A is for Asparagus

The fern stalks known as asparagus are pushing through the thawing ground with energy that can ignite you too. Asparagus is a beloved spring tonic that gives the body three precious but hard to find nutrients: Vitamin K, folic acid and potassium. It's a mild diuretic that can help cleanse the body, although gout sufferers should avoid it. And to boot, it provides the "prebiotic" inulin that helps those valuable intestinal bacteria flourish.

A lb of asparagus is about 14 medium spears, or 3 generous portions. It is very perishable. Cook within 48 hours. There is no reason--yet--to believe that urine odor associated with digested asparagus suggest harm in any way. So dig in.

Here's Thomas Jefferson's asparagus springing up in April at Monticello

What follows are a few ways to enjoy what springs from the Earth right now as people around the globe do.

As previously posted a month ago under Breadcrumbs and in my book: Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking:
Asparagus Bread Pudding

Serves 8-10

1 ½ lbs fresh asparagus

1 tsp olive oil

1 medium leek, cleaned

1 tsp dried thyme leaves

4 tbsp unsalted butter

2 oz Gruyere cheese

1 ½ cups half and half

3 extra large or jumbo eggs, separated

¼ tsp salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper (more to your taste)

2 cups freshly made breadcrumbs (from 3-4 slices firm white bread ground in a food processor)

1 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 450º.

 Cut the bottom inch off the asparagus stalks and cut the remaining stalks in four equal pieces. Line a shallow roasting dish, or large toaster pan tray with foil and put the asparagus pieces on it.  Coat with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roast for 10 minutes at 450. Remove from oven.

Reduce oven heat to 350ª.  Butter an 8” square baking pan or round cake pan, whatever you have.

Dice the leek.  Melt 2 tbsp butter in a small sauté pan over medium heat and add the leek and thyme.  Sauté on medium low heat until leeks are soft, 3-5 minutes.

Pour half and half into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer (bubbles at the pot edge).  While waiting, put the cheese into a food processor bowl and chop it.

Add the roasted asparagus to the bowl. With the machine running, pour in the warm half and half. Do not overprocess. Add the remaining butter and one egg yolk at a time, processing with the pulse button to incorporate the three.

Add the leeks from sauté pan with salt and pepper. Add breadcrumbs and quickly process just to blend. 

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold them and the lemon zest into the asparagus mixture.  Optionally: sprinkle on top 1/8 tsp smoked paprika and 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg.

Pour into the baking pan.  Place the pan in a larger roasting pan and pour into that pan enough water to reach halfway up the sides of the pudding pan.

Bake in the center of the oven at 350º for 40-50 minutes, depending on whether you use convection or not, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Remove from heat and cool on a rack for 10 minutes.  Invert onto a serving platter and serve warm.

My most favorite treatment is to preserve the spears pickled because they are awesome party food that really dazzles people. This recipe is in the book How to Fix a Leek and Other Food from Your Farmers' Market.
Pickled Asparagus

2 lbs. asparagus spears

6 lg garlic cloves, halved and smashed

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 dill head or 2 tbsp dill seed

2½ cups white vinegar

2½ cups water

¼ cup kosher salt (not regular salt)

3  1 qt canning jars with lids

 

Sterilize jars in boiling water.

Cut woody bottoms from spears and cut spears into 4” lengths (slightly shorter than the jar height). Put 4 garlic halves in each jar. Evenly divide pepper flakes and dill between each jar. Fill jars tightly with upright spears, mixing bottom and top halves as you go.

In a large saucepan, combine water, vinegar and salt. Stir to dissolve salt and bring to a full boil. Ladle into jars while boiling, filling to ¼” of the top. Shake jars to remove air bubbles. Seal jars. Put back in boiling water 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Listen for the lids to “pop” so you know the jars are securely sealed. Cool. Store in the pantry.  Store opened jars in the refrigerator.

Easiest way, Italian style:
Roasted Asparagus Spears

Preheat oven to 425º.
Trim the thick stalk ends off the spears, rinse and dry thoroughly.
Place spears in a single layer on a baking sheet or toaster oven baking pan. 
Very lightly drizzle olive oil over the spears, very lightly. Season with salt.
Roast at 450º for 12 minutes or until spears are soft and starting to show brown.
Place on a dish, season with freshly ground black pepper 
and serve hot.  
Also good cold the next day, plain, cut into salads or thrown over pasta with garlic.

