Asparagus Season

Asparagus

I love eating fruit and vegetables in season. While many of them lend themselves to the creation of exciting preserves and a few can be frozen successfully – peas, sweetcorn and tomato pulp for winter use as well as raspberries and stewed apples – for the most part I do prefer them fresh. I look forward especially to those very seasonal vegetables like asparagus, globe artichokes and runner beans and with fruit – to the strawberry season. However, I also find that, after the original excitement of them, those flavours pall after a few weeks.

This year I started harvesting my asparagus in mid March. I have waited for three years to be able to eat it and was totally thrilled to be able to take home my first small bunch. However, I caught a rather inconvenient virus a few weeks ago, which affected my sense of smell and taste. As anyone, who is familiar with asparagus knows, it does funny things to your sense of smell. During this time I found it quite difficult to eat – I could even smell it from my skin. I found I was giving lots of bunches away. For such a luxury vegetable this is really a shame – well maybe not as, the friends I gave it to were delighted.

When I was young, few recipe books had recipes for asparagus and many of those demanded that we have special asparagus pots for cooking it – of course, it was very expensive and had to be treated with respect. Mostly it would be served with Hollandaise sauce and, how delicious was that! Many of these books would be hung up on whether it was white, purple or green asparagus – the white variety being the best and most expensive, the green being the least expensive [but, many thought, the most flavoursome] these days, do we care? We just eat and enjoy it.

Now, of course, asparagus is much more readily available, is much cheaper and is available – imported – all year round. For me, I will not buy out-of-season imported vegetables and I personally think that imported out-of-season asparagus is fairly tasteless. So, let’s enjoy it while it is available – fresh.

If you grow your own asparagus, harvest by cutting the stems close to the ground. The thicker ones are probably the male plants [many seed/plant companies will guarantee male only plants when you buy them], the thinner ones are probably the female plants but, don’t sneer at them, they are thought to have a much better flavour.

When you take your spears home, you will find that when you bend the stems, they will break at the point between where the stem is woody and where it is lusciously edible. It’s funny that, although I’ve been a dedicated cook for many years, I didn’t know this until I holidayed at a cookery school in Andalucia [in southern Spain] last autumn where they actually have two asparagus harvests each year.

If you have a suitably deep container to keep the asparagus upright then it is best cooked that way – the stems need longer to soften while the tips are best cooked in the steam above. About 20 minutes in gently boiling water should do it. Steaming is probably preferable. Allow  6 – 8 minutes [ less if the asparagus is thin]. Then drain well on kitchen paper.

I was listening to a TV chef giving advice to someone last week on cooking asparagus [I regret that I don’t remember who to give him credit]. However, he suggested that asparagus should be cooked in boiling salted water for 1½ minutes then plunged into iced water. It would then keep in the fridge for several days to use in a variety of dishes. That said, I have kept freshly cut asparagus in my fridge for 3 – 4 days before using and it has remained quite crisp.

My personal favourite way of presenting asparagus is also probably the easiest;

Freshly cooked asparagus – 4 – 5 spears per person

Good quality butter

Freshly ground black pepper

A sprinkle of sea salt

Lemon wedges.

Try it also with Hollandaise Sauce: Now, if you have ever tried to make Hollandaise Sauce you will know that it can be quite tricky and time consuming. However, Hugh  Fearnley-Wittingstall in his ‘River Cottage Veg, everyday’ which my son-in-law bought me for Christmas [a wonderful book, do buy it if you can afford it!] has come up with an easy method – as he calls it ‘ a cheaty hollandaise’ ( Melt 150gm butter and whisk it, a little at a time, into an egg yolk until it has a loose consistency, like mayonnaise. Whisk in a generous squeeze of lemon juice and season with a pinch of salt and some pepper.) Of course, this recipe is also good for lots of other vegetables and dishes.

Asparagus is also excellent with a variety of other sauces:

Asparagus in Almond Sauce [from Finca las Encinas – if you can, do book in for a course on cooking there – a truly memorable experience – www.finca-las-encinas.com  or cooking@finca-las-encinas.com ]

1 small ripe tomato

½ small head garlic, unpeeled

50 – 60 g slivered blanched almonds

½ tsp sherry vinegar

60 ml extra virgin olive oil

375g asparagus, ends snapped off

Salt

Method

* Roast the tomato and garlic in the oven 180ºC/Gas 4 for 15 minutes

* Peel the tomato and the garlic cloves.

