Last week my assistants and I bought a good amount (10 pounds) of asparagus from a local asparagus grower.  We also loaded up on other asparagus products (tea, salsa, tortilla chips, asparagus powder, etc.).  Initially the plan was to can the asparagus but after quite a bit of reading—we started with Putting Food By and worked our way through the internet afterwards—we decided it would be best just to freeze it.  We considered pickling but remembered that we don’t really seem to like pickles that much and tend to not eat them when we do pickle things!  Don’t let that stop you from pickling them, and if you decide to here’s a good set of instructions that I intend to use the day I change my mind.  Anyways, here’s what Madame and I did, after listening to the asparagus:

(After the asparagus has frozen on the baking sheets place it in freezer bags, the pre-freeze on the sheets helps keep the wet veggies from sticking together in one big lump in the bags).

Finally with some of the asparagus we didn’t freeze we had some simple asparagus and fried egg sandwiches!  They were very good and easy to make.  The sunny side up eggs gave a wonderful creaminess to the sandwich, almost like a hollandaise sauce, but without all the work and absurd amounts of butter needed to make that amazing sauce.

Asparagus and Fried Egg Sammich

Inspired by Well Preserved

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of lightly toasted bread (we used the flax walnut raisin from Golden Hearth)
• 4 eggs, fried sunny side up, or to your liking
• 8-10 asparagus stalks
• Salt and pepper

Steam the asparagus until just tender.  Meanwhile fry the eggs (one or two at a time).  To get a nice runny yoke put a lid over the pan and don’t flip the egg.  Remove each egg when the white has completely solidified.  Place egg on top of the bread.  Briefly fry the steamed asparagus with a small amount of oil or butter over high heat (about 2-3 minutes).  Top the egg with 2-3 stalks of asparagus, salt and pepper and serve.

Linking up:

Shaved Asparagus Pizza with Rhubarb Vinegar – Recipe PDF

Inspiration for Rhubarb Vinegar with Asparagus from Food Network and  Shaved Asparagus Pizza from Smitten Kitchen

Rhubarb Cranberry Goat Cheese Pizza – Recipe PDF

Inspiration for honey-glazed rhubarb from Brooklyn Locavore

And finally, my assistant, hard at work grating cheese (and yes, that’s pepperoni on the cutting board for the “kid” pizza, what can I say, kids just love their pepperoni, but at least it’s from a local company):

One of our favourite wedding gifts was the classic cookbook 

Cream of Asparagus Soup

From Rombauer, Irma von Starkloff, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker. Joy of Cooking. New York: Scribner, 2006.  Page 144.

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbs. butter
• 1 ½ cups minced celery (we didn’t have this and the results were fine!)
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 – 1 ½ lbs. asparagus, chopped
• ¼ cup flour
• 4 cups broth (vegetable, or chicken)
• ½ – 1 cup cream, half-and-half, or milk
• Salt and pepper
• Grated cheese for serving

Melt the butter in a soup pot over medium heat.  Add the celery and onion and cook, stirring, until softened.  Stir in the asparagus, cover and cook 5 minutes.  Stir in the flour and turn the heat to high.  Slowly stir in the broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Use a food processor or immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth*.  Return the pureed soup to the pot over medium heat and stir in the cream or milk.  Add salt and pepper to your liking and serve, garnished with the grated cheese.

Bagels (Really, really good bagels, that is!)

From Rombauer, Irma von Starkloff, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker. Joy of Cooking. New York: Scribner, 2006.  Page 619.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plus 2 Tbs. warm water
• 2 ¼ tsp. active dry yeast
• 2 ½ tsp. sugar or honey

• 1 Tbs. melted vegetable shortening or butter
• 1 ½ tsp. sugar, honey, or maple syrup
• 1 ¾ tsp. salt
• 4 – 4 ½ cups bread flour (or all purpose)
• Additions: dried cranberries, raisins, cinnamon, minced garlic, shredded cheese, etc.

