Sprouting and Blood Oranges on a Frosty March Day

Bring a pan of water to a boil and find a heatproof glass or ceramic bowl that will fit neatly into it without actually touching the water.

Drop the yolkslarge, deep orange ones if you have theminto the bowl and then a splash of water.

Whisk, pouring in almost all the melted butter, slowly at first as if you were making mayonnaise, then as the sauce thickens up, a little faster.

The water in the pan should be simmering rather than boiling and if you stop whisking your sauce will fail (though I have occasionally brought it back to life with a splash of simmering water from the pan).

Once it is thick and creamy, squeeze in a little lemon juice and stir in a good pinch of salt.

No pepper.

The sauce can be used as it is.

One late-spring day last year, I got this far, then decided to add the finely grated zest of a blood orange and three tablespoons of thick cream, whisked in at the end.

The idea of bright green vegetables and vivid blood oranges seemed right for a day that saw the garden freckled white with frost and the sky clear and pale gray.

I spooned thick lines of the orange hollandaise over the tiny stems of steamed sprouting and ate it with rounds of grilled ciabatta.