* Toast the almonds on a baking sheet until golden for about 4 minutes.

* Add tomato, garlic and almonds, vinegar and salt to a food processor or blender until very smooth. Continue mixing. Slowly add the olive oil until it appears like mayonnaise. Taste for salt.

* Grill the asparagus on an oiled skillet or griddle, occasionally turning, for about 10 minutes.

* Serve immediately topped by the almond sauce.

Asparagus with cheese sauce

1 bunch of asparagus – preferably freshly cut, washed and trimmed

For the Sauce

50gm [2 oz] butter

50gm [2 oz] plain flour

250ml [½ pt] milk

75gm [3oz] grated cheddar cheese

Salt and coarsely ground black pepper

Method

·        Steam the asparagus spears.

·        Melt the butter in a saucepan with the salt and pepper.

·        Add the flour and cook until a roux is reached [ don’t allow the mixture to brown or burn!]

·        Gradually add the milk, stirring all the time until the milk has been worked into the mixture without lumps – stirring all the time!

·        Bring to the boil and boil for 1 minute.

·        Add half of the cheese and stir in until the cheese has melted. Season to taste.

·        Spoon the sauce over the cooked asparagus in an ovenproof dish.

·        Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese over the sauce and asparagus.

·        Cook under a grill until the cheese is lightly browned and serve.

New Season's crops - Rhubarb

What we can do with rhubarb 
Well I'm not a huge fan of rhubarb. I don't eat puddings and not a lot of jam. However, I do accept that I have a plot of very early rhubarb which others think is just brilliant. And I have another plot which everyone ignores - It wrenches at my heart strings!
I have inheritated these plants so, have no idea of the varieties. It has been suggested that the early one  is Champagne but, I could not guarantee that. The other is definitely the common-or-garden variety.
My uncle told me years ago, when splitting or propagating rhubarb, to dig the roots up and throw them  to the back of the compost heap overwinter to allow the frost to get at them. Although I have not had to do this for myself, I have noticed that when I'm passing the roots on to others, it seems to work quite well. Personally, I'm finding it quite difficult to get rid of in some areas.
I may not be Rhubarbs greatest fan but, ther is so much you can do with it - check out these recipes: Although I don't have photos for all of these, I have, over the years, checked out all of the recipes.

Rhubarb Crumble

3 – 4 good sized stalks of rhubarb – washed, trimmed and cut into 1cm  [½inch] slices

3 Tblsp sugar

1 Tblsp plain flour

Topping

100gm [2oz] plain flour

100gm [2oz] rolled oats

75gm [ 3oz] butter

50gm [2oz] soft brown sugar

Method

·         Mix the prepared rhubarb, flour and sugar then arrange in a suitable pie dish – approx 1 litre [2 pt].

·         For the topping, mix the flour, oats and soft brown sugar then rub in the butter as finely as possible.

·         Sprinkle the topping over the rhubarb evenly.

·         Bake in a moderate oven [180ºC or 5 gas] for approx 40 – 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is soft when checked with a skewer.

·         Serve with custard, ice-cream or double cream. Enjoy.

Rhubarb Sponge Pudding

3 – 4 good sized stalks of rhubarb – washed, trimmed and cut into 1cm [½ inch] pieces

2 Tblsp sugar

Topping

75gm [3oz] butter

75gm [3oz] caster sugar

2 medium to large eggs

100gm [4oz] plain flour } or  100gm self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder       }

Method

·         Stew the rhubarb with the sugar until soft – allow to cool. Put into the pie dish.

·         Cream the butter with the sugar until pale and creamy.

·         Gradually beat in the lightly whisked eggs.

·         Sieve the flour with baking powder and fold in gently.

·         Spread this mixture over the cooled rhubarb ensuring it has all been covered.

·         Bake in a moderate oven – [180ºC, No 5 Gas] for approx 45 minutes to 1 hour. Reduce the heat if necessary in the later stages.

·         Serve hot with custard or cream.

