Fonds d’Artichauts aux Pointes d’Asperges

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Sturdy chef’s knife and small paring knife
• •Teaspoon or melon baller for removing the chokes
• •12-inch wide sauté pan with a tight-fitting lid
• •Large saucepan and slotted spoon
• •Shallow 2-quart broiler-safe oval gratin dish

Instructions

1. 1

   Turn the artichokes

   Combine the cold water and lemon juice in a large bowl. Working with one artichoke at a time on a stable board, cut the stem flush with the base, pull away the leaves, and pare off every tough green leaf base until a neat, pale bottom remains. Scoop out the fibrous choke with a teaspoon or melon baller without piercing the bottom, then round the edges with a paring knife. Drop each finished bottom into the acidulated water immediately; the lemon prevents discolouration, but rinse the bottoms before cooking so it does not become a flavouring.

2. 2

   Étuver the bottoms

   Étuver means to stew gently under cover, and it is exactly what these bottoms need. Rinse and dry them, then melt 4 tbsp (60 ml / 55 g) of the butter in a wide sauté pan. Set the bottoms cup-side up, add the stewing water and 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml / 3 g) of the salt, and cover tightly. Hold the liquid at the faintest simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, turning the bottoms once, until a small knife slips through the thick edge with almost no resistance. They must remain intact and pale. If the pan dries or the butter begins to colour, add water one tablespoon at a time and lower the heat; browning here would fight the clean Mornay finish. Keep the bottoms covered in their buttery liquor off the heat.

3. 3

   Blanch the asparagus

   Bring a large saucepan of water to a strong boil and season it with 2 tsp (10 ml / 12 g) of the salt. Add the asparagus tips and blanch for 1 to 2 minutes, depending on thickness, until brilliant green and just tender at the cut end. Transfer them immediately to very cold water, then drain and dry them thoroughly on a clean towel. Water left clinging to the tips thins the cream and makes the pyramids slide. If the tips have softened too far, chill them at once and warm them only briefly in the next step; they cannot be uncooked, but they need not be punished twice.

4. 4

   Bind with cream

   Pour the cream into a wide pan and bring it to a lively simmer. Reduce it to about 1/3 cup, until the bubbles grow smaller and the cream coats the back of a spoon. Season with the white pepper and the remaining 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml / 3 g) salt, then fold in the asparagus tips for 30 to 60 seconds. The reduced cream should cling lightly and cohere the tips without forming a puddle. If the mixture remains loose, lift out the asparagus and reduce the cream alone for another minute before returning it. Ça se rattrape.

5. 5

   Ready the glaze

   Set an oven rack 4 to 5 inches beneath the broiler and heat the broiler at its highest setting for a full 10 minutes. This is the honest home equivalent of the salamander. Butter a shallow, broiler-safe gratin dish with the remaining 1 tbsp (15 ml / 14 g) butter. Warm the finished Mornay Sauce gently until it falls from a spoon in a broad ribbon, but do not boil it.

6. 6

   Build the pyramids

   Drain the artichoke bottoms thoroughly and arrange them cup-side up in the buttered dish. Divide the cream-bound asparagus among them, setting the tips upright and inward so each portion forms the pyramid specified by the original entry. Spoon the warm Mornay Sauce over every mound, covering the asparagus and letting the sauce run down the artichoke sides. Coat generously, but do not flood the bottom of the dish.

7. 7

   Glaze and serve

   Place the dish beneath the fully heated broiler and watch it without leaving. Glaze for 60 to 120 seconds, only until the Mornay bubbles at the edges and freckles butter-gold across the crowns. If no colour appears within 90 seconds, remove the dish. Ça se rattrape: let the broiler recover or move the rack one notch closer, then return the dish for a brief second pass. Waiting under weak heat turns the asparagus khaki and loosens its cream binding. Carry the gratin straight to the table and serve two bottoms to each guest. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose globe artichokes that feel heavy, with tightly closed leaves and stems that are not dried at the cut. Similar sizes matter because the bottoms must finish together. If fresh artichokes are poor, use 8 frozen artichoke bottoms, thawed and dried; shorten the butter stew to the time needed to make them tender. Brined canned bottoms bring too much acidity to this delicate sauce.
• •This dish earns spring asparagus. Look for firm stalks with closed, compact tips, and use the lower stalks in a soup or vegetable purée. Thin asparagus wilts beneath the Mornay, while thick tips keep their shape and a little bite.
• •The source treats Mornay Sauce as a finished component, and this recipe does the same. Begin with the full 1 1/2 cups already prepared, then warm it gently. Its consistency should coat the pyramids in a thin cloak, not sit on them like paste.
• •Speed at the broiler is not optional. The artichokes, asparagus, cream, and Mornay are already cooked; the glaze adds colour alone. Serve beside roast lamb or a simply roasted bird, with a dry Loire white whose freshness can carry the artichoke and cheese.

Advance Preparation

• •The artichoke bottoms can be stewed up to 1 day ahead. Cool them in their buttery cooking liquor, cover, and refrigerate; reheat gently in the same pan before draining and assembling.
• •The asparagus tips can be blanched up to 6 hours ahead. Dry them very well and refrigerate them between clean towels, then bind them with the reduced cream shortly before assembly.
• •The finished Mornay Sauce may be prepared according to its own recipe and refrigerated with parchment pressed directly against its surface. Rewarm it gently until fluid.
• •Do not assemble the pyramids in advance. Salt and warm sauce draw water from the vegetables, and the glaze succeeds only when every component reaches the dish hot and dry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 300g)