My First Asparagus of 2016! (And a Question ... Do You Cut or Snap)

If you love asparagus as much as I do, you might be able to relate to the fact that I'm posting about harvesting two, yes just two, spears of asparagus from my garden.  But it's very exciting for me!

I have about a dozen other spears on the way but these first two had a head start and I feared they would begin to fern out - LOL, no idea how to refer to this stage ("flowering"?).  Anyway, I didn't want them to mature into the next stage where they become fern fronds.  Mind you, even though this is now my fourth season and I should be able to harvest steadily throughout the season, I still think I'll avoid taking too many in the first 6-8 weeks to allow the ferns to grow and replenish the nutrients for next year's production.

When I harvested them, I grabbed a knife and cut the spears just above the soil.  As I was cutting the second one, I suddenly had this realization that I have always snapped the asparagus when harvesting and why was I using a knife?

There is a similar question when preparing asparagus to eat ... I generally snap the asparagus which (according to literature and my general experience) naturally breaks at the point where the woody point ends and the more tender portion starts.  Many cooks choose to cut the asparagus rather than snapping (on rare occasions when I am desperate to save as much asparagus as possible, I'll use a peeler to remove the tough parts).

So ... do you cut or snap?

And by the way, I ate the spears fresh.  They tasted like spring. 

Primavera Eastern-Ontario Style: Farfalle with Ramps, Fiddleheads, Asparagus and Goat Cheese

When I see primavera pastas (pasta with spring vegetables), I always wonder where in the world the cook lives ... certainly not Eastern Ontario considering the types of veggies I often see included (zucchini, peppers, beetroot, etc.).

 Now I might have a zucchini fresh in the garden during spring but only in the very last days before summer ... this recipe link is about last year's first zucchini from my own garden being used right on June 21st in Jamie Oliver's Zucchini Carbonera.

So I set out to make a real Eastern-Ontario style primavera using the vegetables more commonly found in this area from early May and into June: ramps, fiddleheads and asparagus (I'm not a big fan of stinging nettles but they are abundant around this time as well).

Ramps are wild leeks.  A friend brought me a bag a few weeks ago.  We weren't in the mood for a big cook-off at the time, so the ramps were braised in chicken stock, the liquid wrung out as much as possible, then put into plastic bags in the freezer.  Here they are used to replace any onion and garlic in the recipe.


I never pick my own fiddleheads although friends do ... I just don't know which ferns are edible and which aren't so I leave this up to the pros. I bought a pack at one of the few local stores selling them.
















And the asparagus I used unfortunately is not my own.  My asparagus was only planted last year and I need to leave it alone for a year or two to feed itself and ensure a better and longer-lasting harvest down the road.  Just as well ... out of the 8 crowns in this particular patch, there were only 12-15 spears (which have now grown into ferns).

Ingredients:
1 lb farfalle pasta
1/4 cup ramps, chopped
1 cup fiddleheads, cleaned, trimmed
1 cup asparagus, chopped
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped
Lemon juice
Goat Cheese

Cook pasta in salted, boiling water.

Saute ramps in a heated pan with some olive oil.  Add fiddleheads and asparagus.  Saute on high heat a few minutes until veggies begin to soften.  Squeeze in the juice of one lemon, season with salt and pepper then set aside.








In a separate pan, heat olive oil then add the mushrooms.  Cook on high heat until browned.  Add to the greens then toss with cooked pasta.

Serve with goat cheese and lemon slices.  Yummy!!

Asparagus Stuffed Salmon with Asparagus Vinaigrette

 

This is a recipe from Michel Richard's cookbook "Happy in the Kitchen" - an amazing cookbook, although some of the recipes get a bit too technical for my liking - notice I did not say they are too technical for my skills; although I consider myself to be a very novice cook, it's important not to limit myself - I believe I can make any recipe that I am interested in, it just might not look as fancy and it might take a really long time!


The recipe called for whole asparagus spears to be rolled in chopped tarragon then stuffed into a horizontal pocket made in the salmon. But it isn't that easy to find a salmon fillet that thick (at least in these parts!).  So I chose to chop the mixture and pile it into a vertical slice in the top of the fillet.

For 2-3 people, choose a fillet about 7-8 inches long.  Make a slice in the fillet lengthwise and fill with the following mixture, then season with S&P:

Tarragon

- approx. 7-10 asparagus spears, blanched and chopped
- 1-2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
- salt to taste and lots of pepper!









