Whenever I want to try something new and add zing to a vegetable, one of the first places I turn is Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian. I’ve found quite a few keepers in this cookbook - dishes I’ve never really encountered elsewhere, but that intrigue my tastebuds and stretch my horizons. For example, she has a “pumpkin pie” recipe from Greece (p 293) - think spanakopita (spinach pie), not Thanksgiving custard concoctions - and it never ceases to amaze people I make it for.

But I digress. This post is supposed to be about asparagus! The following isn’t the most exotic or intriguing of her asparagus recipes, but it was very satisfying. The addition of green chile and sesame oil added a flavor element and richness that went beyond what I’d expected. My second entry for Asparagus Aspirations is:

Asparagus with Pine Nuts
from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian (p 136)

2.5 lbs asparagus, trimmed, peeled, cut into thirds, and left to soak according to directions on page 133
2 Tab olive oil
3 Tab pine nuts
2 scallions, cut into very fine rounds all the way up their green sections
1 to 1.5 tsp very fine chopped fresh hot green chile
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp sugar
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp soy sauce
2 Tab oriental sesame oil

I didn’t have scallions on hand, so left that out. Instead of fresh chile, I had to rely on 2 cubes of defrosted chile, from last fall’s harvest (our garden last year: chiles, red bell peppers, and raspberries!). And I only had less than a pound of asparagus left, so scaled the recipe accordingly - except I used way more chile than would be called for.

Drain the asparagus well.
Put the olive oil in a large sauté or frying pan and set over medium heat. When very hot, put in the pine nuts. Stir once or twice until the pine nuts are golden and then remove them with a slotted spoon and spread on paper towels.
Quickly put the scallions and chile into the oil. Stir once and put in the asparagus, 3 Tab of water, and the salt. Stir gently to mix and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook on medium heat for 3 minutes, or until the asparagus is just done.
Uncover and add the sugar, lemon juice, soy sauce, and sesame oil. I mixed these ahead of time. Stir to mix, boiling away most of the liquid as you do this.
Add the pine nuts, toss, and serve immediately.

The final product is not the most photogenic dish, but very enjoyable!

Tagged with: asparagus aspirations

Early in May, asparagus was one of the few items in abundant supply at the local farmer’s market. We’ve eaten a lot of it this month, from simple preparations to more complicated ones. I really wanted to try it fried, as read about in the “Asparagus Aspirations” round-ups over at Seriously Good, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. (But there’s still time, since there’s still asparagus in the market!)

I did try two new recipes. The first was a salad based on a recipe I picked up at the grocery store. Although the asparagus, arugula, and lettuce were local, the addition of mangoes takes it out of the realm of an “eat local” dish. You can almost figure out the preparation just by reading the title:

Arugula Salad with Mangoes & Asparagus in a Mandarin Vinaigrette

But if you want something more specific, here are the directions:

18 asparagus spears, ends snapped
4 cups arugula, washed and spun dry
2 cups romaine heart leaves, torn, washed and spun dry
2 mangoes, peeled and sliced
1/2 to 1 cup Mandarin-style bottled salad dressing, such as Up-Country Organics or Brianna’s

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to biol. Cook asparagus 3 minutes or until just tender. Remove and immerse in ice-cold water. Drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhilte, arrange arugula and lettuce on a large platter or individual plates. Arrange asparagus and mango over greens. Drizzle with 1/2 cup dressing; add more dressing to taste if desired and serve. (Or do like me and toss it all together in a salad bowl.)

I was unsure what a “mandarin-style dressing” is, but a brief perusal of the Brianna’s web site inspired me to mix up some soy sauce, ginger, and a touch of orange juice. I used much less than 1/2 cup and even so, the salad felt a little drowned at the end. Next time I’ll pass the dressing separately. Otherwise, it was a fabulous combination - the sweet edge of mangoes playing off the dark soy sauce element and earthiness of asparagus, mingling with the sharp nutty arugula. Try it, you’ll probably like it! (unless you’re like my husband, and don’t really enjoy arugula…)

Tagged with: asparagus aspirations

Rhubarb is one of those midwestern ’specialties’ that I’ve never tasted, despite leaving the southwest almost 2 decades ago (with a brief stop in the mid-Atlantic). I toyed with the idea last year, but never got around to buying any. So when I heard them talking about rhubarb during the Market Report segment of KCRW’s Good Food podcast, I decided this would be the year.

