While cutting the grass this morning, I kept pondering last evening's question - why animal food, when vegan makes me feel so amazing? Is it just the label?
I really don't think that I'm lacking in discipline, but the truth is that familiar animal-based cuisine is delicious to me still. One of the things I continually seek out are vegan versions of my favourites and today was all about the hollandaise.
One of the best things about blogspot.ca is that when you double-click a picture, it expands to show beautiful detail in my food photography. Do it right now....
That is some lightly sauteed asparagus ribbons (a vegetable peeler does it beautifully), some de-seeded orange tomato bits and some lemon juice. Over the top is.....
A stunning coconut hollandaise.
Coconuts are exceptional substitutes for butter and cream. The thick cream in a can of coconut milk has made my tastebuds swoon more times than I can count. I have added it to curries, of course, thai cuisine, of course and ventured into the more challenging world of caramels and creamed soups - all to massive acclaim.
So - on the quest for an even better hollandaise than the original I added a few tablespoonfulls to a warm pan, with a scant teaspoon of spicy dijon mustard, some cayenne pepper, a pinch of salt and the zest of an organic lemon.
When it whisked smooth, and a spoon coated beautifully with a creamy, luscious pale yellow liquid, I could only anticipate whether this would work.
The asparagus deserved a beautiful accompaniment. Did you know that the centre of asparagus are literally luminous? LUMINOUS! Shimmering, opalescent and reflective. It is very surprising.
But most surprising of all was the hollandaise. It was, in a word, magnificent.
And I scraped the bowl clean...dove into my asparagus for the start of the Top Chef Canada marathon on right now, and remembered that these food questions in life make me curious enough to keep pushing the envelope as a cook.
Coconut hollandaise. What a real surprise.
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