I‘ve already posted the recipe for the Crumbled Asparagus (see link at bottom); I’m just using the photo as a way to introduce talking about asparagus. And by the way, I’ve had any number of people email me about how luscious this recipe is, in case  you haven’t tried it (see link at bottom).

This is the beginning of a series I’m going to write about fruits and vegetables. Most of the fact type information comes from Russ Parsons’ book titled How to Pick a Peach. I know, the season for asparagus is mostly over, but I wanted to start with it, since it’s probably my favorite vegetable. 80% of all asparagus in the U.S. is grown is California, mostly in the Sacramento – Stockton area (that’s about 75-100 miles east of San Francisco).

What I Learned:

• That a single asparagus plant produces both thinner and fatter stalks – the fatter ones toward the center (the first to grow) and the thinner ones around the outside of the same plant.
• That there are asparagus fanatics out there who swear their thinner, peeled ones are better than the fatter, that the best flavor is in the bases, plus those who just quibble over peeling or no. [Sometimes I do; sometimes I don’t. If they’re bigger ones, often I do. And just because you need to be reminded, don’t ever put asparagus bases or peels in a garbage disposal.]
• In Parson’s opinion, buy big fat ones when you’re making a “vegetable statement.” When you want a big platter of them to be a significant part of the meal. If the asparagus will be used in another dish – say – in a risotto or pasta dish – then for the mixtures, use the thinner ones. The thinner ones are a little crisper and have a brighter color.
• As for white asparagus, we rarely see it here in the U.S. [It’s far more common in Europe where we once saw a guard with a gun patrolling fields of them to prevent poaching.] In season, white asparagus – in Europe – looms large on menus in restaurants. They’re white because the stalks have never seen the light of day – they’re carefully covered over with soil to prevent the sun from reaching them, the sun would create chlorophyll, thus turning the asparagus green.
• That some people are actually interested in the aroma of their urine after eating asparagus. Even Marcel Proust credited asparagus with “transforming my chamber pot into a vase of aromatic perfume.” [Hmmm. Really? I must have missed that when I read Proust. Or else I thought “ew!”]
• After some research on the matter, scientists have determined that the unique odor in canned asparagus is caused by a chemical called methoxypryrazine, which incidentally, is also an aroma associated with Sauvignon Blanc. [Yes, really.]

How to Choose & Store:

• Check that the tips are tightly furled (whether fat or thin spears) – remember, this is a fern. The tips are the first part of the plant to break down after cutting.
• Check the bases – they should be moist. The best storage is sitting in a pan of water (so the bases can stay wet). Do the same when you get them home – sitting upright in a little water with a plastic bag over the top to create a moisture trap.

Recipes: In the book, Parsons included a recipe for Asparagus Wrapped in Crisp Prosciutto, Asparagus & Shrimp Risotto (and a 3-page in-depth explanation about how to make perfect risotto), and Asparagus with Sauce Mimosa. If and when I make any of these, I’ll post them. Here are my favorite asparagus recipes that I’ve posted:
Asparagus & Ham Frittata

Crumbled Asparagus

Roasted Asparagus with Chile Citrus Butter

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If you’re looking for something totally different for the Fourth of July (other than the typical hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks or ribs with traditional potato salad) this might be your ticket. This came from a Phillis Carey cooking class last month. And it’s just delicious. Obviously, the chipotle vinaigrette makes the dish. No question! The original recipe called for more dressing, but it’s more than you need, so I halved that part of it. This is best served warm or at room temp – you need to give the potatoes time to absorb the dressing anyway.
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Another winner of a Phillis Carey recipe. I get a kick out of the titles she gives her recipes – she doesn’t want you to miss a thing when you hear or read the recipe title. You need to know that it has Cajun spices. You need to know that it’s a filet mignon. And lastly, that it has this delicious, scrumptious Creole sauce – with cream – in it too. She laughs at herself when she talks about the recipe titles – even she gets them mixed up sometimes when she’s demonstrating them in a cooking class. But with the recipe in front of us, the students, we take notes, adding her little quips to the process.

Several weeks ago my friend Cherrie and I went to a cooking class (entrees for entertaining) and this recipe was one of them. Phillis used a filet mignon. When I made this sauce a few nights ago, I only had frozen New York steaks, so I used them instead. So I just made the sauce in a separate pan, and my DH grilled the steaks on the outdoor barbecue. He’s got the drill down-pat. Sear, mark the meat, both sides, put on a rack not over direct heat, stick in the meat thermometer and remove the steak at 122 degrees F. The meat was solidly pinky-red all the way through except for the flat sides, which were appealingly grilled brown.

