Laura, I feel the same way about asparagus – it’s so simple and always tasty!
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Reblogged this on Home cooking recipes.
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Yes! Finally someone writes about anakin skywalker quotes.
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It’s wonderful that you are getting thoughts from this post as well
as from our argument made at this place.
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