Rhubarb and Ginger Pie

Ingredients – for a 1 litre ( 1½ - 2 pint) pie dish

4 good-sized stalks of rhubarb

3 Tblsp. sugar

A few pieces of crystallised or stem ginger in syrup – finely sliced

Short crust pastry

150g plain flour (6oz)

75g margarine or butter (3oz)

6 tsp cold water approx.(this amount may vary slightly depending on the weather and the flour you are using – you need the ingredients to bind together without being sticky).

Method

·         Sieve the flour and salt into a baking bowl. Add the margarine and rub in with your finger tips to create a texture like fine breadcrumbs – don’t allow the mixture to become sticky.

·         Add the water slowly to ensure the ingredients combine without becoming too soft.

·         Knead gently to combine the ingredients for a short time – 1 minute.

Making Pie

·         Preheat the oven to 180°C, Mark 6 gas

·         Wash and trim the rhubarb. Cut into 1cm or half inch long pieces.

·         Put a layer of rhubarb on the bottom of the dish, sprinkle with half of the sugar and ginger

·         Repeat this process.

·         Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured board to ½ cm thick approx.(¼in)to the shape of the pie dish. Cut off a strip of pastry wide enough to go around the rim of the dish

·         Wet the edges of the pie dish with water and apply the strip to the edges. Wet the top of the pastry strip with water.

·         Put the pastry on top of the pie. Trim and seal the edges. Put a small slit on the top of the pie to allow the steam to escape.

·         Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes then reduce the temperature and bake for a further 15 – 20 minutes to ensure the fruit is cooked. Don’t allow the pastry to burn

·         When baked, sprinkle the top with a little caster sugar immediately and serve with cream, ice-cream or crème fraîche.

Rhubarb Fool – serves approx 4 portions

2 – 3 stalks of good / sweet rhubarb

1 Tblsp soft brown sugar

For the custard

450 ml [ ¾ pint ] single cream

1½ Tblsp soft brown sugar

1 Tblsp cornflour

3 egg yolks – medium to large eggs

Method

·         Wash, trim and slice the rhubarb into 1cm [½ inch slices].

·         Cook gently with the sugar until soft – stir occasionally – don’t allow to ‘catch’.

·         Allow the rhubarb mix to cool.

·         Put the cream in a saucepan and heat until it is boiling gently. Don’t allow it to burn.

·         In the meantime – put the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour into a bowl and mix well.

·         Whish in the boiling cream then return to the saucepan.

·         Continue to whisk this mixture over a gentle heat until it thickens then, remove from the heat.

·         Cool.

·         Mix the rhubarb and custard mixtures thoroughly then spoon into individual dishes.

·         Chill and serve with whipped cream or crème frâiche – decorate with some mint leaves.

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam

1 – 1.2 kg Rhubarb [  5 – 6 good sized stalks] – washed, trimmed and cut into 1 cm [ ½ inch slices]

Allow the same weight of sugar as rhubarb

25 gm [1oz] root ginger

100gm [4 oz] stem or crystallised ginger

Method

·         Put the prepared rhubarb into a non-metallic bowl/basin and sprinkle the sugar over.

·         Cover and leave it overnight or for about 12 hours.

·         Put the fruit into a large saucepan or preserving pan.

·         Smash the root ginger with a pestle or similar and wrap in a piece of muslin – add to the rhubarb mix.

·         Heat the rhubarb gently then bring to the boil.

·         Add the chopped crystallised ginger then boil briskly until all of the fruit is very soft and the jam starts to thicken – as rhubarb is not really a fruit and there no pectin it will not ‘set’ like other jams – it will not set like other jams.

·         Pot and cover in the usual way.

Rhubarb Chutney

3 – 4 good stalks of rhubarb – washed, trimmed and sliced – about ½ kilo or 1 lb

Approx 1 inch square [ 2cm] fresh ginger – peeled and grated

3 – 4 large garlic cloves – peeled and finely chopped

1 – 3 chillies – depending on desired heat[ my favourites are Joe’s Long - predictable heat and perform well even in cool conditions – they also dry and store well] if you don’t want it too hot, don’t use the seeds.

2 tsp Allspice

1 tsp salt

100 gm raisins, sultanas or chopped dates

175 gm [6 oz] sugar

500ml [ 1pint] malt vinegar – you can use wine or cider vinegar if you prefer

Method

·         Prepare the rhubarb and finely chop the ginger, chilli and garlic.

·         Put all the ingredients into a preserving pan.

