[Houdini]

Well as ever I've done a little homework.  Apparently it's hours between harvesting and eating w/ asparagus: the sugar content.

The Frau's father has given over the veg plot to flowers this year to help his bees so there's none fresh.  It's just normal supermarket 1 - 3 days old green asparagus.

Normally I wrap in a packet of foil w/ the juice of half a lime and sea salt.  Bake.

From River Cottage:

Asparagus is a not-to-be-missed seasonal treat, but it’s vital to get hold of the really good stuff – and that means spears that have been cut within hours rather than days. As soon as the plant is cut, the sugar begins to revert to starch, with a subsequent loss of sweetness. The best plan is to make the effort to discover the whereabouts of your nearest commercial asparagus grower, and bother them a lot during May. You may also be lucky enough to find a pick-your-own farm specialising in asparagus.

Near me in Dorset is a lovely lady who grows asparagus commercially, but on a small scale.  She completely understands the value of the just-cut product, and some locals will go and collect at a time when they know she'll be harvesting (deliberately or not, it often happens to coincde with the school run).  Those who buy it at the local village shop will, if they time it right, be eating their asparagus within five or six hours of it being picked.

Incidentally, you can buy yourself a couple of extra hours' sugar by keeping your asparagus wrapped in a wet tea towel in the fridge.  If you've managed to get hold of some good stuff but want to keep it for more than 24 hours before eating, then blanche it in boiling water for 2 minutes as soon as you get it home.  Refresh it in cold water, then keep it wrapped in the fridge for a day or two.  To serve, plunge back into boiling water for another 3-4 mintues, then serve straight away with melted butter.

[fatdoc]

i emplore you to try the poached egg 'grass combo, with lemon butter and salt...



you'll never look back...

[Joepicalli]

I'm giving it a go for lunch fatdoc, after a boulder or bike ride can't decide which

[fatdoc]

nice...

[Houdini]

I'll try the poached/asp combo later in the week.



Fraudini & I just took brunch on the balcony of steamed asparagus tips on flat, buttered dark Finnish bread, topped w/ shredded boiled egg, capers (and for her [the omnivore] wafer-thin shredded peppered salami).

Washed down w/ the remainder of the Sicillian red of last night   

[dave smith]

Talking of seasons, asparagus time is coming up and I found an awesome, simple recipe on the BBC (can't stand boiling asparagus, it tastes of nothing afterwards).

Get a sufficient amount of asparagus, then tightly wrap 3-5 'stalks' (what are they called?), prepared as usual by cutting the hard ends and knots off, in a couple of slices of some kind of cured ham (proscuitto, parma, etc). These will be fried, for about ten minutes. The ham will shrink around the asparagus making tight little bundles of asparagus joy.

Goes well with a beurre blanche sauce:

Chop a couple of shallots and chuck them in a pan. Then add a glass of white wine. Reduce the wine to half its original volume on full heat. Chop 250g (one normal size pack) of butter in to little cubes. Turn the wine right down to the lowest heat, then little by little add the butter, and stir it in. This mixture mustn't get too hot or too cold, otherwise it separates. When you've added all the butter (or less, to taste), strain off the onions, and serve with the asparagus parcel things. Tasty as!

[fatdoc]

I'll try the poached/asp combo later in the week.



Fraudini & I just took brunch on the balcony of steamed asparagus tips on flat, buttered dark Finnish bread, topped w/ shredded boiled egg, capers (and for her [the omnivore] wafer-thin shredded peppered salami).

Washed down w/ the remainder of the Sicillian red of last night   

it's 11 a.m on friday


and you're drinking already

do i applaud this or condone it 

[Houdini]

Well, I've already heard this once today   



But we're leaving for the weekend and it wouldn't keep (it was only half a glass).  Plus!  I'm an hour ahead of you (12:30 it was, see.)   

[fatdoc]

Well, I've already heard this once today   



But we're leaving for the weekend and it wouldn't keep (it was only half a glass).  Plus!  I'm an hour ahead of you (12:30 it was, see.)   

Ah......


that's all right then 

[fatkid2000]

Cheers for dinner lastnight fatdoc - very nice. What's the ingredients for your salad dressing?

[fatdoc]

OK,


for may years I had a total addiction in the french mustard dressing made by leiseur... when safeway demised so did my dealer.....

Ive since been told you can get it from waitrose, but i've never been in one of them and fro the sake of my bike buying budget i dont intend to.






so, a quest was born..






he're the current incarnation:

1 heaped teaspoon of coleman's english mustard, 4 tblespoons of PLAIN (not extra virgin) olive oil, about 2 tblespoons of good quality white wine vinegar, quite a bit of salt, a little pepper, very important to beat it up with a fork to get it to emulsify: it will stay in that state for ever once you've got it all smooth... i dont like shaking it up, it seems wrong.