Here's the Spanish way with asparagus, a scrambled egg brunch/lunch dish:

Revuelto

Olive oil 
2 peeled garlic cloves, plus 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
 2 c bread cubes, made with day-old bread, cut in 1/2-inch cubes 
Salt and pepper
 2 ounces diced Spanish chorizo 
1 bunch thin asparagus, about 1 1/2 pounds, cut in 1- to 2-inch lengths
 1 bunch green onions, chopped
 8 large eggs, beaten 
1/2 teaspoon pimentón 
2 tbsp roughly chopped Italian parsley 

Put 3 tablespoons olive oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add peeled garlic cloves and let them sizzle until lightly browned, then remove. Add bread cubes, season with salt and pepper, lower heat to medium and gently fry until lightly browned and crisp, about 2 minutes. Remove bread and set aside to cool.  

Add chorizo and fry lightly. Add asparagus, season with salt and pepper, and stir-fry until cooked through but firm, 3 to 4 minutes. Add green onions and minced garlic and cook 1 minute more.  

Season eggs with salt, pepper and pimentón. Pour into pan and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, just until soft and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add parsley and serve immediately, topped with the fried bread cubes.

Here's an inland Chinese dish:
Stir Fried Asparagus with Sesame 
serves 3-4
1 ½ lbs. asparagus, trimmed and cut crosswise on the diagonal into 2" pieces
 1 tbsp. tamari sauce
1 tsp. Asian sesame oil
2 drops red chile oil
½ tsp. toasted sesame seeds

Over high heat, bring a medium pot of water to a boil.  Add asparagus and cook until slightly tender but still crisp and bright green, 1½–2 minutes.  Drain, then immediately plunge into a large bowl of ice water; set aside to cool. Drain again, then transfer to paper towels, pat dry.

2. Whisk together tamari sauce, sesame oil, and chile oil in a medium bowl. Add asparagus and toss. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with sesame seeds. 

Here's the Himalayan way, and yes they do have this fern as well as the fiddlehead fern!

Bhutanese Asparagus with Cheese and Chilies

1 sm. red onion, peeled, finely chopped

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

½ lb. fiddleheads, cleaned

3 new potatoes, cleaned and sliced into thin disks

1 cup water

1 med. fresh green chili (about ½ oz.), seeded and sliced in thin strips

¼ tsp ground coriander

8 oz fresh soft sheep cheese, farmers’ or feta cheese or soft ricotta, crumbled

1/8 tsp. salt

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onion and sauté until translucent and soft. Add fiddleheads, potatoes and water. Simmer over low heat about 10 minutes until vegetables are tender.  Add the chili, coriander, cheese and salt, stirring to blend. Continue to simmer until cheese melts into a smooth sauce, about 5 minutes. Add freshly ground black pepper to your taste and serve hot. 

And here's one I haven't tried yet:
Asparagus Lasagna

Serves 8

4 pounds asparagus, trimmed
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
six 7- by 6 1/4-inch sheets of instant (no-boil) lasagne
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c chicken broth
1/2 c water
7 oz mild goat cheese such as Montrachet
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest, or to taste
1 2/3 c freshly grated Parmesan
1 c heavy cream

Cut tips off each asparagus spear and reserve them. In each of 2 large shallow baking pans toss half the asparagus stalks with half the oil, coating them well, and roast them in a preheated 500º oven, shaking the pans every few minutes, for 5 to 10 minutes, or until they are crisp-tender. Sprinkle the asparagus with salt to taste and let it cool. Cut the roasted asparagus into 1/2-inch lengths and reserve it.

In a large bowl of cold water let the sheets of lasagne soak 15 minutes, or until softened. 

In a saucepan melt the butter, add the flour, and cook the roux over moderately low heat, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add broth and water in a stream, whisking. Simmer the mixture for 5 minutes, then whisk in the goat cheese, zest, and salt to taste, whisking until the sauce is smooth.

Drain the pasta well, arrange 1 sheet of it in each of 2 buttered 8-inch-square baking dishes, and spread each sheet with one fourth of the sauce. Top the sauce in each dish with one fourth of the reserved roasted asparagus and sprinkle the asparagus with 1/3 cup of the Parmesan. Continue to layer the pasta, the sauce, the asparagus and the Parmesan in the same manner, ending with a sheet of pasta. In a bowl beat the cream with a pinch of salt until it holds soft peaks. Arrange the reserved asparagus tips decoratively on the pasta, spoon the cream over the pasta and the asparagus tips, spreading it with the back of the spoon, and sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan on top. 

Bake the lasagne in the middle of a preheated 400º oven 20 to 30 minutes, or until golden and bubbling. Let it stand10 minutes before serving.