ASPARAGUS!!!!!

Oh, this lovely time of year when everyone's pee starts to smell just a little bit funky.  It must be asparagus season.

Despite the horrible rainy, cold, floody spring, it just took 5 days of sunny weather to make the asparagus pop up out of the ground.  The season is here!  It's time to eat grilled, steamed, boiled, pan fried or baked asparagus every day.  Because once it's gone...you won't find asparagus of this quality for another year....

My asparagus farmer picks and delivers his product 3 times a week.  If you keep your asparagus upright, in 3 inches of water in your fridge (use a beer mug or a water pitcher to hold it upright), it will keep for at least 5 days once you get it home.  In fact, asparagus will keep on growing (albeit just a small amount), while in your fridge!

Everything that you always wanted to know about...ASPARAGUS

If the weather gets hot hot hot, the asparagus will grow very quickly, which will wear the plant out and shorten the season. If we get some cool weather with our warm spring (fingers crossed on the warm spring), the season will stretch out. Over all, we can expect to have locally grown asparagus for about 4 weeks.

Choosing local asparagus

Choose asparagus that has tight, dry tips that come to a point. Contrary to popular belief, thin asparagus does not a more tender stalk make. With local asparagus, especially the variety that I get from the wonderful grower that I have, the thicker stems are more tender than the thinner ones....trust me, it's true! Fine dining restaurants have been insisting on their suppliers providing them with thicker stalks of asparagus for so long that it is now a separate category. Mass produced asparagus is sorted with the thicker stems going to restaurants for a premium price (cause the chefs know what the good stuff is) and the thinner stems going to retail where customers mistakenly believe the thinner stems to be more tender.
Normally you should snap the 'woody ends' off of your asparagus, but don't bother with the asparagus from Crampton's unless the bunch has a pink tag on it. I buy from 2 different local growers, one whose asparagus comes with a pink tag and one whose asparagus only has an elastic band, no tag. My tagless local grower cuts those ends off of the asparagus delivering only the most succulent of stems to the store! When they have asparagus available, they are my grower of choice. Their crop is currently 5 feet under water so I will be carrying both pink tagged, and non pink tagged asparagus this spring.

Storing

Store local asparagus, upright in your fridge, in a container of water ( the water should cover one to two inches of the base of the asparagus). This keeps your asparagus hydrated and makes sure that it keeps plump and firm. Asparagus has even been proven to keep on growing when stored with this method, so you may gain half of a centimeter of asparagus after you bring it home! Asparagus will keep in your fridge for up to 5 days.

Cooking

I personally prefer asparagus on the bbq with oil, garlic and lemon!! YUM! Mom likes to munch on Asparagus raw as she thinks that it tastes somewhat like raw peas. Though I don't like to eat asparagus raw by the spear, I do like it chopped and added to coleslaw, or vegetable salads. Brushed with olive oil and chucked on the grill makes for tender spears that keep the stove off during those summer bar b que days.

Boiling

Rinse your asparagus off to get any mud off. Bring enough water to cover asparagus to a boil. When boiling, place asparagus in water, and keep in water until it turns bright green. For slightly crunchy asparagus, boil for 2-3 minutes, for fully cooked soft asparagus, boil for 5-6 minutes. Asparagus tips cook faster than the stalks, so you may want to prepare them separately, or steam them standing up.

Steaming

Because asparagus tips cook faster than the stems, steaming asparagus upright is a great solution Find yourself an old coffee perk, or a tall stock pot. Bring enough water to come about an inch up the asparagus stems to a boil. Once the water is boiling add the asparagus spears upright, and cover immediately, cook for 4-8 minutes depending on thickness of stems,

Freezing

Asparagus freezes very well, just blanch (plunge in boiling water), for one minute, then let dry, place in freezer bags and freeze for up to one year.

For some absolutely fabulous bbq recipes, check out our recipe blog at www.cramptonsrecipes.com


Take Care
Erin