Grilled Sesame-Ginger Asparagus and Portobello Salad

I’ve gotten used to and enjoy the surprise of what we receive from our CSA. There was a time when I dreaded one more bunch of greens, but now I look forward to using every last leaf when they’re in season. Another item that I previously found challenging to use was red cabbage. I prefer it raw rather than cooked, and I’ve finally amassed enough salad and slaw options that I love finding a dark purple head of it sitting our Farmhouse Delivery box. Lately, I’ve come to especially like Asian flavors mixed into a salad or slaw with red cabbage. I usually just wing it and start mixing ginger, garlic, lime juice, sesame oil, and a little vegetable oil for dressing the chopped cabbage. But, for this most recent salad, I turned to The Fresh and Green Table by Susie Middleton. I always find great ideas for all seasons in that book, and it has yet to disappoint. In the book, this salad is shown with grilled asparagus and portobello slices on top of a salad made with Napa cabbage and spinach. I switched it up by using red cabbage with spinach instead and loved the mix of dark purpley reds, several shades of green, the whites of the green onions, and the dark browns and blacks of the mushrooms. 

The marinade for the mushrooms was made first. Peanut oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, minced garlic, and minced ginger were whisked together. A few tablespoons of the dressing were set aside, and the rest was poured over the mushroom caps in a baking dish. They were left to marinate for about 30 minutes. Just before cooking, the asparagus spears were added to the baking dish and turned in the marinade. I used a grill pan inside to grill the vegetables, and the portobellos were sliced after coming off the grill pan. In a big mixing bowl, thinly sliced red cabbage, torn spinach leaves, some sliced green onions, and cilantro leaves were combined. The spinach and green onions were also from our CSA, and the cilantro was from my herb garden. To the bit of reserved marinade, lime juice and some soy sauce were added, and most of that was poured over the raw vegetables. It was tossed with the cabbage and spinach mixture before transferring the salad to a serving platter. The grilled asparagus was set on top followed by slices of the grilled portobellos. The remaining dressing was drizzled over top, and more cilantro leaves, sliced green onions, and sesame seeds were added for garnish. 

The flavors were as good as I knew they would be, and I loved that the mushrooms and asparagus made this a meal of a salad. There was a great mix of textures and temperatures between the crunchy, cool, raw vegetables at the base and the warm, grilled top layer. I’m not sure if we’ll see another head of red cabbage in our CSA box this season, but if we do, I’ll be delighted. 

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Asparagus Pesto with Herb Pasta

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how much the local food scene in Austin has changed over the years. Many years ago, I visited the lone, quiet, little farmers’ market on Wednesdays in the parking lot of the old Whole Foods. That was way before Whole Foods moved into the current flagship location with the corporate headquarters upstairs. It was just a handful of us who showed up for the market which consisted of a few vendors who brought a couple of carrots and maybe a turnip or two. I’m exaggerating, of course, but there wasn’t nearly the array of produce, eggs, meat, seafood, prepared foods, and artisan-made products you can find at our markets today. And, these days, we have farmers’ markets in several parts of town happening almost every day of the week. It wasn’t even that long ago, three years perhaps, when getting locally-grown asparagus was difficult. I remember the first vendor who offered asparagus and how precious and limited the supply was. When I heard it was available, I rushed to the market early one Saturday morning and nabbed one of the few, skinny bunches. This year, I’ve seen multiple vendors with beautiful asparagus. More artichokes are showing up lately as well, and I’m thrilled to hear we’ll be receiving some from our CSA next week. It’s exciting to watch our local food options continue to expand. Last month, I brought home lots of asparagus from Hairston Creek Farm. It was so fresh and tender and completely unlike what’s available at the grocery store. I sauteed chopped pieces of it in butter and poured whisked eggs over the top to scramble with it. I also tossed some chopped asparagus into a Thai curry soup just to warm it through before serving. And, I made my favorite asparagus dish of all time. I’ve been making this asparagus pesto for years during the season, and I never thought to mention it here. It’s incredibly simple, and the texture of the pesto is silky smooth. I usually use dried pasta, but this time I went all out and made fresh pasta with chopped herbs incorporated into the dough. It was a celebration of spring on a plate. 

