April Asparagus

We recently ate some yummy April asparagus (pictured). I'm not sure, but last year I think we only clued into the big asparagus scene that goes on around here in May. So far in April I found some in Hatfield, in Deerfield, and in Hadley which is asparagus central for the country.

Last year, I described the asparagus history of the region and gave you a few recipes.

Here's another recipe. It's just too simple!

Simple Grilled Asparagus

1. Warm up the BBQ. Low to medium hot, since it's only asparagus you are cooking.
2. Wash and clean two bunches or 2 lbs of "grass" as we call those spikes of green around here. (Two bunches, because this stuff is so good that you will eat it all and then wish you had left-overs the next day.)
3. Snap off bottom-most segment of each asparagus. It's fun and makes a nice noise. Discard.
4. Put them on a plate, drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.
   
5. Cook spears on the BBQ perpendicular to the the grating, so they do not fall through.
6. They will be done in just a few minutes. You want them when they are not firm, a little singed here and there, and as done as you are used to. Feel free to roll them as they cook or rearrange them so they are cooked evenly.
   
7. Remove to a serving platter and sprinkle with a little salt. (Now is the time to get out that expensive French sea-salt like fleur de sel you always forget to use.)
   

How to Cook Asparagus

The Pioneer Valley is famous for it's asparagus. Sasha, Lily & I have been eating very fresh asparagus the past month and a half, sometimes three times a week. It's a good thing at her age Lily gets habitual about food, so she doesn't complain about having the same thing every day. If it were pasta, she wouldn’t mind either. For those who haven't been so lucky, this is just like having fresh corn and tomatoes in August or fresh strawberries in June. And we will get the strawberries in a few weeks. I have to admit that I do prefer corn, tomatoes, and strawberries to asparagus, but who wouldn't? Meanwhile we pick it up at one of five places I have staked out in Hadley, The Asparagus Capital of the World, which it was called until disease wiped out most of the crop in the 1950s. New varieties were planted and some smaller farms continued the tradition, so the "grass" can be still be had for a mere $3 to a whopping $4.75 a bunch depending upon where you find it. Hadley is the town between Amherst and Northampton where the farms and the malls are and which we often pass through on our way to somewhere else. Often at the side of the road, near a house, near a farm, there is an asparagus stand selling bunches sitting in a pan of water with an unmanned box for the money. We prefer what we hear are the less desirous slender stalks instead of the stockier shoots. If you cook your own "grass" you probably break off the bottom segment or two to get rid of the dry bit of the stalk. Here, it's so fresh that you can eat the whole thing if you want, but instead I snap off the bottom 1/2 inch or anything that looks at all imperfect.

Yesterday I stopped to buy a bunch on East Street in Hadley. I had no small bills, so was forced to use the quarters and dimes we save for parking meters. As I was counting the coins, a small old man literally appeared smoking a cigar. He said that since there were two bunches left, I might as well take them both. I told him that I only had the coins for one. That's not what I mean, he said. Take them both. Last night we ate one bunch, and now I have another bunch in the fridge I must admit perhaps now not quite as fresh as the first.

I made some Asparagus soup two weeks ago and am making some now using leftovers. This is today's recipe for the soup and our family instructions for cooking "grass".

How to Cook Asparagus

• 1 bunch or 1 lb. asparagus

1. Snap off bottom most segment of each asparagus. It's fun and makes a nice noise. Discard.
2. Rinse asparagus thoroughly and lay in a wide frying pan or sauté pay with 1/4 inch of water
3. Put on stove, cover, and cook on high flame for 1-3 minutes depending upon the thickness of stalks and whether you like them crunchy or soft. I poke them with a sharp knife after a minute to see if they are done.

Asparagus Soup

• 1/2 to 1 lb. steamed asparagus from last night, coarsely chopped
• 1 to 2 cups chopped onions
• 1/2 to 1 cup sliced carrots
• 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil or both, too much is OK, since this is soup
• 3 to 4 cups chicken broth
• 6 ounces grated cheddar cheese (optional)
• Salt pepper to taste

1. Sauté onions in butter on med-low heat for as long as you can stand, about 20 minutes. They get sweeter the more you cook them, but don't burn them. Stir occasionally.
2. Add carrots about 10 minutes into the cooking of the onions. Stir.
   
3. Add asparagus and 1/2 teaspoon salt and some pepper, cook for another 15 minutes, stir some more.
4. Add 1/4 of chicken broth and buzz in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add more broth to the blender if it seems too thick to blend.
5. Return to pot, add rest of the chicken broth. If you want to do the compulsive French thing and impress people, then pour it through a fine strainer. It's probably worth it, since it will impress yourself. Tip: use a bit of chicken broth to clean off the blender blades and dump this liquid into the pot.
6. Salt and pepper to taste.
   
7. Serve hot with grated cheddar in each bowl or if you need to put grated cheddar directly in the pot, remember the cheese will make your pot harder to clean, but the dishwasher, if you have one, won't complain about cleaning the bowl.

Author's note: I wrote this entry now while I was cooking. It was so good that I had to eat a bowl, even though it's 10am.