July 25, 2012: If you think you don’t like Asparagus- guess again.
“Anyone who says they don’t like a vegetable never had it cooked properly,” M. Martha Olson/M. Martha Alford.
True.
She was a fantastic cook- though she never played pure jazz in the kitchen but would find a recipe and that would be the end of it.
That and she loses points per the whole Munchausen’s by proxy thing.
Despite that I developed quite the appetite for vegetables even before I became a vegetarian.
BUT
fear not any non vegetarians there is meat involved in the asparagus recipe!
The last meat products I could deal with were from the deli section where I could play: let’s-pretend-its not -an-animal-like-me. I remember those recipes fondly and one involves asparagus, the other kale and pepperoni and
I adored Boar’s Head port marinated Roast Beef or was it London Broil? Hopefully someday I’ll be able to experiment with port in vegetarian recipes.
If you still eat meat: the port marinated plus arugula with either a) havarti b) horse radish cheddar (or a horseradish mayo)- on a very neutral white bread (no sour dough and if French it should be softened in the oven with a little apple at the crust)…also makes a nice arugula salad.
To any vegans: the asparagus recipe does involve dairy.
Personally I tend to see substitutions as code for: make up a new recipe and thus I would strongly advise against using soy or rice milk- but if you try it let me know how it worked (I suspect not well).
The Greatest Asparagus Recipe of All Time
or asparagus for people who say they hate asparagus
the tricks to Asparagus are 1)NOT overcooking it
2) the accompanying flavors
INGREDIENTS :
31/2 -4lbs Asparagus
(the recipe keeps for three days. If you go to three days I’d recommend reheating. (Of course the proportions can be altered but this was how I cooked it for three people and lots of leftovers.))
+
1 package Knorr Béarnaise mix (you will also need MILK for this sauce)
If you decide to do it all from scratch : my hats off to you.
What amounts to half the Knorr recipe was leftover and used for- toast, a dipper or you may choose to have the recipe swimming in Béarnaise or pre-limiting the quantity and storing the package’s other half in a Ziploc.
+
¼ lb. thinly sliced Deli Canadian Ham (The best you can kind find.)
DO NOT go for the music tune of “I am an ” or any of its poorly cured and water weighed down counter parts -if you do you will be cheating yourself out of the best asparagus you ever dared to eat. I’ve had people who “hate asparagus” devour this recipe.
+
Optional Ingredients: The above cooked (and yes I will provide instructions) stands alone and can. BUT its also a nice take on Eggs Benedict. Best I ever had was served at Baker’s Café, King Street, Charleston, South Carolina. Everything was from scratch & if you have the moxie and talent to make your own Béarnaise from scratch…this recipe would be just… beyond .
(The Ice House in the Market however I must mention because their biscuits were probably the best anywhere ever during the 1980’s…and they made their own preserves)
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS for the Best Asparagus you’ve ever had with an Eggs Benedict chaser.
Eggs: sunny side up (is a perfectly acceptable alternative to poaching…which is a skill set I never acquired and do not feel at all badly about...and thus I say is a perfectly acceptable alternative because if poached eggs aren‘t perfect -
They
are gnarly.)
+
English Muffins (cut in half, toasted on at least one side)- bread generally can be used but if you’re going for the eggs benedict chaser and you can afford and English muffins- go for it.)
EQUIPTMENT:
Large Skillet or Wok
Sauce pan
Wooden spoon (flat edged)
Large cutting board (if all you have is small one have a container set aside because its a lot of asparagus)
Optional: warming plate & toaster
Good cutting knife
STEPS: (The Béarnaise Sauce should be cooked first unless you are adept at asparagus. The sauce directions are either Knorr’s or someone else’s department.)
1) Prep FRESH asparagus:
A) First start with good asparagus. If store bought good= not even the slightest hint of slimy at or in tip/pointy part nor should tip be dried out. There should be no wrinkling. Before cooking you will be rinsing the asparagus or soaking it in some cool water briefly.
B) Rinse off asparagus when home and recheck heads for slimmies which can be rinsed out. You don’t have to toss the entire stalk if you find a few hiding just thoroughly get them out of there.
C) Remove ends.
Okay now there’s some debate on the ends- not the spiky part but the other end. “A natural breaking point” exists wherein one can bend the asparagus and you throw out the rest if either a) you have the money for that b) have a dog who will eat asparagus or c) compost If on the other hand throwing away food is not an option and your resources are scarce and you’re splurging to even fix this recipe DO NOT use anything vaguely white or pale. That stuff is super thready and you don’t want it - at least not in this recipe.
D) Remove/cut off ends, not spiky portions because that‘s the best/luxury section.
E) cut in the round (as in NOT up along the middle, NOT juilienned, NOT angled but what you cut will have a round shape anything from ¼ inch to an 11/2inches. Pick a length and try to be consistent.
