Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Not the hard stuff, but it'll do for now.


For my money, asparagus rival ramps for the altogether-made-up title, "Spring's Greatest, Most Delicious Vegetable." Gloriously grassy (which makes sense, since asparagus is a grass, of sorts), asparagus is a perfect foil for many of spring's other goodies, such as farm-fresh eggs, chives - though it's no stranger to the more wintry parmesan and balsamic vinegar.

Over the last two weeks, I've made my way through four bunches of asparagus - some roasted, encrusted with grated parmesan, some blanched and dipped in homemade mayonnaise, some steamed and topped with an improvised, raw hollandaise (really just homemade mayo with extra lemon juice and chopped chives).

My cravings for strawberries, tomatoes and corn haven't abated, but the asparagus binge is helping to alleviate the pangs - for now.

2 comments:

Robin Wendell said...

Asparagus season rocks! Your photos are always so nice. The first one looks like asparagus wheat blowing in the wind.

My current fav asparagus thing is to roast those green babies in olive oil with fresh Walla Walla green onions and baby red potatoes until nicely brown. Then slide them into a quiche pan and top with beaten eggs and some goat cheese dollops and shredded Sorrel from the garden. 25 to 30 in the oven and you have a perfectly yummy, both hot and cold, frittata.

The sorrel in our garden is rampant so we use it up in a fab simple sauce for steamed asparagus. One bunch sorrel shredded cooked down in a little butter. Add to 1 cup yogurt or creme fraiche and a dash of white balsamic in a blender and voila — pour it over the hot spears or chill and enjoy both cold later as an appetizer.

Meg Blocker said...

Oh my goodness, that ALL sounds amazing, Robin! Sorrel is now on my marketing list...I don't think I've ever cooked with it!

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