The pesto is found in On Top of Spaghetti which is one of my most favorite books for pasta. You simply roast one pound of trimmed asparagus spears at high heat, like 500 degree F, for a few minutes until tender. Roasting time will depend on the size of the spears. Just toss the spears with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper before roasting. Once the roasted asparagus has cooled a bit, roughly chop it and use a spatula to transfer the asparagus pieces and any oil from the pan to a blender. Add two-thirds cup of extra virgin olive oil, and I know that sounds like a lot, and puree until completely smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed. That’s the asparagus pesto. It can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Just bring it to room temperature or heat it in a saucepan over low heat before adding to cooked pasta. For the pasta, I followed another favorite recipe which is found in Stir: Mixing It Up in the Italian Tradition. Two cups of flour are mixed with two whole eggs plus four egg yolks and a teaspoon of salt. I mix the dough in a bowl, and then knead by hand for a few minutes before wrapping the dough in plastic and letting it rest for 30 minutes. This time, I also added chopped herbs from my garden which flecked the dough with green. Speaking of color, my pasta dough was especially yellow this time thanks to gorgeous eggs from Milagro Farm. The yolks were beautifully orange. I divide the pasta dough into four pieces for rolling through the machine, and I cut the rolled sheets into thin spaghetti for this dish. I left the pasta to dry at room temperature for half an hour, and then covered it to store in the refrigerator until I was ready to cook. A big pot of salted water was brought to a boil, the fresh pasta was cooked for two minutes or so, and some pasta water was saved before draining. Since I was enjoying our local asparagus so much this year, I bought extra and quickly cooked some chopped pieces to add to the pasta as it was tossed with pesto. I added a little pasta water to thin the pesto slightly. In On Top of Spaghetti, Pecorino is suggested for serving with this dish, but I always use Parmigiano Reggiano instead. 

I have a lot of favorites when it comes to food, but this is in that special category of favorites. Getting to make this pesto with locally grown asparagus and the fresh pasta with incredible, local eggs and home-grown herbs made it better than ever. It’s a continuing pleasure to watch our local food scene grow and to discover new things each time I visit our markets. 

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Lemongrass Tofu with Chiles

I happen to really, actually like tofu. I like it in all forms whether silken, firm, or extra firm. I like the flavor, and there is a flavor to tofu albeit very mild. It’s versatile enough to be used in endless ways and can be incorporated into dishes both savory and sweet. However, the one way I still have never tried tofu is in its homemade state. Andrea Nguyen’s new book Asian Tofu will change that. After reading the book recently I couldn’t wait to get cooking, so the dish I’m showing here was made with store-bought tofu. Soon enough though, I’ll be turning back to the complete tutorial at the beginning of the book for making homemade tofu from dried soybeans. Obviously, it’s not necessary to make your own tofu for the recipes in the book, but the instructions are there if you want to experiment. There’s also a buying guide to inform you about the varieties typically available in stores. The recipes cover everything from starters and soups to main dishes and salads and even sweets. Not all of the dishes are vegetarian but many are, and there’s usually a simple way to adapt dishes with meat to make them vegetarian if you’d like. For instance, the Grilled Crisp Tofu Pockets from Malaysia are made with a sauce that includes dried shrimp paste, but a sweet chile sauce could be used instead. Some pages I marked show dishes like Silken Tofu and Edamame Soup, Twice-Cooked Coriander Tofu, Pressed Tofu and Peanuts in Spicy Bean Sauce, Spicy-Sweet Fried Tofu Buns, and Spiced Chickpea Crepes with Soybean Paneer. When I finally make my very own homemade tofu, I’ll use it for Japanese Chilled Tofu. To get started using the book, I wanted to try the technique of briefly brining tofu before frying it which both flavors the tofu and gives it a firmer texture. The Lemongrass Tofu with Chiles dish includes that step, and since asparagus was a suggested ingredient, the time was right.