F) Set asparagus aside as you will be needing your cutting board for slicing the next bit of prep: ham.
2) Prep ham: Cut to about half the length of the asparagus and in extremely thin strips.
3) In large pan/skillet or wok heat olive oil and butter at medium to low heat until butter has melted.
(The amount of oil and butter= the amount to keep anything from sticking and will coat the asparagus fully )
4) Add ham. Allow to cook for the purpose of diffusing the ham flavor through the oil- so nice and low, take your time DO NOT let the ham to get crispy, stir during this process.
5) Add asparagus. Stir and toss while asparagus cooks…which will mean standing at the stove. And do not over cook asparagus.
6) Asparagus you still want almost crispy - the memory of crisp at the center on the inside. You DO NOT want a major color change.
If you see a darkening you’re overcooking it. The green should brighten- if your asparagus starts to look dark you‘re in real danger of overcooking your asparagus.
When asparagus is cooked-
7) Toss in Béarnaise gradually, just enough to lightly coat and voila you are
8 ) ready to serve
It really is fantastic all by itself or on top of heated, and slightly toasted, English muffins with sunny side up egg/s face down.
For meat eaters this asparagus recipe pairs really, really well with grilled red meat or sautéed Dijon marinated chicken.
I’m tired.
Being on a computer is difficult for me but I wanted to post something…that and my sister Jan (ie: Brady Bunch The Movie) seems to have removed all content which was entirely her right though it’s all getting re-posted pas de nom.
So there is the best recipe for asparagus - ever. Anyone waiting for Rutabagas, which admittedly I didn’t like until I made up a good recipe for rutabegas- but I like Caraway Seeds so hence it works but not everyone likes caraway seed. I’ll post it and a good Kale recipe as both are coming into season shortly.
Now for an abrupt topic change or given perhaps a possible particular reader perhaps not so much a change of topic but a veering.
“Families that eat dinner together are less likely to experience divorce,” so researchers found in a study years and years ago.
My family always ate at the same table and it was, whether at or not at the table, high degrees of awful- but hey the marriage lasted for 25 years
Once upon a time during agrarian culture “Man work outside- woman work inside”. We(females) have active mammary glands so in terms of just efficiency and sense (feeding the offspring) that arrangement worked and was due to conditions.
Everyone worked for the same goal and that was: not starving, staying alive and well. It worked BUT the goals were simply keeping everyone alive, fed and preparing the offspring for having offspring and doing the same. Mother’s did not do all the cooking, or all the gathering, etc. etc.. Everyone made sure, everyone could and did eat- that was a large portion of the communal work. Families were teams, some still are- some never could or can be. The more isolated, the more prescribed roles became - the less team there is/was.
I suspect the families that can and do cook together stay together even better than families that just eat together because they do team regularly and with an actual and regular outcome.
Maybe somebody should do a study about the families that cook together and their staying and working together prowess because I think they‘d kick the just eating together crowd‘s ass.
So if you have kids (or don’t) have a spouse (or are thinking about one) maybe everyone should just hit the slow cook movement, meet in the kitchen and see what happens. See how a team activity with an actual and real world end result goes. How‘d the process go? Is sitting at the table a pleasure or is there discomfort with whatever went and goes on during meal prep?
Then again, I know a shrink who knew a shrink who had his family all sit down with a barrel of Lincoln Logs, set up a video camera and build something so as to see how and what dynamics were and are really, really playing out.
So for some families maybe Lincoln Logs are best as there are no sharp objects involved. Maybe that’s what we should all do- maybe that’s what all first dates should be.
Me. I had quite the thing for a guy with whom I built a Lincoln Log farm in nursery school. We were both totally proud and wanted our farm and house to remain a permanent fixture…and then, some time later a blonde I suppose far cuter than I - or he found cuter or funner or just different maybe- came to our pre-K school and we never played Lincoln Logs again.
Get in that kitchen and cook
together
maybe
even asparagus
…if not there’s always
Rutabaga,
Kale
Brussels Sprouts,
Broccoli and Cauliflower
Oh my!
And peas…the most gorgeous thing you can do with salmon or peas is put them together.
It’s easy:
1) several sprigs of fresh rosemary springs and a few cloves of garlic in oil, cook to infuse oil.
2) Remove sprigs and cloves from oil
3)boiling water + frozen peas: cook briefly don’t stew them you just want them heated through.
4) pour peas and water through strainer.
5) either with emulsion blender or food processor blend the oil and peas till smooth.
6) Serve with (preferably plain poached) salmon
7) Put the salmon on the pea mixture.
The pink and the green look great together-especially on a black plate. The subtlety of flavor really requires King as opposed to Sockeye… but maybe the sockeye’s less fishy out west.
