Asparagus cooking tips, asparagus recipes
Asparagus pots
I love the tall and slim asparagus pots. You put an inch or two of water in the bottom, put the spears, bottom side down, in a basket and steam over high heat.
Another favourite method is to cook the spears lying down in a skillet in boiling salted water. For buttered asparagus, you can then just pour out the water, add butter and heat until melted, tossing it in with the spears. Or gild the lily with some ginger with Green Asparagus with Ginger Butter.
A pinch of soda
You can help green asparagus retain its beautiful colour by adding a pinch of baking soda, along with the salt, to the cooking water
Grilling asparagus spears
The act of grilling asparagus has really caught on over the last couple of decades; simply toss the (unpeeled) spears in a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill until tender.
For grilled asparagus, don't peel the stalks; the peel helps to make the stalks tender by trapping in the moisture in the stems. Grilling peeled asparagus leaves you with dried stems. You can fancy up some Grilled Asparagus with some seasonal Fines Herbes.
I love the tall and slim asparagus pots. You put an inch or two of water in the bottom, put the spears, bottom side down, in a basket and steam over high heat.
Another favourite method is to cook the spears lying down in a skillet in boiling salted water. For buttered asparagus, you can then just pour out the water, add butter and heat until melted, tossing it in with the spears. Or gild the lily with some ginger with Green Asparagus with Ginger Butter.
A pinch of soda
You can help green asparagus retain its beautiful colour by adding a pinch of baking soda, along with the salt, to the cooking water
Grilling asparagus spears
The act of grilling asparagus has really caught on over the last couple of decades; simply toss the (unpeeled) spears in a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill until tender.
For grilled asparagus, don't peel the stalks; the peel helps to make the stalks tender by trapping in the moisture in the stems. Grilling peeled asparagus leaves you with dried stems. You can fancy up some Grilled Asparagus with some seasonal Fines Herbes.
Asparagus recipes
Recipe developers like me have the most fun with seasonal products, and over the years many a good asparagus recipe has graced the pages of Homemakers magazine.
Soups
Two asparagus soups stand out as worthy of your attention: Asparagus Soup with Frizzled Prosciutto is a classic asparagus soup topped with salty, crisp-fried prosciutto. Asparagus and Crab Soup is a fancy and tasty dish from America's East Coast.
Pasta and pizza
Asparagus can make for a good pasta, or even pizza. Lemon Asparagus Fettuccine with Shrimp is elegant and quite simple, but Spaghetti Carbonara with Asparagus adds asparagus to a home classic. Asparagus and Lemon Ricotta Pizza shows how nicely asparagus goes with fresh cheeses.
East and West
Vietnamese-Style Asparagus and Shrimp Salad and Chinese Chicken and Asparagus show us some Asian treatments of this wonderful vegetable, while Asparagus Omelettes for Two and White Asparagus with Pimiento Vinaigrette highlight French and Spanish flavours, respectively.
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Andrew Chase is Homemakers Magazine's food editor, the author of The Asian Bistro Cookbook (Robert Rose, 1997), The Blender Bible (Robert Rose, 2005) and co-author of 400 Blender Cocktails: Sensational Alcoholic And Non-alcoholic Cocktail Recipes (Robert Rose, 2006). Subscribe to Homemakers Magazine and don't miss any of Andrew's recipes and menus.
Recipe developers like me have the most fun with seasonal products, and over the years many a good asparagus recipe has graced the pages of Homemakers magazine.
Soups
Two asparagus soups stand out as worthy of your attention: Asparagus Soup with Frizzled Prosciutto is a classic asparagus soup topped with salty, crisp-fried prosciutto. Asparagus and Crab Soup is a fancy and tasty dish from America's East Coast.
Pasta and pizza
Asparagus can make for a good pasta, or even pizza. Lemon Asparagus Fettuccine with Shrimp is elegant and quite simple, but Spaghetti Carbonara with Asparagus adds asparagus to a home classic. Asparagus and Lemon Ricotta Pizza shows how nicely asparagus goes with fresh cheeses.
East and West
Vietnamese-Style Asparagus and Shrimp Salad and Chinese Chicken and Asparagus show us some Asian treatments of this wonderful vegetable, while Asparagus Omelettes for Two and White Asparagus with Pimiento Vinaigrette highlight French and Spanish flavours, respectively.
Page 2 of 2
Andrew Chase is Homemakers Magazine's food editor, the author of The Asian Bistro Cookbook (Robert Rose, 1997), The Blender Bible (Robert Rose, 2005) and co-author of 400 Blender Cocktails: Sensational Alcoholic And Non-alcoholic Cocktail Recipes (Robert Rose, 2006). Subscribe to Homemakers Magazine and don't miss any of Andrew's recipes and menus.
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