asparagus

A Seasonal Meal to Chew On While We Consider Google Panda

25 Apr 2011
Spring onion linguine with olives, lemon & rosemary

A seasonal meal: That’s my hook today. Well that and something else I hope you’ll chew on…

First the seasonal meal: I baked sweet spring onions with lemon slices, kalamata olives & rosemary. It became rich and fragrant. I could have eaten it with a spoon straight from the oven. It would also have made a fantastic topping for crostini. But I tossed it with linguine and called it default pasta. Default past with no faults! Get the recipe for Spring Onion Linguine with Lemon Slices Kalamata & Rosemary here.

It’s a terrific pasta recipe. But spring is green. So, here is a recipe for a cold crisp plate of steamed asparagus with goat cheese and arugula sauce. At the last minute I decided maybe this dish was a little too green and threw some radishes on the plate. I felt the presentation needed something surprising. It turns out radishes and goat cheese are perfect partners (kinda like radishes and butter, only better). I am going to get them hooked up again very soon.

Of course a seasonal meal would be lacking without something a bit sweet. So if you CLICK here I have a Norwegian Orange Cake recipe for you. I took the recipe from the LA Times this past Thursday. Sure it’s sweet and highly seasonal, especially in Norway. But I chose this cake for it’s coincidental timing in my life. You see I found out on Wednesday that this June I will be participating in a Culinary Travel Tour to of all places– Norway! The timing of this Norwegian cake in my life was just too eerie. I had to make it immediately.

You may have noticed that I presented a full meal here. I don’t usually do that. But you see I am trying to keep you interested because I have something else I really want to discuss.

Google Panda.

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Asparagus with Goat Cheese and Arugula Sauce

Asparagus with Goat Cheese and Arugula Sauce
By jgreghenry Published April 25, 2011
Prep time: 15
Yield:1 ()

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 lb asparagus, trimmed, lower halves peeled
  • 3 oz soft goat cheese, cut crosswise into 8 rounds
  • 0.25 lb arugula, washed and dried
  • 0.5 c extra-virgin olive oil
  • 0.5 clv garlic, peeled & minced
  • 0 sea salt, to taste
  • 2 radishes, thinly sliced

Directions

Prepare an ice bath. Set aside. Steam asparagus in a steamer set over boiling water, covered, until crisp-tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer immediately to the ice bath to stop cooking, then drain and pat dry. Transfer to a large serving plate and top with goat cheese rounds. Set aside a few arugula leaves as garnish. Roughly chop remaining arugula. In a blender, combine chopped arugula, oil, garlic and pinch salt; blend until smooth. Drizzle a little sauce over asparagus and cheese, put the rest in a small bowl to pass at the table. Garnish the plate of asparagus with with a few radish slices and reserved arugula as garnish. Serve with the sauce on the side.

Notes:

serves 4 Source: Adapted from La Cucina Italiana

Stress Inspired Roast Asparagus with Garlic-Butter Breadcrumbs & Toasted Almonds

24 Nov 2010
Roast Asparagus with Garlic-Butter Breadcrumbs & Toasted Almonds

I may have mentioned I have been quite busy. It's the start of the Holidays, who's not? Right? Still allow me some space to grumble will ya...

You see yesterday I was in the kitchen all day. And by all day I mean ALL day. My day started at 7am roasting pumpkin for the FoodBuzz Project Food Blog baking challenge. By 9am I was grating and melting chocolate, slicing and dicing carrots, experimenting with different toasting times of certain grains, nuts and seeds. Trying to decide between parsley and marjoram. Cayenne or no cayenne! It was exhausting.

Okay, okay... I can hear you all mumbling to yourselves "just what the heck is he making?" But sorry, that shall remain my private business until later this week.

Once I finally decided that cinnamon was the missing ingredient. It was 4pm. The light was fading and I knew the photo aspect of this challenge had to be put off for another day.

Then it struck me. It's only 48 hours until Thanksgiving. While I am not in charge of the whole meal I am charge of 4 things. Parmesan Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes, Herb Roasted Carrots & Parsnips, Green Beans with Lemon-Butter Breadcrumbs & Toasted Almonds, and a Pear & Almond Tart. That's still a lot of cooking with not a lot of time remaining. So I threw myself into 3 more hours of cooking...

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Roasted Asparagus with Garlic-Butter Breadcrumbs & Toasted Almonds

Roasted Asparagus with Garlic-Butter Breadcrumbs & Toasted Almonds
By jgreghenry Published November 24, 2010
Prep time: 30
Yield:1 ()

Ingredients:

  • 0.5 c sliced or slivered almonds
  • 2 T unsalted butter
  • 4 clv garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1 c panko style breadcrumbs
  • 0 coarse sea salt, as needed
  • 1.5 lb asparagus
  • 2 T extra virgin olive oil
  • 0.25 t coarsely ground black pepper
  • 0.25 c parmigiano-reggiano, grated
  • 0.25 c lemon juice
  • 1 lemon cut into wedges as garnish, optional
  • 1 T parsley, minced as garnish, optional

Directions

Place the almonds in a heavy, dry skillet set over medium heat. Toast stirring often until golden brown. Let them cool on a plate in a single layer, until serving time. In a small saucepan set over medium heat melt butter. Add half of the minced garlic and cook stirring often until fragrant and just beginning to color. Add the panko and toast, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes until golden brown and crisp. remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest and a pinch of salt. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400°F. Rinse clean the asparagus and trim the tough ends off and discard. In a foil-covered roasting pan lay the asparagus spears out in as close to a single layer as possible. Drizzle the olive oil over the spears, roll the asparagus back and forth until they are all covered with a thin layer of olive oil. Sprinkle with the remaining minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Roll the asparagus around once more to coat evenly. Place pan in the preheated oven and roast for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on how thick your asparagus spears are. The tips should be well-browned, and the spears tender when pierced with a fork. Transfers the warm asparagus to a serving tray. Toss with the grated Parmesan and lemon juice, then top with the reserved almonds and breadcrumbs. Serve topped with parsley and with lemon wedges on the side, optional.

Notes:

serves 6

FoodBuzz Challenge #5- Grilled Pizza, Same As It Never Was

17 Oct 2010
Grilled leek and asparagus pizza

Food Buzz Challenge #5 Grilled Truffled Pizza with Leeks, Asparagus & Shitake Mushrooms

CLICK here to VOTE!

Pizza. Be it take-out, homemade, served at the greatest pizzeria in town or even frozen, we all love it.

It can be in the style of a chewy New York “pie” or deep dish from Chicago. Rustic or elegant. Heaped with traditional ingredients like mozzarella and sausage, or veering into new territory– thin, charred and delicately drizzled with truffle oil. This way, that way– here, there and everywhere, pizza is a worldwide favorite.

The earliest versions of pizza were probably simple flatbreads baked hot and fast with garlic and pork fat. Once tomatoes hit the shores of the old world, pizza matured into the tomato and cheese topped version with the queenly name of Margherita. It's often considered the standard bearer. But it’s not the only way to go, pizza has been reinvented countless times and continues to evolve everyday.

Which means honest to goodness pizza can be anything and can go in any direction. But I decided to keep my version as straightforward as possible. A real pizza that I would really eat. Because novelty pizzas are fun, but are they really what you crave? Either way, there's room for pizza purists and pizza pioneers in this competition. Which makes pizza a great choice for this FoodBuzz Challenge.

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