In the tips section at the beginning of the book, Nguyen explains that soaking pieces of tofu in hot, salted water allows the surface of each piece to firm up after being dried. Then, when the pieces are fried, the oil drains from them more easily. The salted water also seasons the tofu pieces giving them even better flavor. The cut tofu pieces only need to sit in the hot, salted water for about 15 minutes. Then, they’re drained and dried before being fried. Once the tofu pieces have all been fried and are left to drain of excess oil, the rest of the dish is a snap to prepare. Finely chopped shallot, chiles, and lemongrass were stir-fried briefly before sliced bell pepper and asparagus were added. The recipe includes green beans as it's written, but asparagus is mentioned as an option. After a couple of minutes, the fried tofu was added followed by a mixture of sugar and curry powder. A scant quarter cup of coconut milk and a bit of fish sauce were added, and that was all there was to it.

The fried tofu was crispy and chewy with a good, golden crust. Since the crust formed quickly as the tofu fried, there was no chance for oil to soak in and lend heaviness. The dish was just rich enough with the tofu and the small amount of coconut milk, and the flavor with the added lemongrass and heat of the chiles was miles beyond what you’d expect from a plate of tofu and vegetables. I can already tell that with this book, I’ll be an even bigger fan of tofu than I was before.

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Thai-Style Scallops and Asparagus

Scallops plus asparagus and Thai flavors was all I needed to know. I saw this dish in the food section on The New York Times site last week, and it immediately became a part of our weekend dining plans. With the current fling I’m having with asparagus and scallops’ unwavering appeal, this meal was sure to be a hit. That being said, I made some minor changes to the suggested preparations. First, Kurt and I both prefer for large scallops to be seared. While we agree on that point, Kurt also feels that sauce should never cover scallops once they’re seared because tampering with that seared bit of crust on the surface should be illegal. So, rather than cooking the scallops in the sauce as was recommended, I seared them separately and set them on top of the asparagus and sauce for serving. Another change I made was simply due to laziness. I didn’t feel the need to make fish stock for a mere one-third cup, so I used water and added a little fish sauce instead. Last, since I have a cute, little kaffir lime tree growing in a container on my front porch, I grabbed a few leaves from it to slice thinly for garnishing.

I made the curry paste mostly as directed by the recipe. Shallots, cores of lemon grass bulbs, ginger, garlic, anchovy paste, coriander, lime juice, and lime zest were mixed in a food processor. Oil was heated in a saute pan, and the curry paste was added. Asparagus, and I used more than suggested because I couldn’t help myself, was cut into small pieces and added to the curry paste. Then, I added water and fish sauce instead of fish stock, more coconut milk than suggested because I used more asparagus than suggested, and sriracha, and allowed the asparagus and sauce to simmer. Meanwhile, I seared the scallops in a separate pan, and all the while jasmine rice was steaming. The rice was served on the side, and the scallops were set on top of the asparagus and sauce making sure that nothing sauce-like came in contact with the top of the scallops.

The spiciness level can be determined by the amount of sriracha added, and I boosted it just a bit, but I didn’t want to overshadow the flavor of the scallops. The simple curry paste was a breeze to make, and I’m now certain I need a mortar and pestle. It was such a small amount to pulverize, it took longer to make the paste in a small food processor, with several stops to stir, than it would have by hand. Still, it made a flavorful sauce for this fresh, spring-like dish.

