Happy Father's Day

Father's Day is always a little bittersweet for me. I lost my Dad when I was little and a few years ago I lost my Father-in-Law, but I have 2 wonderful sons and we look forward to today as an excuse to spoil their Dad, my hubby.

Unsurprisingly food always plays a central role in any event in our house, and today is no exception.

We've kicked off the day with Eggs Benedict - toasted English muffins with bacon, poached egg and Hollandaise sauce. Hollandaise is a rich emulsion sauce made with butter, egg yolks and flavoured with lemon juice. 

Here's my recipe:

125g Unsalted butter

2 Egg yolks

2 tsp White wine vinegar

Salt & Pepper

You'll need a saucepan, glass bowl and a whisk. Cut the butter into cubes and leave in the fridge until you need it.

Place the egg yolks and vinegar in the bowl and whisk until the mixture is pale and fluffy, this should take about 2-3 minutes and by this time the volume should have doubled.

Set the bowl in the saucepan over simmering water, the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Add one of the cubes of butter and whisk until it has dissolved, add another cube and repeat - once the first few cubes have been incorporated you can add a few at a time until all have been used.

Keep an eye on the heat as you don't want the sauce to split, if it starts to look grainy remove from the heat immediately and whisk in an ice cube to save.

Once all the butter has been added season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice. 

Breakfast over with my thoughts now move to dinner, I picked up a lovely roasting joint of beef from the butcher - I would always recommend going to a local butcher over a supermarket. The meat tends to be local and of better quality. I'll be making a traditional roast complete with potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, a rich pan gravy and vegetables. 

For the vegetables I'll be serving sliced mange tout and wild mushrooms sauted in butter. 

The only decision left to make, is what to have for pudding....