[Sloper]

With regard to salad dressing, once you mix the vinegar in the dressing degrades with time, best to only add the vinegar at the point of use; ohh  and another tip is to line the salad bowl with the dressing otherwise its far too easy to add too much dressing and drown the salad.

[fatdoc]

i agree....

[soapy]

for a really dry salad, one simply glances in the direction of the dressing bottle

[Duma]

and another tip is to line the salad bowl with the dressing otherwise its far too easy to add too much dressing and drown the salad.

Good call.

[Cookie]

for may years I had a total addiction in the french mustard dressing made by leiseur... when safeway demised so did my dealer.....

Ive since been told you can get it from waitrose, but i've never been in one of them and fro the sake of my bike buying budget i dont intend to.

Waitrose do indeed do the French dressings from Leiseur.  They cost about £1.25 and currently have 50% extra free.  The low fat version is acceptable, the full-fat one is excellent.

ETA oh, but it's the herbs one not the mustard one

[Sloper]

for a really dry salad, one simply glances in the direction of the dressing bottle

If you want to talk about Martini's f--k off and start your own thread,

Nb 7/8 Plymouth Dry and 1/8 noilly prat,  a shiver of lemon thyme and a good squeaky olive.

[Joepicalli]

Just done your 'grass thang fatdoc. Sweeeeeeeeeeeet.
Waddage your way.

[Joepicalli]

for a really dry salad, one simply glances in the direction of the dressing bottle

If you want to talk about Martini's f--k off and start your own thread,

Nb 7/8 Plymouth Dry and 1/8 noilly prat,  a shiver of lemon thyme and a good squeaky olive.

We do need a cocktail thread.
However seeing as you've started Sloper.
It's 9:1 Tanquray: noilly, mixed and stirred in chilled glass (none of that nasty H2O diluting the situation, because, as we all know: "Fish fuck in it"). 

[Duma]

Not  sure where this should go - but anyway:
Elderflower Champagne.
NB - this bears no relation to champagne apart from being fizzy - it's main purpose is as a coke alternative for kids, and diluting gin
I was brought up on this, it's awesome. Am just polishing off the last of last years with Tanqueray().

Per Gallon (metric, what the fucks that?):
4 elderflower blooms (pick em when it's sunny, and a minimum of a couple of days after the last rain)
13 oz sugar
1 lemon
1 Tablespoon vinegar

Dump the sugar in a container big enough for all you're gonna make, heat a little of the water and pour over to dissolve. Add the rest of the water, vinegar and flowers. Halve the lemon(s) squeeze the juice in, then drop the whole fruit in as well. Stir, cover, leave 24hrs. Strain through muslin and bottle (NB best are  ex coke 2l type bottles, don't use anything that wasn't designed for carbonated drinks). Leave it for 3-4 weeks, and enjoy.
It's in season people.

[fatdoc]

Just done your 'grass thang fatdoc. Sweeeeeeeeeeeet.
Waddage your way.

praise indeed
thanks

[lagerstarfish]

We tried the frozen Canadian lobster from Tesco last night (after defrosting them all day). Not amazing, but at £2.99 each they were pretty good value.

What was even better was the excellent stock that I made from the remains - This evening I slowly fried onions, garlic and a little chili in some oil before adding the lobster stock and some chopped celery - let this cook for 15 mins before adding cream, 500g of shelled mussels and some prawns that needed cooking/eating. Served with chopped spring onions and coriander sprinkled on top and a white baguette to dip in the sauce. Yummmmmm.

I'm about to have me another serving... 

[SA Chris]

Had some lovely fresh langoustines in Sheildaid on Sat night. Heaven food.

I was annoyed that I forgot to take snorkelling gear, as the bay there is prefect for scallop picking and the weather was perfect.

[fatdoc]

We tried the frozen Canadian lobster from Tesco last night (after defrosting them all day). Not amazing, but at £2.99 each they were pretty good value.

What was even better was the excellent stock that I made from the remains - This evening I slowly fried onions, garlic and a little chili in some oil before adding the lobster stock and some chopped celery - let this cook for 15 mins before adding cream, 500g of shelled mussels and some prawns that needed cooking/eating. Served with chopped spring onions and coriander sprinkled on top and a white baguette to dip in the sauce. Yummmmmm.

I'm about to have me another serving... 

christ, that sounds good....


i'm off to tesco

[lagerstarfish]

This is Tommy Trout.

At approximately 5pm this evening he was stalked, caught and hot smoked on the bank and then eaten (about 20 mins after being caught). Absolutely gorgeous.

At first, the assorted grumpy old men of NE Derbyshire thought me a bit odd conducting this little exercise in eating a fish as fresh as possible, but upon tasting the lovely Tommy in his hot-smoked glory they agreed that I had done a good thing. One guy produced a cooler full of beers and we had a fantastic evening of eating, fishing and moderate drinking on a gorgeous June evening. The smoker was lit up 3 times and we would probably have kept going, but I ran out of meths for the burner.

One of those evenings where you wish it would never end