I had an extra skinny piece of flesh that I had cut off the side so I placed it over top to keep in the moisture.






Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-13 minutes, or to your preference (like when the weird white fatty stuff starts showing).  Spoon the asparagus vinaigrette over each serving.

Asparagus Vinaigrette:

Chop 4 asparagus spears into 1-inch pieces. Place in small saucepan, add 1/4 cup water and 2 Tbsp olive oil and bring to simmer.  Cover and simmer until asparagus is softened and water has evaporated (asparagus will be stewing in the olive oil).  Puree mixture in blender or food processor, then pour into bowl.  Whisk in 1 tsp Dijon mustard and juice of 1 lemon.  Add salt and pepper to taste (Richard's recipe also calls for a pinch of sugar which I did not use).

Asparagus with Miso Butter and Poached Egg (Momofuku)

I hit a farmer's market earlier today for another batch of asparagus. My own asparagus crowns, planted only a few weeks ago, are barely showing any growth let alone enough to eat!

I would call this a "lazy version" of the original Momofuku recipe, but the original version isn't exactly complicated.  I've simply blanched the asparagus rather than pan-grilling it as called for in the recipe, and my miso butter is just blended in a bowl and slightly warmed rather than prepared in a pan (oh, and I left out the sherry vinegar as I had none on hand).
 
Recipe:

Mix equal amounts of white miso paste and unsalted butter - I used one Tbsp of each for two healthy servings.

Cook asparagus (boiled until just cooked; dumped in ice water to stop the cooking).

Poach eggs:  Add 1 Tbsp white vinegar to shallow pan of water.  Slowly add eggs, cook at a slow simmer until whites are cooked through and yolks are still runny (about 3 minutes).


 


Spread some miso-butter on the plate, add the asparagus, then a poached egg on top.  Season with cracked black pepper.  No salt needed (unless you're a fiend) ... miso is salty enough.

Asparagus and Goat Cheese Toasts (and Yuko's Plant Sale)

 

The combination of asparagus and goat cheese is obviously a classic by the amount of related recipes to be found.  I was trying to decide if I should make a pasta, pizza or salad with these ingredients. It was taking me a long time to think that one through, and in the meantime, I was getting pretty hungry - so I made up these quick toast appetizers for lunch.  The other options can wait for dinner.

The asparagus was purchased this morning at the Carp Farmer's Market, one of the first to open for the season.  The Farmer's Market was not my primary purpose for being in that area; I had gone earlier in the morning to Yuko's Plant Sale in Carleton Place.  Yuko sells some very unique plants, and next year, when I hope to reduce the number of seeds I start on my own, I expect to purchase some of her very interesting tomatoes and other vegetables. But today, I focused on just a few items that I was interested in: Jerusalem Artichoke, another rhubarb plant and some horseradish.  Well, I tried to focus on those; I also picked up some wild garlic, wild grape, a Nanking Cherry shrub (baby shrub, that is), a lovely little viola flower and some Mitsuba (a japanese herb).  What the heck am I going to do with everything?!

I also popped into Clarmell Farms in Manotick for some tangy chevre.

Ingredients:
Asparagus, grilled and chopped in small pieces
Pine Nuts, pan roasted
Baguette, sliced and grilled
Chevre
Truffle Oil (optional)

I have not bothered to list amounts of the ingredients, it is really to your own preference.  Assume 1 small or 1/2 medium asparagus spear, 3-5 pine nut kernels and at least 1 Tbsp chevre per toast.

First step is to roast the asparagus.  If you are a newbie to this, check out my post on Asparagus Tart for different options for preparing the asparagus.

Second step is roasting the pine nuts quickly in a pan on med-high heat.  Pine nuts have a high amount of fat, and will burn quickly - don't look away for too long (I had to make a second batch).

Drizzle some olive oil onto your baguette slices and grill (I don't have a BBQ, so I've just used a grill pan). 







Spread chevre onto each toast, top with asparagus, sprinkle with pine nuts and drizzle with truffle oil.  Season with a bit of S&P (Note: After spreading the toast with chevre, I had popped into under the broiler but I didn't like how it affected the texture of the cheese, so I don't recommend it).

