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Post by heavyhitterokra on Apr 21, 2021 15:22:13 GMT -6
It was hard to know where to put this, since asparagus is not a 'leafy green' and isn't really in any other vegetable class for that matter.
Before asparagus got moved to its own botanical family, Asparagaceae, during the early 2000s, it was part of the lily family along with onions, chives, shallots and garlic. It makes good sense then, that asparagus and garlic make such a well matched duo. When cooked with care, both can be mild and sweet (or both can be pungent and bitter when cooked carelessly). To highlight the best of both worlds, gently fry garlic into chips for a crispy topping, then use the lightly infused oil to sauté the asparagus spears. Both thin and chubby spears will work, as would nearly any other vegetable you enjoy pairing with garlic: broccoli, kale, snap peas, or fennels.
After the snow yesterday, I noticed that my asparagus patch was flourishing, so this evening, we'll be having baked Tilapia and chipped garlic, fried with buttery asparagus spears.
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Post by macmex on Apr 21, 2021 15:42:06 GMT -6
Our asparagus is always very late to appear. We are seeing a few however. It's a favorite!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Apr 21, 2021 18:21:43 GMT -6
The freeze last night zapped all the spears that were standing upright, but frozen asparagus is still okay to cook, if you steam it, so we had some steamed asparagus with broccoli. However, several fresh spears also popped up since morning, so we had some fried too. Good stuff!
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Post by chrysanthemum on Apr 22, 2021 5:53:32 GMT -6
I love asparagus.
It’s interesting how different cooking techniques change the experience. I have an eight year old who really hated asparagus until I grilled it with a Greek vinaigrette dressing. If I grill, sauté, or bake it, she’s delighted and will eat as much as she can. If we just steam it, she doesn’t want to have anything to do with it.
Our asparagus bed is young enough that we have made a point of not harvesting it this year. It has been ferning for a good while now, but I still get a surge of delight when I see more new spears pop up.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Apr 22, 2021 14:52:20 GMT -6
chrysanthemum,
Funny you should mention that about kids hating steamed asparagus. Preparing okra in different ways can give a person similar experiences to the ones you described above. My grandma used to boil okra and I couldn't stand to eat it, or even to watch someone else eating it. (Yuck!) However, if you brush it with oil, and fajita seasonings, then prepare it outside on the charcoal grill, it's right up there with sweet corn and fresh tomatoes as a thing to look forward to in summer.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Apr 28, 2021 12:24:22 GMT -6
Asparagus Goat Cheese and Tarragon Tart Because you don’t have to make your own crust, this asparagus-striped tart is so easy that it almost feels like cheating. (But it's not). Recipe from New York Times Cooking section.INGREDIENTS1 cup feta goat cheese, at room temperature (4 ounces)1 large egg, lightly beaten, at room temperature1 large garlic clove, finely grated or minced1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves, plus a few more for serving½ tablespoon finely grated lemon zest½ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more for sprinkling Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg1 cup crème fraîche, at room temperature (8 ounces) All-purpose flour, for dusting the work surface1 sheet or square all-butter puff pastry, thawed if frozen (about 9 to 14 ounces; brands vary)8 ounces thin asparagus, woody ends well trimmed Extra-virgin olive oil2 tablespoons grated Parmesan Freshly ground black pepper Red-pepper flakes (optional)1 ½ ounces Parmesan, shaved with a vegetable peeler (about 1/2 cup) PREPARATION
Step One: Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl, use a fork or a wooden spoon to mash together the goat cheese, egg, garlic, tarragon, lemon zest, salt and nutmeg until smooth. Switch to a whisk and beat in the crème fraîche until smooth.
Step Two: On a lightly floured surface, roll out puff pastry into a 13-by-11-inch rectangle about 1/8-inch thick. Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. With a sharp knife, lightly score a 1/2-inch border around the edges of the puff pastry.
Step Three: Spread the crème fraîche mixture evenly inside the scored border. Line up the asparagus spears on top, and brush them with olive oil. Sprinkle some salt and the grated Parmesan over the asparagus.
Step Four: Bake until the pastry is puffed and golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Let it cool on the cookie sheet for at least 15 minutes or up to 4 hours before serving. Then sprinkle black pepper, red-pepper flakes (if using), the shaved Parmesan and tarragon leaves. Drizzle a little oil on top.
E njoy this recipe while Spring lasts and fresh picked asparagus is still with us.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 11, 2021 16:18:04 GMT -6
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 14, 2021 12:37:01 GMT -6
Thanks, for posting that Chrysanthemum!
I never knew a person could do that!
