I bought some lovely asparagus the other day and i want to cook it but I have no idea how to cook it, which parts to eat, how to make it very flavorful, etc. Every time I have eaten asparagus it has been at a restaurant.
Any tips on cooking, seasoning, trimming, etc would be VERY grateful!
I rinse it off. Then to prepare it I hold a single stalk sideways in both hands and bend. It snaps off the hard end part, and I keep the top yummy part. It takes like 2 minutes (not even) to "snap off" the hardest ends of the asparagus bunch one by one in order to keep the yummy, more flexible part.
I turn the oven on to 400F degrees. Put the asparagus onto a baking sheet (usually covered in tinfoil for easy cleanup). Mix two teaspoons of oil and then a dash of salt and pepper and pour that over the asparagus. Move it around a bit so the asparagus gets coated.
Pop the pan into the oven for 10 minutes. Tada! Roasted asparagus.
Lovely is exactly right. Break off the stalks, rinse, toss with garlic and olive oil and cook quickly at a high temperature. My fave is the grill, but the oven and a saute pan work well too. Asparagus is a real treat!
I live in an asparagus growing region and we GORGE on it here for about a month each spring. I generally eat so much during that one month that I don't even want to THINK about it for the remaining 11 months!
Another nice thing to do with asparagus is make a soup. Slice up the asparagus and saute with garlic and a little butter for a few minutes, then add chicken stock and cook through. When the asparagus is soft, puree the stuff until silky smooth and then add a jot of cream or milk. It is SO GOOD.
I love asparagus and since I've been trying to find more ways to eat it, I've been experimenting. My favorite ways to eat it on a regular basis is either roasted as mentioned above or chopped into 2 inch pieces, lightly blanched and tossed with a little bit of Garlic Expression Garlic Vinaigrette (so good!).
Try going to food blog search and typing in asparagus. It pulls up so many awesome recipes!
I second Lovely's method of cleaning and snapping stems and all the delicious ways of cooking it already listed- wanted to mention that sometimes I take chicken tenders and wrap them around a couple stalks of asparagus and put them in a casserole dish (you can also use chicken breasts for this, but I like a higher asparagus-to-chicken ratio), then I cover each little chicken asparagus bundle with a smear of laughing cow light and cover everything with a thick layer of sliced red onions. Cover the dish with foil, bake @400 until chicken juices run clear, take foil off for last 5 mins. so cheese can brown. YUmmm....
Ok y'all are making my mouth water! All these ideas are fantastic! I love asparagus and will try them all out. I'm tired of all the everyday veggies so I am trying out new ones.
Dezzie: Thank you my dear, you have given me a dinner idea for this week!
I do the same thing Lovely does, but I brush the oil on with a pastry brush and it comes out PERFECT (I tend to dump too much on if I drizzle for some reason. Know thyself, I suppose). Mmm. Now I want some asparagus!
I am also a fan of roasting it - I toss it in a zip lock bag with a little soy, dash olive oil, few drops sesame oil, and a drizzle of balsamic. Marinate for a few minutes, remove and roast - grind lots of pepper over.
Sometimes I want to really taste the unique grassiness that screams springtime. Then I simmer in just a little salted water until I can easily bite through a stalk. I serve with either Dijon mustard stirred into a little yogurt or dry mustard/Dijon/Splenda/salsamic dipping sauce.
Lightly toast a nice piece of bread; steam or quickly boil the asparagus and lay atop the bread. Add a few shavings of good parmesan cheese and top the whole lot with a lightly poached egg.
SO GOOD. The egg yolk becomes the dressing for the asparagus and it all gets to be a creamy, greeny lush dish.
I cut the big ends off .. and marinate them in olive oil and balsamic with salt and pepper , onions and garlic .. grill them in foil Yum !! Or you can cut them up and toss them inside a quiche or fritta .. very good! :-)
Last edited by BunnyGirl17; 08-30-2011 at 11:45 AM.
I snap it as Lovely describes and then steam it or throw it in a risotto, a stirfry or a pasta sauce. It cooks quite quickly - about 4 mins in a steamer or saute pan/6 mins in a risotto or pasta sauce if the spears are quite thin. If they're quite thick, I cut them in half lengthwise - they cook quicker, and I think it improves the texture.
Help!! New to cooking Asparagus.
Mmm. Now I want some asparagus!