Sincerely,
Little Miss Fix It
“Anyone who says they don’t like a vegetable never had it cooked properly,” M. Martha Olson/M. Martha Alford.
True.
She was a fantastic cook- though she never played pure jazz in the kitchen but would find a recipe and that would be the end of it.
That and she loses points per the whole Munchausen’s by proxy thing.
Despite that I developed quite the appetite for vegetables even before I became a vegetarian.
BUT
fear not any non vegetarians there is meat involved in the asparagus recipe!
The last meat products I could deal with were from the deli section where I could play: let’s-pretend-its not -an-animal-like-me. I remember those recipes fondly and one involves asparagus, the other kale and pepperoni and
I adored Boar’s Head port marinated Roast Beef or was it London Broil? Hopefully someday I’ll be able to experiment with port in vegetarian recipes.
If you still eat meat: the port marinated plus arugula with either a) havarti b) horse radish cheddar (or a horseradish mayo)- on a very neutral white bread (no sour dough and if French it should be softened in the oven with a little apple at the crust)…also makes a nice arugula salad.
To any vegans: the asparagus recipe does involve dairy.
Personally I tend to see substitutions as code for: make up a new recipe and thus I would strongly advise against using soy or rice milk- but if you try it let me know how it worked (I suspect not well).
The Greatest Asparagus Recipe of All Time
or asparagus for people who say they hate asparagus
the tricks to Asparagus are 1)NOT overcooking it
2) the accompanying flavors
INGREDIENTS :
31/2 -4lbs Asparagus
(the recipe keeps for three days. If you go to three days I’d recommend reheating. (Of course the proportions can be altered but this was how I cooked it for three people and lots of leftovers.))
+
1 package Knorr Béarnaise mix (you will also need MILK for this sauce)
If you decide to do it all from scratch : my hats off to you.
What amounts to half the Knorr recipe was leftover and used for- toast, a dipper or you may choose to have the recipe swimming in Béarnaise or pre-limiting the quantity and storing the package’s other half in a Ziploc.
+
¼ lb. thinly sliced Deli Canadian Ham (The best you can kind find.)
DO NOT go for the music tune of “I am an ” or any of its poorly cured and water weighed down counter parts -if you do you will be cheating yourself out of the best asparagus you ever dared to eat. I’ve had people who “hate asparagus” devour this recipe.
+
Optional Ingredients: The above cooked (and yes I will provide instructions) stands alone and can. BUT its also a nice take on Eggs Benedict. Best I ever had was served at Baker’s Café, King Street, Charleston, South Carolina. Everything was from scratch & if you have the moxie and talent to make your own Béarnaise from scratch…this recipe would be just… beyond .
(The Ice House in the Market however I must mention because their biscuits were probably the best anywhere ever during the 1980’s…and they made their own preserves)
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS for the Best Asparagus you’ve ever had with an Eggs Benedict chaser.
Eggs: sunny side up (is a perfectly acceptable alternative to poaching…which is a skill set I never acquired and do not feel at all badly about...and thus I say is a perfectly acceptable alternative because if poached eggs aren‘t perfect -
They
are gnarly.)
+
English Muffins (cut in half, toasted on at least one side)- bread generally can be used but if you’re going for the eggs benedict chaser and you can afford and English muffins- go for it.)
EQUIPTMENT:
Large Skillet or Wok
Sauce pan
Wooden spoon (flat edged)
Large cutting board (if all you have is small one have a container set aside because its a lot of asparagus)
Optional: warming plate & toaster
Good cutting knife
STEPS: (The Béarnaise Sauce should be cooked first unless you are adept at asparagus. The sauce directions are either Knorr’s or someone else’s department.)
1) Prep FRESH asparagus:
A) First start with good asparagus. If store bought good= not even the slightest hint of slimy at or in tip/pointy part nor should tip be dried out. There should be no wrinkling. Before cooking you will be rinsing the asparagus or soaking it in some cool water briefly.
B) Rinse off asparagus when home and recheck heads for slimmies which can be rinsed out. You don’t have to toss the entire stalk if you find a few hiding just thoroughly get them out of there.
C) Remove ends.
Okay now there’s some debate on the ends- not the spiky part but the other end. “A natural breaking point” exists wherein one can bend the asparagus and you throw out the rest if either a) you have the money for that b) have a dog who will eat asparagus or c) compost If on the other hand throwing away food is not an option and your resources are scarce and you’re splurging to even fix this recipe DO NOT use anything vaguely white or pale. That stuff is super thready and you don’t want it - at least not in this recipe.
D) Remove/cut off ends, not spiky portions because that‘s the best/luxury section.
E) cut in the round (as in NOT up along the middle, NOT juilienned, NOT angled but what you cut will have a round shape anything from ¼ inch to an 11/2inches. Pick a length and try to be consistent.