·         Bring to the boil then lower the heat until all of the ingredients have softened and the rhubarb is well broken down.

·         This should take about 30 – 40 minutes and the mixture should have the texture of a soft jam.

·         Pot up in sterilised jars, seal and label.

May Day Magic

First of May – Late Spring and the main planting Month

Well, they do say you should be careful what you wish for – you might get it! And, we were wishing very hard for some rain. It has now officially been confirmed that April 2012 was the wettest April since records began, well over 100 years. For many people around the country this is a tragedy, with lost livestock, destroyed homes and property and even one man drowned in the floods.

For growers, all is definitely not lost. The ground is becoming quite wet now but not yet, damagingly so. For quite some time, the rain just ran off the drought hardened earth but, it has now penetrated quite well, although yesterday, when I dug a couple of shallow ridges to plant my too well sprouted beans – Purple Teepee [dwarf purple skinned French beans] and Yinyang or Orca beans [dwarf growing variety good for drying for winter] – the ground was still not too wet. My real fear is that it is a bit too cold though, not as cold as it was last Saturday when we had our Spring Fair. Still, these beans will just have to grow or not, as they will. There were too many of them for me to pot up in my polytunnnel and I have several other varieties still waiting to be planted out.

This year I have sown beetroot [Boltardy] in pots in my polytunnel. I’m not really sure why, as I’ve never had any problems with their germination when sown straight into the ground, although it does mean I now don’t have to thin the rows. That said, each beetroot seed actually has 2 or 3 seeds in it so the young plants still have to be separated for growing on. Either way, there is a little work involved. I’m just trying this method as an experiment. It certainly saves on seed. From half a packet I have now planted out three by five metre rows where before, I would have used two packets of seed for this area. In spite of the cold weather, they seem to have settled in quite well.

It did stop raining for a few hours yesterday so, I was able to go to my plot to feed the birds and water my tunnel – odd to be carrying water in weather like this but, of course, it doesn’t rain indoors!

I lifted my first early potatoes yesterday – Vales Emerald, from my polytunnel. In my last Blog I was complaining about red ants having destroyed several of my potato plants. I have now lost a few more and on digging around their roots I have discovered another red ant nest. I’m afraid I also had to dig it out and spray again with Py. It has been quite disappointing for my crops and has somewhat reduced my sympathy for that particular branch of wildlife.

However, the potatoes I did lift were delicious and it has cleared an area in my tunnel to start planting out tomato and chillis which are now becoming slightly pot-bound.

As I am writing I hear the forecast is promising dry weather for tomorrow so, hopefully, I will be able to spend a few hours on my plot clearing an area for climbing beans, setting up the canes and, with luck, planting some out. If I can break the ground down enough I might even consider sowing some carrot and spring onions.

Fruit bushes and canes look fresh and healthy and are satisfyingly covered in blossom. I still haven’t used all the gooseberries I froze last summer. I might use them to make a batch of gooseberry and mint jelly – the mint is particularly lush just now – and this jelly is perfect with any roast meats but especially with lamb.

Gooseberry and Mint Jelly

Gooseberries make a satisfyingly sharp jelly especially if used while slightly unripe

900 gms / 2lbs gooseberries 

600ml/1 pint water

Sugar ( see method) 

Large bunch of mint

½ litre [1 pint] washed, dried  and finely chopped mint leaves    

Method

1. Wash the gooseberries and remove leaves or pieces of twig  - it isn’t necessary to top and tail them.

2. Put in a pan with the water and the large bunch of mint (use a large pan, like a preserving pan if you have).

3. Bring to the boil then simmer gently until the fruit is soft, approx 10 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to crush the fruit occasionally as it cooks, a little more water may be added if necessary.

4. Strain the fruit through a jelly bag or muslin bag – leave overnight. Do not squeeze the bag or the jelly will be cloudy.

5. Measure the juice and add 450g/1 lb sugar to each 600ml/1 pint juice

6. Put the juice into a clean large saucepan or preserving pan, add the sugar and heat gently, stirring to ensure all the sugar has dissolved, then bring to a rolling boil and boil rapidly until setting point is reached.

7. Skim and put into pots. Allow it to cool slightly, then add the chopped mint and stir a little to encourage the mint to mix evenly through the jelly. [If you add the mint immediately it will stay on the surface of the jelly]. 

8. Cover and seal.