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Spring Barley Risotto

Spring is here, and I'm having a thing with asparagus. I keep bringing it into every meal. It partners so well with eggs like in a baked egg dish with parmesan I've been making for years or even just simply roasted and then topped with softly scrambled eggs. For dinner meals, I've been making different grain dishes with asparagus and other spring players like scallions, leeks, and peas. This barely risotto was my favorite of those so far, and it's another recipe from Power Foods. I have bookmarks sticking out of several pages of that book, and last week, I asked for votes on Twitter about which of two dishes to try next. It was this risotto or stuffed poblanos, and it was a very close race. Of course, I made the poblanos too, so watch for those soon. In making the barley risotto, I embellished the dish just a tad by adding some pea shoots I had from my CSA and by sprinkling a little lemon zest on top. Otherwise, I stuck to the instructions for a simple, light, spring meal. And, unlike a traditional Arborio rice risotto, this one doesn’t require constant stirring.

To start, a little olive oil was heated in a large pan, and pearl barley and chopped leeks were added. Once the leeks had softened, white wine was added and minimal stirring ensued until the wine evaporated. Then, water was added, brought to a boil, and left to simmer until absorbed with just an occasional stir here and there. Vegetable broth was added next and the mixture was stirred occasionally over about 10 or 15 minutes until the barley was cooked through and the liquid had thickened. I placed a big handful of pea shoots on top and let them steam for the last few minutes. Then, thawed, frozen peas were added with grated parmigiano reggiano and thinly sliced mint leaves. I served the risotto with lemon zest and shards of parmigiano on top.

It's a light dish with no butter and just a half cup of grated cheese, but chewy, nutritious barley rounds it out and makes it filling. The spring vegetables shine, and the mint points up their flavors. I know zucchini is coming soon, along with summer tomatoes in every color, but I need a little more time with asparagus first.

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Creamed Corn and Asparagus Coins

I started to tell you about the book Ad Hoc at Home the other day. Since this is a book about family meals, it’s organized according to how planning meals at home supposedly happens. The chapters for main courses of meat and fish come first assuming those are chosen first, and they're followed by soups, salads, vegetables and side dishes, breads, and desserts which are picked to go with a main course. That makes sense. Although, I have been known to plan meals around a vegetable or salad I have in mind. This particular meal did involve barbecued chicken, but my real plan was to put together a menu that would include fresh, local corn. The creamed corn recipe in the book had stuck in my head, and I had to have it. Creamed corn may not ordinarily require a recipe, but in this case, it led me to adding cayenne and lime zest, and so I was happy to follow it. Then, the asparagus coins caught my eye. Rather than leaving the asparagus in spears, they were cut into nice, little rounds and cooked with chive oil and parsley water. Yes, it was just a tad fussy for a simple, home-cooked side dish, but the flavor was fantastic.

First, for creamed corn, Keller offers a handy tip for removing silks from the cut kernels. Move your hand through the kernels, round and round, and the silks will stick to your hand. Rinse your hand and repeat as needed. With kernels free of all silks, the corn was cooked in a large saute pan with melted butter, lime juice, and salt over low heat. Once the liquid evaporated, cream, cayenne, and lime zest were added. When the corn had absorbed most of the cream, chopped chives were added, and it was done.

To make the asparagus dish, chive oil and parsley water needed to be made in advance. To make chive oil, chopped chives were placed in a sieve under hot running tap water to remove any chlorophyll taste. The chives were drained and dried and pureed with canola oil. That mixture was refrigerated for 24 hours and then poured through cheesecloth to become perfectly smooth. Parsley water was made with leaves and tender stems that were wilted in a pan with a teaspoon of oil and a little honey. That mixture was then transferred to a bowl with ice cold water to stop the cooking. All of that was then pureed and strained. The reason for the parsley water is that it helps in retaining the flavor of asparagus. The chemical in asparagus that gives it its taste is water-soluble, so cooking in plain water causes some of that flavor to disappear. With those items prepped, it was time to address the asparagus. It was suggested that the spears be cut on a mandoline for perfectly equal-sized coins. I opted to quickly chop with a knife and accepted that mine were close enough to being equal in size. So, the almost perfect asparagus coins and tips were placed in a saute pan with chive oil and salt. As soon as the edges of the coins began to cook, parsley water was added, and it was left for a brief couple of minutes until just tender.

