Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The Asparagus is coming, The Asparagus is Coming!!!

A flood of asparagus has descended upon the farmers' market! This really is one of my favorite times of the year. After all the braised meat dishes and root vegetables of the winter, the harbingers of spring appear and you know it’s just the beginning. Asparagus needs the sun and the recent spurt of nice weather has coaxed the green spears out of the ground a little earlier than last year. But winter is still here. The weather is changing, true, but I have a feeling the cold will persist for some time. Hopefully, there will be enough sunshine to keep the asparagus spears poking through the surface of the fields.

With the upcoming asparagus season is full view, I wanted to pull out one of my favorite asparagus preparations. Now normally I grill these asparagus because the char flavor from the grill goes really will with the romesco sauce, but since it’s still a little too cold to fire up the grill, I figured I’d just roast the raw asparagus in a pan. And what do you know, it worked beautifully. Asparagus and eggs are classic, but I always try to improve a recipe each time I execute it. So this time I was able to get my hands on some duck eggs at the farmers’ market. They have such a big, rich yolk that frying it in a little olive oil was all I wanted to do with it.


Pan-Roasted Asparagus with Romesco & Fried Duck Egg

½ lb. Asparagus (use the old growth asparagus, not the new crop pencil variety)
2 Duck Eggs
Olive Oil

1)Put a large skillet or cast iron pan over med-high heat to heat up. While pan is heating, trim last inch to 2 inches of asparagus spears if they are really fibrous and white. When the pan is hot, add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and it should start to smoke slightly, add half the asparagus and let settle in one layer. Cook on one side until they have colored deeply, but not burned, about 2 minutes. Then flip them over and cook for another 2 minutes until tender but still not cooked all the way through. Repeat with second half of asparagus.

2)Set asparagus a side in a warm oven. Wipe out the pan and add another couple tablespoons of olive oil. Turn the heat down to medium low and crack 2 duck eggs into the pan. You want them to cook slowly from the bottom up; they should just barely sizzle, but not stick to the pan. If you want, you can cook them for about 2 minutes, then finish them under a low broiler until the white sets and the yolk is runny.

3)Place some romesco on the plate and nestle half the asparagus on top of it, then top it with the fried egg, season with salt and black pepper and tuck in.

Romesco Sauce

1 Cup Canned Roasted Tomatoes, drained
¾ Cup Almonds or Hazelnuts (or both)
1 Tbl. Sweet Paprika
2 Tsp. Smoked Paprika
½ Tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
1 Jar Piquillo Peppers (12 oz.), drained
5 Slices Baguette (1/2” thick)
1 Small Onion, diced
8 Cloves of Garlic, sliced
2 Tsp. Sherry Vinegar
¾ Cup Olive oil


1)Brush the bread slices with olive oil and toast them on a sheet pan in a 375 degree oven until golden brown and crunchy throughout. Remove from the oven and let cool. Then grind in a food processor until the consistency of bread crumbs.

2)While the bread is toasting put the almonds or hazelnuts in a dry sauté pan and place over medium heat. Toss them in the pan until toasted and fragrant, about 4-5 minutes. The nuts will emit some of their oil and get glossy, at this point remove them from pan and cool on a plate.

3)In the same pan, add a couple tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the onion and garlic, being careful not to burn the garlic. A little color on the onion and garlic is ok. Then add the paprika and red chili flakes and cook for another minute until fragrant. Pull off the heat and transfer to the food processor with the breadcrumbs.

4)Add the remaining ingredients along with the toasted nuts to the food process except for the remaining olive oil and mix until a homogenous puree is formed. Then stream in the olive oil to emulsify the mixture, if it gets really thick add a few splashes of water to thin it out. The consistency should be a little looser than chunky peanut butter. Check for seasoning and add more salt or vinegar until you like it.

Yummy!

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