This post isn’t really about making a recipe. It’s only a nice little idea about one.
Throughout this asparagus season, I couldn’t resist the tall green stems beckoning all over my greenmarket. I’d bring a home a big bunch, give the ends a fresh cut, stand them in a container with an inch of water in the refrigerator, and work steadily through them. The other day, when I wanted to use some of my current bunch for a dinner appetizer course, I thought of Asparagus Mimosa.
For years I’d typically cooked asparagus in only one way: boiling. It always tasted fine, but I finally realized how much richer a flavor it develops when sautéed or roasted. So this time, instead of the usual sort of mimosa – cold asparagus in vinaigrette, topped with a bicolor snowfall of grated hardboiled egg – I made it into a warm dish.
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I’d coated these asparagus spears with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted them at 400° for 10 minutes. Then I laid them out on warmed plates under a small heap of chopped, un-chilled hardboiled egg and more grindings of salt and pepper.
This turned out to be quite a good little dish. It had the familiar asparagus flavor, intensified by roasting, plus the unusual effect of the vegetable’s being soft and warm under the cool chopped egg – an intriguing counterpoint of temperatures, textures, and tastes. We liked it a lot.
I’ll have to try roasting them; I always cook asparagus in the microwave. Not only is this quick, but it also keeps the heat in the kitchen down and maintains more flavor than boiling.
TV chefs here seem to favour grilling them on a cast iron pan on a hob and seem to waste at least one inch at their base.
Love the chopped egg idea! We are definitely team grilled asparagus. A little char does wonders.