I said the parsley water and chive oil were fussy, but they really weren’t difficult to prepare. In fact, I finished them both in about 20 minutes and that included washing dishes. I would need to do a side by side comparison with asparagus cooked in plain water to know if the parsley water were truly effective in preserving asparagus flavor. But, I can say that the taste was excellent and very much of asparagus with a mild side note of chives. And, the creamed corn was ridiculously good. Fresh corn and cream can do no wrong, but add a little lime and cayenne, and it becomes even better. These were simple, home-cooked side dishes that were taken to another level, and that’s the point of Ad Hoc at Home.

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Chiringuito Seafood Paella with Saffron Allioli

I started the story of a dinner party the other day, and here it continues with two more parts of the meal including an asparagus salad and seafood paella. I thought I knew paella, but I learned so much more from The New Spanish Table. For authentic Paella Valenciana, you must use the proper rice and cook it in a wide, flat paella pan outdoors over a fire of burning vine branches or orange tree shoots. It contains chicken, rabbit, possibly duck, and occasionally vaquetes, which are land snails, but never seafood or chorizo. Traditionally, the only allowable additional garnishes were flat green beans, artichokes, and butter beans. The focus of the dish is always the rice. There’s also a suggestion that paella is only for lunch and never for dinner, and any dish that includes those other ingredients like seafood should be called something other than paella. To be named Valenciana, it has to be exactly right. Clearly, I didn’t really know paella at all. The good news is that there are also recipes in the book for ‘paellas’ which make no attempt at being by-the-book, traditional Paella Valenciana. I decided to make one of those, chiringuito seafood paella, which Von Bremzen describes as ‘a minimalist affair, with few other ingredients besides seafood and rice.’ The one important garnish, which I almost completely forgot to serve, was the saffron allioli.

Before I get into the specifics of making the paella, I also wanted to show a simple asparagus salad I served while the rice simmered. This is called asparagus on asparagus, and it’s another playful and easy dish from Happy in the Kitchen. You start with a bunch of peeled asparagus and set four spears aside and then cook the rest until tender. Those were left whole and chilled. The four reserved spears were chopped and added to a saucepan with a little water and olive oil. They were simmered until very tender and then pureed with dijon mustard, lemon juice, and salt. What results is a thick asparagus sauce which was served in cups for dunking the whole, chilled spears.

So, back to the seafood paella. I prepared a shrimp stock and cleaned and cut the seafood in advance. The stock was warmed with some saffron while the paella prep began. Olive oil was heated in a large saute pan because I don’t yet own a proper paella pan, but now I really want one. The recipe suggested using monkfish, but that’s not a sustainable choice and is on the avoid list right now. I used true cod instead. Cod, cut into one-inch pieces, was added to the olive oil and seared for about a minute. It was removed from the pan, and squid tubes cut into rings were added. The squid was seared and then pushed to the outside of the pan. More olive oil was added to the pan, and minced garlic was cooked until fragrant. Tomatoes that had been grated on a box grater were added followed by some paprika. Then, the rice was added. In the book, there’s a thorough explanation of types of rices to consider for paella. The most reliable and easiest to locate is Italian Arborio rice, and that’s what I used. The rice was stirred in the pan until well coated, and then the warmed shrimp and saffron stock was added. From that point on, the rice was no longer stirred. The pan was shaken to distribute the stock throughout the rice, but otherwise, the rice was left to cook undisturbed. Chopped parsley was added, and after about five minutes, the cod was returned to the pan along with some littleneck clams. Once the stock had absorbed down almost to the surface of the rice, the pan went into a 425 degree F oven for 15 minutes. The pan was then removed from the oven, covered, and left to sit for five minutes. The lid was removed, and it was left to sit for another five minutes. The sitting improves the rice. While it sat, shrimp were sauteed in a separate pan with some minced garlic.

