Fleeting freshness should be savoured

The closer to source you can get, the better. In the early part of the season, we buy English asparagus - still good - but at the height of the season, I can have asparagus delivered to the kitchen door from a farm just 10 minutes down the road. The flavour, aroma and moistness are unmistakably different. We then refrigerate bunches upright, the bases covered in an inch of water rather like a bunch of flowers, until we prepare them. Trim off the woody base; peeling is a purely personal decision. If it's fresh, I say don't bother. Plentiful, rapidly boiling salted water is the essential ingredient after freshness, although anything hammy, cheesy, creamy or lemony is also traditionally delicious. Above all, indulge while it is briefly available.

Baked asparagus gratin with pancetta crisps and herbs

Recipes serve four

200ml cream

200ml milk

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

Salt, pepper, nutmeg

50g butter, plus a little more at room temperature to grease the moulds

2-3 rounded dessertspoons of freshly grated parmesan

1 large banana shallot, finely diced

5 dessertspoons of breadcrumbs

8 large spears or 12 thin spears of British asparagus

6 rashers of very thinly sliced pancetta

Fronds of chervil and tarragon to finish

50g salad leaves

Juice of half a lemon

Olive oil

Method

1 Use four ramekins measuring about 12cm across and 4cm deep. Using a pastry brush, butter the inside of the dishes, coming three quarters of the way up the inside of the dish. Place on a baking tray and set aside for now.

2 Cut the woody base off the asparagus spears and discard. Cut the asparagus spears in half across the middle to give a short spear tip and then a bottom half base piece. Cut this bottom half piece into rounds of about 2 mm thickness and scatter these pieces in the buttered dishes. Lay the tips inside the dishes, allowing two or three per person depending on the size of the spears.

3 Heat a small frying pan and add 50g butter and allow to melt then add the diced shallots, fry very gently without colouring until softened then add the breadcumbs and stir in to combine thoroughly. Continue frying for a further five minutes so they turn a light brown and remove from heat.

4 Place the eggs and the milk in a mixing bowl and whisk together just enough to combine. Add sea salt, ground black pepper and a little grated nutmeg. Then pour in the cream, whisk together briefly to combine then pour into the dishes.

5 Place all the four dishes on their baking tray in a pre-heated oven at 150c/gas mark 2 for 10-12 minutes or until the mix is almost set in the centre but still a little underdone. Sprinkle with the cheese and breadcrumbs and return to the oven for a few minutes until the centre is just set. Remove from the oven. Cook the pancetta sheets under a hot grill then break up into small pieces over the top of the dish. Scatter the herbs and salad leaves then drizzle with olive oil and a little squeeze of lemon juice, serve at once.

Egg-sparagus Benedict

My genius name for eggs Benedict served with béarnaise sauce instead of the traditional hollandaise.

Ingredients

Four English muffins, cut in half ready to toast or grill

4 spears of asparagus per person

8 very fresh free range eggs for poached eggs

A glug of malt vinegar

For the béarnaise sauce

Sprig of thyme

3-4 bushy stems of fresh tarragon

1 large banana shallot or 2 smaller round shallots

150ml white wine vinegar

2 black peppercorns

1 packet of unsalted butter

3 very fresh egg yolks

Method

1 Place the butter over a very low heat. Skim off the impurities on the surface then pour into a jug.

2 Slice the shallot and place in a small saucepan with the peppercorns, thyme and vinegar. Pick the leaves off the tarragon stalks and set aside. Add the tarragon stalks to the saucepan of vinegar, then simmer to reduce by half. Allow to cool then pass through a sieve, reserving the infused vinegar and discarding the aromatics.

3 To finish and serve: bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and blanch the asparagus for three minutes then refresh under cold water and drain.

4 For the béarnaise sauce: bring a pan of water to the boil but once it has come to the boil, turn it off. Whisk eggs in a bowl so they begin to increase in volume. Now set the bowl over the pan of hot water and continue whisking until they double in volume - don't overheat or the eggs will scramble. Once the eggs are ready, start to drizzle in the warm butter, adding a small amount at first, and then you can add in a more steady drizzle once the initial butter is emulsified. Continue adding all the butter then season with salt before adding the vinegar mixture to taste: add a little at a time then taste until the right balance of acidity and richness is reached. Chop the tarragon leaves and stir in then set the bowl over warm water, covered with cling film, this can be held thus for an hour. 5 Poach the eggs: bring a pan of unsalted water to the boil. Add a little vinegar. Break the eggs into small cups or ramekins then when the water is boiling, swirl around with a slotted spoon and lower the eggs in as swiftly as possible. Poach until the egg white is set but the yolk is still soft.

6 While cooking the eggs: Toast the muffins until gold. Slice the asparagus in half and arrange on the muffins. Lift the eggs out of the water with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on kitchen paper towel and place the poached eggs on top of the asparagus. Cover with the béarnaise and serve.