| Asparagus for Spring (Recipes) |
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By Joyce Rosencrans
Scripps Howard News Service This is peak season for two types of stalks: asparagus and rhubarb. Both make dinner a deluxe experience. Frozen forms of either are available, but it's practically a rite of spring for cooks who love fresh asparagus and rhubarb to prepare the green spears and red stalks. So start the water boiling. Asparagus is one of those vegetables that ranks high in vitamins C and A, iron and fiber. It's as virtuous a vegetable as, say, broccoli. Some cookbook authors are busy touting roasting and grilling the green stalks, but either method can quickly produce wrinkled, tough, overcooked asparagus. Give me a simple, brief boil any day: Boil about one inch of lightly salted water in a large skillet. Add trimmed asparagus spears in a single layer, if possible, the tips all on the same side. If you like, prop the tender, quick-cooking tips slightly out of the cooking water on a crumpled, flattened band of foil placed in the skillet. Cook uncovered a few minutes even for the thickest stalks. The tender tips will be done by the time the butt ends of the stalks are tender. Before cooking, be sure to snap off the toughest butt ends and simmer them in soup stock or discard. For a company meal, or if you can't stand to eat too much nutritious dietary fiber, use a potato peeler to lightly scrape off most of the green peel from the lower half of each stalk. You'll lose most of the scales that way, but some of the good, grassy flavor, too. Even closely trimmed, raw asparagus is delicious as part of a vegetable platter for dipping, say with ranch dressing or watercress mayonnaise. I usually prefer to blanch the spears though, just a quick dip in deep, boiling water, to brighten the green color. Wrap each blanched, well-drained spear in paper-thin prosciutto for an Easter treat; serve as part of a deviled egg platter. The cardinal rule is to never overcook it, by any method. If you hold up one spear and it's bending low, it was cooked too long. It's also old-fashioned and unnecessary to ruin the vegetable's nutrition benefit by drowning it in melted butter or hollandaise. If you don't enjoy plain asparagus, try a light Asian stir-fry with diagonal cuts tossed with sesame seeds and sliced green onions. Or spread toasted sourdough bread with a thin layer of ham salad. Top with an evenly trimmed row of cooked spears for an asparagus raft. Drizzle with this sauce: Warm sour cream and flavor with grated onion, mayonnaise and yellow mustard. Garnish with sliced hard-cooked egg. This is too early for garden-grown rhubarb, but supermarkets are supplying lots of hothouse rhubarb grown in Michigan. Remember that hothouse rhubarb is less tart than that from the garden later on, so you may need to reduce the amount of sugar called for in old-fashioned rhubarb recipes written for the garden type. For the prettiest rhubarb pies and sauces, buy the reddest stalks you can find. Trim off the leaves, if still attached. The leaves can be poisonous if eaten in quantity. Most markets sell only trimmed rhubarb. After rinsing the stalks, slice crosswise. One pound rhubarb yields about 3 cups slices. Don't forget that a simmered rhubarb sauce or chutney is a perfect condiment to serve in a cut-glass bowl along with an Easter ham. Celebrity chefs have been known to team a signature rhubarb sauce with glazed, roast duck quarters or tea-brined pork loin.
Asparagus Mimosa Ingredients: 1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed, cooked Ingredients for marinade: 1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 tsp. seasoned salt
Grindings of black pepper
1 tsp. sugar
2 green onions, chopped
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. chopped parsley
2 Tbs. white wine vinegar
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 hard-cooked eggs, finely chopped or sieved Preparation: Marinate for at least 1 hour. Arrange briefly cooked, drained asparagus in a square glass baking dish. Combine remaining ingredients, except eggs, to make a dressing, blending in a bit of grated lemon rind, if desired. Pour evenly over asparagus, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, up to 8 hours. Vinaigrette may be used on another salad. To serve, placed drained asparagus on a small platter. Put sieved egg in a wide band across the spears just below the tips. Serves: 4 to 6
Rhubarb Chutney Recipe adapted from Life's Little Rhubarb Cookbook: 101 Rhubarb Recipes Ingredients: 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup raisins
2 cups chopped rhubarb
2/3 cup snipped dates
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted Preparation: In a large nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat, combine brown sugar, vinegar, water, salt, dry mustard, cinnamon and cloves. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Gently boil uncovered for 5 minutes. Stir in onion and raisins. Return to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add rhubarb and dates; simmer uncovered for 10 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, toast slivered almonds in a small, dry skillet over medium heat. Shake pan and watch closely until nuts turn golden. Stir into the thickened chutney. Cool and store in glass jars, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. Tip: Enjoy on crackers and peanut butter. Serve as a relish with ham, pork, chicken. Serves: 3 cups
(Joyce Rosencrans is home editor of the Cincinnati Post.)
RESOURCES :
Life's Little Rhubarb Cookbook: 101 Rhubarb Recipes
Model: 1892384000
Author: Joan Bestwick
(July, 1999)
To order this title from Amazon, click here.
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