Everyone knows that size doesn’t matter, except when it comes to asparagus. This week on Spilled Milk, we’re discussing the finer points of our favorite spring vegetable: to snap or to cut, to peel or not to peel, to roast or to butter-poach, and why does my urine smell so weird? Recipes: Salt and Sugar Cured Asparagus; Asparagus in Bed. EXPLICIT. www.spilledmilkpodcast.com
Asparagus in bed: http://www.rootsandgrubs.com/2011/06/01/everythings-better-in-bed/
Salt and sugar-cured asparagus: http://www.gilttaste.com/stories/322-salt-and-sugar-cured-asparagus-poached-in-butter
Whew, that is a lot of olive oil! I’m not sure I can afford to make that recipe but if I did, I was wondering about using the leftover butter/oil combo in the asparagus soup? I like this one which uses butter to cook the onion and asparagus: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/asparagus-soup-with-lemon-herb-creme-fraiche
Sounds good to me!
Leftover butter/oil mixture might be good in bread? That’s a good standby for leftover fat or briny things, as the mix of sweet and savoury won’t matter – the yeast will eat up the sugar and you’ll be left with just the savoury flavours, Speciality asparagus bread!
Of course you wouldn’t use it all up that quickly, as you only need a small amount of fat in bread.
If you want to make the recipe but cut way down on the butter and oil you can do a ghetto sous vide (or a real sous vide if you have the equipment). Just seal a tablespoon of melted butter and olive oil in a ziploc with the asparagus (I’d probably add a butter knife as well to help weigh it down) and then drop it into a pot of water on the stove. Keep the water below a simmer (I’d guess 180F or so) for 10 minutes.
Ooh, I like that idea. Also like the term “ghetto sous vide.”
In England we call the skinny spears of asparagus sprue–and greengrocers call asparagus grass (not that kind Matthew). In The Kitchen Diaries Nigel Slater (I know you’re a fan of his Molly) says that a farmer in Evesham, one of the main grass-growing areas in the UK, told him to ‘boil them in deep, salted water till they will bend and are dull muted green–”that way, they have more flavour to ‘em”.’
And snap ‘em–it’s fun, and the stem always breaks at the perfect point!
When a recipe calls for just the asparagus tips, what do you do with the stems? Anyone got any great recipes for that?