 

Asparagus Soup with White Beans

Back from Toronto, all the plants are fine!  I moved everything back into their place in the solarium for now.  But yikes, this weather forecast improves neither my mood nor my plans to get the plant operation moved to the greenhouse anytime soon ... I mean, come on, ice pellets?  Fifteen cm of snow?!?  Get on with spring already!

The hungarian hot wax pepper and San Marzano tomato plants that I left in the greenhouse for the last few days managed to survive through the recent cool temperatures.  But the containers I put them in are too big for me to bother moving inside ... so I have no choice but to chance again leaving them out there for what I hope to be the last gasp of winter.

But on to better things.  After some good feasting out on Indian and Japanese food during my trip to Toronto, I'm back to homecooking with more asparagus.  Based on the weather forecast above, I suspect it will be a while before I get local asparagus, so I'm just taking advantage of whatever I find in the store.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp each butter and olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 cup white beans
2 cups asparagus, chopped
2 cups veg stock
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2/3 cup evaporated milk
S&P

The soup is going to be pureed and strained, so you can be pretty rough on the chopping.  Heat the olive oil and butter in a medium pot, add onion and a pinch of salt.  Saute about 10 minutes until softened.  In the meantime, snap off the woody ends of the asparagus and chop - keep some good size pieces of the tips if you want for garnish. 

Add garlic, beans, asparagus and stock.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Cook until beans and asparagus are tender - about 10 more minutes.  Add the juice of 1/2 a lemon.  I add the lemon at this point so I can squeeze in the juice without worrying about the seeds since it is going to be strained.  If you want an even fresher taste, wait until just before serving to add the lemon juice. This is also a good time to pull out a few asparagus tips for garnish.

Puree the soup, then strain into a fresh pot.  Be patient!  Assuming you are using an appropriately fine sieve, this will take a while.  Use the back side of a wooden spoon to push it through; you want to end up mainly with dry, fibrous material in the sieve, and your silky soup in the new pot!


Add the evaporated milk and S&P to taste.  Reheat without bringing to a boil.  Serve and garnish with asparagus tips, chives, yogurt or sour cream.

Asparagus Tart with Sundried Tomatoes and Feta

I don't have any asparagus planted at the new location yet (on order!), but the weather is so cold, it would not be up anyway.  Since fresh asparagus is only available for a short period, I have to get it where I can, so I've just picked some up from the grocery store.

This is a really simple tart; just a few ingredients.  I was too lazy to make a pastry, and just used a frozen Tenderflake deep dish pastry crust that I had on hand.

But first things first ... preparing and roasting the asparagus spears.  There is some debate about preparing asparagus.  It can be a bit tough and woody at the bottom so you need to remove some of the lower portion.  I use the break method ... hold the asparagus near each end and bend; where it snaps, discard the lower portion.  This is an easy approach to ensure you have the most tender part of the asparagus to eat.  But it is a bit wasteful.  The lower portion is often fine and just needs some of the outer portion shaved off (using a vegetable peeler) to uncover the tender parts.

After rinsing, you have two options to cook - roast or grill.  Start by tossing your spears with a bit of olive oil, and S&P.  Either grill in a grill pan, turning over until browned, or roast in a 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes.


Ingredients:
1 single 9" pastry crust
Roasted asparagus, approx. 18 spears
1 large shallot, diced
5-6 sundried tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup crumbled sheep's milk feta
2 Tbsp freshly grated parmesan
2 large eggs
Half and Half cream (10%)
S&P



 Preheat over to 350.  Blind bake the pastry shell for 15 minutes.  In the meantime, saute the shallots - you don't want any colour, just saute enough to soften.  Add in the sundried tomatoes for a minute or two to soften them as well.  Chop the asparagus spears into 1" lengths (set aside 4-6 to decorate the top of the tart).  The shallots, sundried tomatoes and asparagus pieces should amount to about 1 cup total.

Wait until the pastry shell and sauteed ingredients are both at room temperature. Add the sauteed ingredients into the bottom of the partially baked pastry shell.  Crumble in the feta cheese, and sprinkle with the parmesan.

Beat the eggs in a large measuring cup.  Add enough cream to make a total of 1 1/2 cups of liquid. Add about 1/2 tsp of each salt and pepper.  You don't need a lot of salt due to the saltiness of the feta.  Pour the liquid over the ingredients.

Bake 35-40 minutes.  If you want to decorate the top, wait until the halfway point when the filling will be partly baked.  Place roasted asparagus spears across the top and finish baking.