finally...the asparagus harvest is here!


 

Phil R.

TVWBB All-Star
Anybody got any good recipes they'd like to share? I've roasted it, grilled it, eaten it raw (great!), boiled, baked, and steamed. I always like to coat it with olive oil, coarsely ground black pepper, and grill...topped with a bit of lemon juice afterward (why lemon juice? I don't know...I guess it's a hollandaise carry-over thing or something
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Anybody got anything good they want to share?
 
I love the stuff. Funny you post this. In a weekly ad for a local grocery I looked at today. Baked asparagus. Cook fry bake steam whatever. For the sauce. 2 TBS Butter, 1 TBS Soy sauce, 1tsp balsamic vinegar.
I like it fried in butter with salt pepper and garlic. Love it grilled with Holland, it's all good. Cream sacue and some parm, bacon, pancetta...... I don't think you can screw it up. Asparagus is soooooooooo good.
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If you have an abundance:

Try trimming the tips off a large bunch of asparagus and then reserving. Break off the woody bottoms (if present) and discard. Peel the remaining stalk.

Bring just enough salted water to a boil to work for pasta, preferably fresh pasta, but you can use dried. First, though, simmer the tips in the water till barely tender and bright green. Immediately remove, shock and reserve. Simmer the peeled stalks till very tender. Remove and puree till smooth using a little of the pasta water if necessary. Force through a med-fine sieve and reserve the puree in a bowl.

Cover the pasta water pot and keep it at a simmer.

In a large saute pan, heat a little olive oil and some unsalted butter, about a T of each. Saute a 3/4 of a pound of whole button mushrooms (if you can get small ones) or simply use the same amount of larger ones sliced. When they soften and give up their moisture add about 2 T finely chopped shallot and cook till just softened, about 1-2 min. Add a little white and black pepper and 1/4 c heavy cream. Bring to a simmer, stirring, then allow the liquids in the pan to reduce by half. Add about 2 ounces of prosciutto, very thinly sliced then sliced lengthwise into long narrow strips. Immediately reduce the heat to very low and stir in the reserved puree.

Bring the water in the pasta pot to a boil and add your fresh pasta (linguine is nice here). Cook till just tender, scoop about 3/4 c of water out of the pot and reserve it, and drain the pasta well.

Add the pasta to the sauce and increase the heat to med-low. Add the reserved tip. Stir in a couple T of freshly grated parm, a squeeze of lemon, and a little of the pasta water, as needed, to make the sauce saucy. Heat just for a couple minutes so that the pasta absorbs some of the sauce. Adjust seasoning and serve immediately with a slice of lemon on top of each serving. Serves 2. Nice with a simple green salad on the side.
 
Phil, I cook mine almost exactly like you do. Usually put it in a tupperware and coat it with olive oil and black pepper, then grill it. If I'm not grilling, I just stick it in the Foreman grill (seems to be made for cooking asparagus) till it's done. Salt, a squeeze of lemon, and a dusting of parmigiano-reggiano and I'm ready for business. I've also substituted balsamic vinegar for the lemon which is really nice, just needs some kind of acid IMO.

I also like to cook it, chop it into 1/2-1" segments, and include it in risotto or pasta.
 
i always marinate the stalks in lemon juice, olive oil and balsamic vinegar for 40 minutes or so in the fridge and then grill them on the top rack for a few minutes.

i got that from a 'queer eye' episode when it first came out.
 
I also like quick-pickling them to serve chilled alone of part of an antipasti or salad.
 
I vary the spicing according to what I plan to serve them with and use one of two approaches. For general, 'all-purpose' pickled asparagus you can use conventional pickling sorts of spices. I skew to tarragon or fennel or aniseed if serving with chilled fish or in a cold salad that includes fish sometimes, will make a spicy version (with hot peppers, fresh and/or dried) for app platters, and so forth.

You certainly can pickle and pressure can. I just make 'quick' versions.

A conventional quick approach:

In a pot combine 1 part vinegar (I mostly use white wine, white balsamic or rice) with 1.5-2 parts water (so, e.g., 1 c vin with somewhere between 1.5 and 2 c water--start with the lesser and taste).

Stir in about 2 T kosher salt, 2 T sugar, 2 T pickling spices* aand bring to a boil over med-high heat. Simmer, covered, 15 min.

Add asparagus (about a typical bunch), wood ends snapped off of course (adding a little more water if the brine doesn't cover the asparagus), then simmer till the asparagus is faded but still crisp-tender, 3-7 min depending on their thickness. Quickly pour the asparagus and the brine into another pot (or large bowl) and add a heaping cup of ice cubes to stop the cooking. Let cool further on the counter then pack with some of the brine and chill in the fridge. Serve chilled or at room temp. The flavor gets more intense with time.


* You can vary these amounts but this is a good starting point. You can add slices of shallot or onion or garlic; sliced or whole dried or fresh peppers of whatever heat level you fancy; peel or zest from lemon or orange.



A different approach (for when keeping the asparagus color bright green is important):

Put a bunch of snapped asparagus in a pan or pot, cover with cold water, and add a T of salt. Bring to a boil then cook 1 more minute. Immediately shock. Drain well and put in a shallow container or a Zip-loc.

Meanwhile, in a small pot mix 1/2 c vin of choice, 1/2 c water, 1 t salt, 1 t sugar, and a total of 1 T spices (plus any optional) fresh stuff you want like shallot, garlic, peppers) then bring to a boil over medhigh heat; cover then simmer 5 min. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Pour over the asparagus then chill in the fridge. Wait for at least 5 hours before consuming and up to 2 days. After a couple days the color will start fading.
 
Excellent...I'll be doing a few pounds this week. 2 days in the brine for optimum flavor, I take it? And, I assume store bought pickling spices are o.k...
 
Mine's pretty straight forward; wash, cut the hard ends off, put in one gallon zip lock bag with the following (don't ask me how much as I never measure): red wine, balsamic vin., fresh ground pepper, kosher salt, 1 clove garlic minced, olive oil, white pepper. I let it "marinade" for an hour to hours, then prepare a med. fire and cook until tender but still crisp. Remove from grill and toss with some balsamic vin. It's killer, trust me.

I'm doing some tonight, can't beat $1.99 a lb. for this stuff.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Phil R.:
Excellent...I'll be doing a few pounds this week. 2 days in the brine for optimum flavor, I take it? And, I assume store bought pickling spices are o.k... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yes, pretty much, though you can begin eating the same day, after several hours of soaking/chilling. Store bought is fine.
 
Basing tonights dinner on the recipe I wrote for asparagus with pasta upthread, tonight's dinner, with a couple minor changes plus an addition of shrimp:




Angel hair with shrimp, asparagus tips, sliced cremini mushrooms and prosciutto, with asparagus-lemon sauce.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
Basing tonights dinner on the recipe I wrote for asparagus with pasta upthread, tonight's dinner, with a couple minor changes plus an addition of shrimp.
Angel hair with shrimp, asparagus tips, sliced cremini mushrooms and prosciutto, with asparagus-lemon sauce. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Thanks Bud, Thanks alot. Now I'm hungry.
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Kevin, That looks so freaking good, and I'm not one much for pasta.
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