The paella was served in the pan with the sauteed shrimp on top with no garnishes other than some lemon wedges. I wasn’t sure I had seasoned the rice carefully enough during the cooking time, but the seafood, and particularly the clams, added such a nice taste of the sea that it worked out fine. Just as everyone was taking their last bites, I realized I had completely forgotten the saffron allioli which was to have been served with the paella. Our guests, and this is truly a sign of the best kind of dinner guests, said ‘go get it, let’s have a taste!’ So we all piled one more scoop of paella onto our plates and topped it with the allioli. The garlicky, saffron-scented, thick sauce added a lovely something extra, but the plain paella wasn’t bad at all on its own. Up next, I’ll show dessert.

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Roasted Asparagus Lasagne

The photos seen here do not adequately convey how good this lasagne was. It was all flavor and no photogenic ability, but this was my favorite thing I’ve eaten for weeks. It was dreamy good and incredibly so given how few ingredients made up each component. For instance, asparagus and parmigiano reggiano are meant to be together. I had wanted to make this lasagne for awhile but waited until I could get asparagus in season. I also waited until I could devote the better part of an afternoon to the many steps involved in making it. This is found in the book On Top of Spaghetti by Johanne Killeen and George Germon which I’ve gushed about a time or two. I had read through all the instructions for the lasagne, had all the ingredients, and was excited to finally get started.

First, I began making the fresh pasta following the recipe for George’s Fresh Pasta on page 212. There is a very specific explanation of how much egg is to be used: two jumbo eggs, weighing four and one-half ounces in their shells, slightly over one-half cup but less than two-thirds cup. Right, so I used two eggs which seemed to be in the acceptable volume range, and I used two cups plus two tablespoons 00 flour as advised. This was mixed in a food processor with salt, and one tablespoon of hot tap water was added at the end. The result was unworkable, dry, hard pasta dough that was soon scooped into the garbage. Rather than admitting defeat and going to buy dried lasagne, I called Kurt and talked him into getting eggs on his way home. I checked Marcella’s recipe which I’ve used before successfully, and her ratio was four eggs to two cups of flour. For pasta dough round two, that’s what I used again with the 00 flour. That worked perfectly and produced beautiful pasta dough but put me an hour and a half behind in the preparation. There was no turning back though.

Two pounds of asparagus were roasted, onions were sauteed. The roasted asparagus was chopped and added to the onions. Milk was simmered with some lemon peel and then used to make the bechamel. All of this transpired while the rolled and cut pasta sheets dried. Said pasta sheets were then briefly boiled, shocked in ice water, and drained on towels. Then, the layering began. A baking dish was sprayed with oil, pasta sheets went into the bottom allowing for them to come up the sides and overhang the dish. Bechamel found its way onto the pasta sheets followed by grated parmigiano reggiano followed by the asparagus onion mixture and some cream. This was repeated with more pasta sheets that fit inside the ones overhanging. Once all the layers were in place, the overhanging sheets were tucked over top, and the remaining bechamel and cheese were spread about before the top was drizzled with olive oil. And, just before I nearly passed out from hunger, the lasagne went into the oven for about 30 minutes.

Given that this was not a thirty minute meal, and that I faced certain challenges that set me back in my overall scheduling, I was completely incapable of waiting the full five minutes before cutting and serving. Hence, the photos of the plated lasagne clearly depict the wonderful bechamel and cream as it oozed forth from the layers. Even after it sat for several minutes, this wasn’t a lasagne that held its shape when cut. What I can tell you though, is that roasted asparagus and some onion in concert with a simple bechamel, really good parmigiano reggiano, and homemade pasta is more delicious than I can describe. Do make the pasta, with four eggs, and do use the cream, and find a big chunk of time when you can do all of this because like everything else from this book, it was a pure delight to eat.

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