April 8, 2015 by Liz @ spades, spatulas, and spoons

April in the Kitchen – Grilled Asparagus with Pickled Asparagus and Prosciutto

Juxtaposing grilled and pickled asparagus highlights two sides of this wonderful spring vegetable. On the grill, the asparagus is smoky and meaty. In vinegar, it’s grassy and green with just enough tartness to counter the richness of a slice pf prosciutto. If you topped this with a fried or poached egg, it would make a tasty savory brunch dish.

This recipe is adapted from “The Preservation Kitchen” by Paul Virant.

Grilled Asparagus with Pickled Asparagus

Grilled and Pickled Asparagus with Prosciutto

6 spears pickled asparagus – commercial or home made (recipe below), thinly sliced
2 tablespoons pickled asparagus pickling liquid
1/4 cup of sliced spring onions, or finely minced shallots, or red onion
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
Either 1/4 cup olive oil or 1/4 cup of sour cream
1 pound fresh asparagus
4 generous slices prosciutto
1 cup of loosely packed and chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, chives and tarragon (optional)

Grilled Asparagus

Prepare a fire in your grill, preheat a stove top grill pan, or preheat you oven to 450 degrees F.
In a small bowl stir together the pickled asparagus, pickling liquid, onion, and mustard. Whisk in the olive oil or sour cream, add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
Rub the asparagus with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Grill or roast the asparagus until it is charred at the tips, about 10 minutes.
Spread the slices of prosciutto on either individual plates or a platter.
Arrange the warm asparagus on the prosciutto and top with the vinaigrette. Sprinkle the herbs on top.
Serve each person a slice of proscuitto, some asparagus and sauce.

Grilled Asparagus with Proscuitto and Pickled Asparagus

Substituting sour cream for olive oil also makes a delicious variation.

Grilled Asparagus with Pickled Asparagus Sauce

Pickled Asparagus – makes 4 quarts

6 1/2 cups champagne vinegar
3 1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons Kosher salt
2 tablespoons of sugar
4 teaspoons of cumin seeds
8 sprigs of tarragon or fennel or dill
4 whole cloves of garlic, peeled and halved
16 cups of asparagus, trimmed

In a pot, bring the vinegar, water, salt and sugar to a boil. Keep hot. In a dry skillet toast the cumin seeds until fragrant, about a min.
Scald 4 quart jars in a large pot of simmering water fitted with a rack for processing the jars. Right before filling, put the jars on the counter. In each jar, place a teaspoon of cumin seeds, 2 sprigs of thyme, and 2 garlic clove halves. Meanwhile, soak the lids in a pan of hot water.
In a large pot of boiling and salted water, blanch the asparagus for 1 minute. Drain the asparagus and pack the stalks into the jars, tips up.
Pour the hot brine over the asparagus, leaving about a 1-inch space from the rim. Check for air pockets and add more brine if necessary. Seal with the lids and screw on the bands.
Place the jars in the pot with the rack and add enough hot water to cover by at least an inch. Bring the water to a boil and process for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the water for a few minutes. Remove the jars from the water to a dish cloth on the counter and cool completely.

Please consult a canning book for more details.

I am taking this to Fiesta Friday to party with Angie and friends.

Fiesta Friday

Pickled Asparagus

February 4, 2015 by Liz @ spades, spatulas, and spoons

February in the Kitchen – Roast Asparagus

Asparagus season in Northern California hasn’t started yet, although it will be soon. With unseasonably warm weather in January everything is a few weeks ahead. The asparagus below came from Argentinia and buying it is totally against my politics. But, I was craving it. It looked amazing, not like the asparagus you usually see this time of year in the grocery store. At first, I thought it came from a local grower. The ends were fresh looking, the stalks were snappy and of a good size, the heads sere still closed…my barriers came down.

Asparagus

In my book the two best ways to cook asparagus are roasting in a hot oven. and grilling them. For grilling either a BBQ or stove top grill pan works well. Of course you can also stir fry them with other ingredients (also excellent), but I am writing today about the way to bring out the very best asparagus flavor which is uncluttered by other ingredients.

Roast Asparagus

1 – 2 bunches of fresh asparagus, tops closed, snappy and medium thickness
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher or sea salt
1 lemon (to grate the rind)
freshly grated parmesan

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F
Wash the asparagus by swishing the stalks in a pan of water
Snap off the bottom woody part, this should happen naturally if you bend the stalk
Line a baking pan with parchment paper
Lay the asparagus in the pan in one layer, drizzle with olive oil and turn to coat, sprinkle the stalks with salt
Bake for 15 minutes until done to your liking (start checking at 12 minutes), we like ours still crisp but beginning to char and soften at the tops.
Remove from the oven and grate the rind of a lemon over the asparagus, sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan.

Baked Asparagus with lemon rind and parmesan

October 21, 2014 by Liz @ spades, spatulas, and spoons

There is always something going on in the garden!

It pays to keep your eyes open when you spend time in the garden! I am never quite sure what I will find. It pleases me to think of the mini ecosystem the garden is supporting.

California stick insect

I came across this stick insect in the front yard while doing some clean up. It’s a variety of walking stick, a California Timemas. They usually live in trees and shrubs in the chapparal or at the foothills of mountains. I don’t know what it was doing in Oakland! This is the first time I have seen one here. Global warming?

Caterpillar of Black Swallowtail Butterfly

Black Swallowtail catterpillar – about 2 inches long

While cutting parsley I spied this lovely caterpillar. Looking it up on the web I found it is the caterpillar of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio polyxenes). In the past it was commonly referred to as the Parsnip Swallowtail as their favorite food plants belong to the Umbelliferae, or Carrot family. They like parsley and fennel, both of which are abundant in my garden. The adult butterfly must have visited my butterfly bush and decided the nearby parsley was a good place to lay its eggs. After photographing and identifying it, I returned it to the parsley. There is plenty to share.