F) Set asparagus aside as you will be needing your cutting board for slicing the next bit of prep: ham.
2) Prep ham: Cut to about half the length of the asparagus and in extremely thin strips.
3) In large pan/skillet or wok heat olive oil and butter at medium to low heat until butter has melted.
(The amount of oil and butter= the amount to keep anything from sticking and will coat the asparagus fully )
4) Add ham. Allow to cook for the purpose of diffusing the ham flavor through the oil- so nice and low, take your time DO NOT let the ham to get crispy, stir during this process.
5) Add asparagus. Stir and toss while asparagus cooks…which will mean standing at the stove. And do not over cook asparagus.
6) Asparagus you still want almost crispy - the memory of crisp at the center on the inside. You DO NOT want a major color change.
If you see a darkening you’re overcooking it. The green should brighten- if your asparagus starts to look dark you‘re in real danger of overcooking your asparagus.
When asparagus is cooked-
7) Toss in Béarnaise gradually, just enough to lightly coat and voila you are
8 ) ready to serve
It really is fantastic all by itself or on top of heated, and slightly toasted, English muffins with sunny side up egg/s face down.
For meat eaters this asparagus recipe pairs really, really well with grilled red meat or sautéed Dijon marinated chicken.
I’m tired.
Being on a computer is difficult for me but I wanted to post something…that and my sister Jan (ie: Brady Bunch The Movie) seems to have removed all content which was entirely her right though it’s all getting re-posted pas de nom.
So there is the best recipe for asparagus - ever. Anyone waiting for Rutabagas, which admittedly I didn’t like until I made up a good recipe for rutabegas- but I like Caraway Seeds so hence it works but not everyone likes caraway seed. I’ll post it and a good Kale recipe as both are coming into season shortly.
Now for an abrupt topic change or given perhaps a possible particular reader perhaps not so much a change of topic but a veering.
“Families that eat dinner together are less likely to experience divorce,” so researchers found in a study years and years ago.
My family always ate at the same table and it was, whether at or not at the table, high degrees of awful- but hey the marriage lasted for 25 years
Once upon a time during agrarian culture “Man work outside- woman work inside”. We(females) have active mammary glands so in terms of just efficiency and sense (feeding the offspring) that arrangement worked and was due to conditions.
Everyone worked for the same goal and that was: not starving, staying alive and well. It worked BUT the goals were simply keeping everyone alive, fed and preparing the offspring for having offspring and doing the same. Mother’s did not do all the cooking, or all the gathering, etc. etc.. Everyone made sure, everyone could and did eat- that was a large portion of the communal work. Families were teams, some still are- some never could or can be. The more isolated, the more prescribed roles became - the less team there is/was.
I suspect the families that can and do cook together stay together even better than families that just eat together because they do team regularly and with an actual and regular outcome.
Maybe somebody should do a study about the families that cook together and their staying and working together prowess because I think they‘d kick the just eating together crowd‘s ass.
So if you have kids (or don’t) have a spouse (or are thinking about one) maybe everyone should just hit the slow cook movement, meet in the kitchen and see what happens. See how a team activity with an actual and real world end result goes. How‘d the process go? Is sitting at the table a pleasure or is there discomfort with whatever went and goes on during meal prep?
Then again, I know a shrink who knew a shrink who had his family all sit down with a barrel of Lincoln Logs, set up a video camera and build something so as to see how and what dynamics were and are really, really playing out.
So for some families maybe Lincoln Logs are best as there are no sharp objects involved. Maybe that’s what we should all do- maybe that’s what all first dates should be.
Me. I had quite the thing for a guy with whom I built a Lincoln Log farm in nursery school. We were both totally proud and wanted our farm and house to remain a permanent fixture…and then, some time later a blonde I suppose far cuter than I - or he found cuter or funner or just different maybe- came to our pre-K school and we never played Lincoln Logs again.
Get in that kitchen and cook
together
maybe
even asparagus
…if not there’s always
Rutabaga,
Kale
Brussels Sprouts,
Broccoli and Cauliflower
Oh my!
And peas…the most gorgeous thing you can do with salmon or peas is put them together.
It’s easy:
1) several sprigs of fresh rosemary springs and a few cloves of garlic in oil, cook to infuse oil.
2) Remove sprigs and cloves from oil
3)boiling water + frozen peas: cook briefly don’t stew them you just want them heated through.
4) pour peas and water through strainer.
5) either with emulsion blender or food processor blend the oil and peas till smooth.
6) Serve with (preferably plain poached) salmon
7) Put the salmon on the pea mixture.
The pink and the green look great together-especially on a black plate. The subtlety of flavor really requires King as opposed to Sockeye… but maybe the sockeye’s less fishy out west.
Sincerely,
Little Miss Fix It
