Asparagus With Sauce Gribiche

Oh, Sauce Gribiche, where have you been all my life? 

I can't believe that I've never heard of Sauce Gribiche until now. Maybe the question should be, "Oh, where have I been?" Either way, I'm glad to have climbed out from under my rock and find Sauce Gribiche.

I discovered this wonderful French sauce by accident a few weeks ago. It was coincidental that I had just bought Schartner Farms' asparagus when I opened Edible Rhody and turned to a recipe called "Schartner Farms Asparagus With Sauce Gribiche." It caught my caught my eye immediately. Reading on, I got excited that I had all the ingredients except cornichons. Luckily, I had homemade pickled zucchini with a similar flavor that I had also bought at the farmers' market. So, without any planning on a beautiful spring day, a delicious and elegant lunch had come together. Serendipity!

Beautiful fresh Schartner Farms' asparagus. Fresh parsley and chives from my garden:

Sauce Gribiche
Printable version can be found at Edible Rhody, recipe by Nemo Bolin at the Cook & Brown Public House, Providence

6 hard-boiled eggs, whites and yolks separated

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little more to finish
1/4 cup brined capers, chopped
1/4 cup cornichons, chopped (I used pickled zucchini)
3 shallots, finely minced
1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (I just adjusted to my taste)
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh chives
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

I started by boiling the eggs, about 10 minutes (I add eggs to cold water, bring to a boil, turn off heat and let sit about 10 minutes).

While eggs were boiling, I started preparing the mixture by chopping and mincing the other ingredients and put them aside.

Capers: I had small capers which I've never chopped before. The recipe doesn't say small or large, but I thought, okay, I'll give it a try and chopped the small capers. Perhaps it imparts more flavor? I don't know. Next time, I'd try the sauce without chopping the capers to see if there's a noticable difference. If you haven't chopped small capers before either, I leave the chopping decision up to you! (I found it amusing that I wasn't the only one who thought this.)

When the eggs were done, I peeled them under running cold water and separated the yolks from the whites. In a shallow medium bowl I mashed the yolks into a paste with the back of a fork, stirred in mustard and vinegar, then slowly drizzled the olive oil to incorporate. It doesn't need to emulsify like a hollandaise or mayonnaise, so don't worry about it separating. I mixed in the remaining ingredients, chopped the egg whites and gently added them to the mixture. Seasoned with salt and pepper to taste, drizzled with a little more extra virgin olive oil to serve.

Blanch Asparagus
I served the Sauce Gribiche with blanch asparagus. I definitely prefer roasted or grilled asparagus, but here is the recipe if you'd like to serve the sauce with blanch asparagus: Place cleaned and trimmed (snap woody ends off) asparagus in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes. While they boil, get a large bowl ready with iced water. Remove asparagus and cool immediately in the ice water.

Sauce Gribiche is a classic French sauce that's very versatile. It can be served with vegetables, fish, meat, and bread. Even though it's a classic sauce, it can be made in various ways and with different combinations of herbs. Popular combinations I read about, in addition to above, included parsley (always), chervil, chives, and tarragon.

This recipe made quite a bit for our family so I used some on crackers for a snack one day and I shared the rest with my friend. She served it with grilled asparagus over Memorial Day weekend and told me it was a big hit!