• 4 liters or quarts water
• 1 Tbs. malt syrup, sugar, honey, or maple syrup
• ½ tsp. salt

Combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl and let stand until yeast dissolves (5 minutes).  Mix in the shortening, sugar, salt and 1 cup of flour.  Gradually add more flour and begin kneading when you can no longer stir.  Knead for about 10 minutes by hand, adding enough flour to make a smooth and elastic dough that has a “satiny” feel.  Cover and let rest for 15-20 minutes.

Punch down the dough and divide it into 8 pieces (or more for smaller bagels).  Roll each piece into a rope about 10 inches long with tapered ends.  Get a bowl of water and dip each end of the rope in the water to help it stick together, stretching the dough over itself end-to-end and pinching it together (here’s a great slideshow about the process).  Let the rings of dough (soon to be called “bagels”) rise, covered with a cloth or plastic wrap, on a floured counter for about 15-20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425 F.  Bring the water to a boil in a large pot with the syrup and salt.  Place the bagels into the boiling water, adding as many as will fit without being on top of one another.  When the bagels surface flip them and cook for about 45 seconds longer.  Remove them with a slotted spoon or spatula and place them on a baking sheet lined with cornmeal or semolina flour (or just flour if you don’t have those).

Top with your favorite toppings like shredded cheese (my favorite), sesame seeds, garlic, poppy seeds, etc. (You can also work these ingredients into the dough earlier in the process which is what we like to do with the cinnamon and raisins as well as the garlic).  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden and crisp.  Eat them as soon as you are able (or let them cool to really seal in the flavors and then slice and lightly toast).

Oh yeah, and they’re really good sliced in half, lightly toasted and topped with soft goat cheese (chevre)!

*When using a food processor I use a slotted spoon to transfer most of the vegetables to the blender without the broth because otherwise my food processor will leak all over the place.  Thus if we had an immersion blender it would be much less messy… birthday ideas anyone?

My contribution was a meal consisting of Parmesan Asparagus with Poached Eggs and Couscous Salad and fresh bread (or toast).

• Spinach (1/4lb)
• Kale (1/4lb)
• Pea shoots
• Potatoes
• Asparagus
• Carrots

(left from previous shopping)

• Mushrooms
• Sweet potatoes
• Parsnips
• 8 eggs

(in Garden)

• Lots of greens – mustard, lettuce, spinach, kale

The meal plan is as follows (note that we will be gone this weekend):

Jon asked what was growing right now in the Northwest where his Dad and I live, and if I might want to share about that.  Most things are just beginning to sprout–outside and in–but the first vegetable harbinger of spring is determinedly and gloriously pushing up from the dirt.  ASPARAGUS!!

We are still in the rapturous phase and are eagerly finding our old favorite recipes.  (In another few weeks, we will no doubt be reduced to making and freezing asparagus soup just to use it up.  The soup really is, however, a taste of early spring when you thaw it in late spring or early summer.)  Note: my husband planted a section of purple passion variety two years ago and so we are just getting a few slender stalks as seen in the picture.

Tonight’s recipe came from Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert.  It is basically what we have always called Dutch Babies but with added veggies and cheese.  The recipe can be easily found on the internet (search “Simply in Season Vegetable Oven Pancake), and it’s quite easy!  I made it with steamed asparagus cut in 1 inch pieces, a few sliced mushrooms which were leftover in the crisper, and some cut-up baby peppers.  I sprinkled the top with fresh-from-the-herb-bed chopped thyme and some white cheddar cheese to finish it off.  (You will have surmised that I, unlike the Kitchener, am not abiding by the “local only” dictum.)  We just love eating from our own garden when able.  Next time, however, I’ll add some cut up scallions, more fresh herbs, and use parmesan instead of the heavier white cheddar.

If I get another guest spot, I’ll blog about the other early spring delight–RHUBARB!  What do you say, Kitchener?

Sandra Spee is the Kitchener’s mom, his Young Assistants’ Oma, and a great cook!  She has cooked real food for as long as the Kitchener can remember and always makes use of whatever is growing in the huge garden that she and her husband/Opa have next to their home.  She lives in Olympia, WA and prefers sunny weather.