Some brief research at the rhubarbinfo site revealed why I might have never encountered it before: it requires winter temps below 40F and summer temps averaging below 75F. I also learned that “some folks say the finest quality rhubarb is grown in Michigan, Ontario, Canada, and other northern states in the United States.” I was scratching my head at a comment during Good Food that rhubarb is year-round in the Midwest. As far as I know, it’s very seasonal. In fact, our CSA starts deliveries in June and the rhubarb season is petering out at that point. But according to rhubarbinfo, it can be forced in greenhouses, which may account for the statement I heard.

So last week during my trip to the farmer’s market, I checked to see who had it available. My aspargus lady didn’t have any, but our favorite purveyor of apple cider did, so I bought it from them. When I mentioned I’d never even tasted rhubarb, she tucked in a paper with recipes, but I decided to scour the internet anyway. I was hoping to find something intriguingly different. I did come across some salads and salad dressings, and quite a few ’savory’ treatments of rhubarb - dishes like lentils curried with rhubarb and potatoes, baked chicken and rhubarb, or Persian rhubarb stew.

But in the end, I decided upon this recipe for rhubarb crunch from the epicurean site for my inaugural attempt. (Actually, I was toying between this and the caramel rhubarb cobbler, it was my mother-in-law who cast the deciding vote for the crunch.) And what a treat it was! The taste was a very complex mixture of sweet and tart. My mother-in-law says that rhubarb tastes like raspberries without the seeds. That’s certainly there, but there was another flavor note beyond the raspberry, that I couldn’t quite pin down. The native midwesterner who’d stopped in right at dessert time enjoyed the fact that this was purely rhubarb, with no strawberries to mess with the flavor. Jonski Papa was glad he ate some hot out of the oven (instead of waiting until later). Z-boy tried it, but didn’t like it - T-boy and C-boy just passed. I detected a distinct caramelized element - probably due to the presence of the bottom layer of crust. I’m going to use that method when I make peach crisp during peach season.

Tip: as written, step 3 in the recipe is to make a simple syrup with cornstarch that you pour over rhubarb before baking. Given the time needed for it to boil and then clarify, it makes sense to start this first. Because I sliced the rhubarb first, without paying attention to the complete recipe, I sprinkled a tablespoon or two of raw brown sugar on the rhubarb as it sat in the measuring cup - I don’t know that it added anything to the final product, though.

Tip 2: the recipe says “serve with lots of ice cream” - we think it’s better to serve with just a small bit of ice cream, so you don’t overwhelm the rhubarb.

T-boy’s favorite shirt is black, with a killer bee on it. His next round of favorite shirts are all dark navy - one with lizards, another with a zoo train, another plain navy. When given a choice, he chooses dark. Ask him his favorite color, he’ll reply “dark” or “black”. Do I have a future goth on my hands?

Either that or a skater dude. Big brother Z-boy is seriously focused on skateboarding right now (impressive for a not-quite-6 year old). So when I came across this cake at the Family Fun web site, I planned to remember it for his birthday. Then T-boy saw it, and insisted on having it for his own birthday party this past weekend.

When I asked him what color to make it, he said “black” (and red for the swirls). Although it’s not truly black, I figured chocolate icing would satisfy him, and it did. The red turned out a bit pink (just how much food coloring do you have to add to really get red??), and the swirl looks a bit too much like a 6 when viewed from above, but overall the cake was a big success - easy to make, and everyone was wildly enthusiastic in their praise. Believe me, wildly enthusiastic praise from 2 and 3 year olds warms the cockles of your heart, even more so than praise from 4s through 8s and adults! Seems like it should be otherwise, since the latter are more likely to understand the effort behind it, but there’s just something about seeming magical and invincible in the eyes of a child that really boosts your ego.