I have three asparagus plantings and always end up with more than we care to eat before we all tire of asparagus every other night in Spring. Then, in Autumn, when we crave it again, there is nothing out there but ferns. This could solve both problems, plus will make a fun experiment to try as a family.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 14, 2021 13:43:16 GMT -6
It might just be the perfect time of year for you to try as well, or maybe wait a few weeks till the peak heat is past. I just ran a comparison between Tahlequah, Oklahoma and Davis, California, since that’s where the study was done that recommended cutting back in July or August. It looks like the two places have similar highs in the summer, but Davis has cooler nights. Starting at the end of September, though, Tahlequah cools off more. I find those graphs really interesting. weatherspark.com/compare/y/9713~1120/Comparison-of-the-Average-Weather-in-Tahlequah-and-Davis
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Post by chrysanthemum on Aug 15, 2021 14:05:00 GMT -6
Well, my husband cut back half of our asparagus bed for me yesterday. It was a little earlier than I had planned to do it, but the fronds were turning brown pretty fast, and it was getting hard to get to my okra, so we decided to get it done. I hope the browning was just a result of aging rather than because of some disease or disorder. The stalks at ground level all looked pretty healthy still. It will be interesting to see if we can manage a fall asparagus crop.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Apr 22, 2022 7:26:59 GMT -6
Our asparagus is very late and very sparse compared to last year. The green is coming up, though, but we’re not harvesting. We’re letting it fern. We’re going to try to harvest the purple, but it isn’t coming in much just yet. The few stalks that have come up nicely have been delicious. Just a few minutes ago I was walking across our “barren wasteland” with my six year old, and I spotted what looked like an asparagus shoot. If a bird dropped a seed, would a plant come up like this? I thought they’d be really small, wispy fern-like plants. Anything else this would be?
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Apr 22, 2022 18:19:30 GMT -6
That certainly does look like asparagus. Do you think it's possible the previous owners might have planted a crown there? When birds drop seeds here the baby asparagus looks like a very wispy miniature fern. It pops up in crazy places like under my pawpaw trees where birds roost and they don't usually live through the carnage of summer mowing.
I found a link to a website discussing the foraging of wild asparagus.
honest-food.net/foraging-finding-wild-asparagus/
I wouldn't think it could be very wild, as asparagus originated in the Eastern Mediterranean, not likely that it started over here on its own accord. More likely, it 'escaped' captivity by way of bird droppings or forgotten homesteads, but it's possible that what you have there is a volunteer asparagus plant.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Apr 22, 2022 21:38:32 GMT -6
heavyhitterokra, thanks for the link to that article. It made me laugh because I think I might have to refer to this sprout as my “feral asparagus” now. I also thought it was neat to see asparagus data on a county level. It’s certainly not widespread in Texas. I’ve been pondering this little shoot today off and on, and I think I have a reasonable idea of where it came from. It’s under a large oak tree near the trunk, not a place I think likely for a crown to have been planted. This area was a pasture for the previous owners. I’m not sure about old homesites in the area. Originally our whole subdivision was ranch land, but the owners sold off the part of the ranch on one side of the road, and it got developed in the 1990’s. I believe that that family still ranches on the other side. Asparagus can grow here, but it’s not known for being long-lived as it is in colder areas. I think the most logical explanation I have is that a bird took the seed, sat in a branch, and then dropped it by whatever means. Last summer was unusually wet, so it could have germinated more easily. We don’t mow in this area (there’s no need), but we do pull problem plants. If I haven’t identified a plant as being harmful (the hit list right now is horehound, a couple varieties of thistle, and bindweed), it gets to live. If a ferny plant grew there last year, I would have left it. It probably grew last year but never got very big, so I never recognized it, and so this must be a second year shoot. If that explanation is correct (and it seems the most likely to me), I’m pretty impressed. I suppose that even though we’re in drought, the shoot would come up from the reserves in the crown that the plant made last year when the weather was more favorable. It’s a beautiful, almost pink color. We do grow “Purple Passion” asparagus, and it goes to seed. I wonder if this is an offspring of that, just lighter because it’s more stressed than the garden plants. I’m almost tempted to put a cage around it.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Apr 25, 2022 0:09:33 GMT -6
A 'pet' asparagus plant sounds like fun. I'd be tempted to cage it too. That would be terrible if a critter mowed it down before it went to seed again.
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Post by chrysanthemum on May 10, 2022 20:37:52 GMT -6
Well, it turns out that I don’t have a pet asparagus plant. I was a little disappointed when it didn’t start ferning after the stalk appeared. It has been several days since I checked on it, though, and today I was greeted with quite an interesting surprise. A search on the web for a matching picture identified it really quickly as being hexalectris spicata or Crested coralroot orchid. It doesn’t have chlorophyll so doesn’t produce its own food. It lives off the mycorrhizal fungus in the soil. www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/hexalectris_spicata.shtmlThat was a pretty fun little discovery. The flowers are quite striking up close. We’re going to continue to keep track of it. I have no idea if it will be able to propagate itself or not, but we want to let it try.
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