The sauce, meanwhile, was a snap to mix up. I had everything on hand except green bell peppers (a staple in the Creole diet), but I just used some extra celery instead. No biggie. I even had the fresh herbs in our garden and used more than was called for. My DH just loved the sauce. Wanted to know exactly what was in it and how I made it. Every so often he asks detailed questions about something I’ve made. I used to think – aha, he’s going to surprise me and fix a full meal some night. Uh, no. He thinks sometime he might entertain some of his friends when he spends the night on our boat and whip out this great sauce. But he never remembers what I’ve told him.

At any rate, this steak and the sauce were delicious. And yes, they’d be quite suitable for a company meal. The sauce doesn’t make all that much, actually. If you really like sauce, I’d increase it by 50% so you’ll have more.
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When my friend Cherrie and I divided up the food prep for our luncheon tea last week, she opted to make the chilled soup. And what a lovely one it was. The recipe came from an article in the Los Angeles Times food section, and was a soup served at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort, a very luxury resort right on the Pacific Ocean in Dana Point, here in Southern California. When the resort first opened some years ago, Cherrie and I had breakfast there, and another time we went for lunch. But we ate in the café, which is pricey, to say the least. For a café. They did have a dinner restaurant there, called Aqua, but it’s since been replaced by another restaurant, Stonehill Tavern. I haven’t eaten at either one, but while the chef, Alan Ashkinaze was at Aqua, he provided this recipe.

The soup is so low in calorie it’s almost non-existent (yes, really, just 67 calories), it has zero fat, and is so refreshing. You make simple syrup with lemongrass as a subtle undercurrent. The soup itself is watermelon, cantaloupe, peach and blueberries. Then it’s also accented with cayenne, Cointreau, champagne, fresh mint, orange juice and club soda. Does that not sound unusual? I just loved it. Not everyone did, however (don’t know why, and certainly wouldn’t ask). But if you enjoy fruit, and you like some unusual combinations, try this. Sorry for the blurry picture – I had to snap it in a big rush as the ladies were about to sit down.

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My problem is: I love “afternoon tea.” It’s just so fun. And I love the food that is typical of such a tea. So it was that my friend, Cherrie, and I joined hostess forces and invited 10 of our friends to tea at my house last week. We started planning it a couple of months ago, and within about 5 minutes we’d decided on the menu and who would be invited. The date was set, invitations were mailed, and we both did an ample amount of cooking. Anyone who says doing an “afternoon tea” is easy is crazy. Even with both of us cooking and preparing the food, and with one of the guests helping an hour ahead and at hour after (thanks again, Joan), it was a tremendous amount of work. We made everything (except the fruit tarts) ourselves. I got to dig out all of my grandmother’s fancy frilly china plates and teacups and saucers. And used some beautiful pink hydrangeas from our garden as a centerpiece.

We had decided to do it at lunchtime, so we called it a “Luncheon Tea.” But the menu was typically English tea. We had:

Pink Champagne with Strawberry Puree Ice Cubes
(I didn’t take a photo of that – oh darn – but it was VERY pretty and everybody loved it – no recipe for this one)

Watermelon Blueberry Soup
(delicious – just delicious – most people liked it, although not all)

Chicken Salad Sandwiches
(different, with chopped smoked almonds on the outside edges)

Ham Mousse Sandwiches
(very different – with whipped cream in the filling)

Smoked Salmon Sandwiches with Dill
(just buttered bread, smoked salmon and fresh dill peeking out of the edges –
no recipe for this one as it’s so easy)

Mini Fruit Tarts
(the only thing we purchased)

Sarah’s Ginger Scones
(uses candied ginger pieces in the batter)

Golden Raisin Scones
(my tried and true favorite, posted long ago)

Chocolate Scones
(posted recently, also well liked)
(All of the scones were served with lemon curd, clotted cream and black currant jam)

Chocolate Ribbon Dessert
(like a chocolate pie but in a 9×13 pan, cut into small squares)

Earl Grey Tea
Lemon Rose Tea (herbal, from Peet’s)
Marco Polo Tea (a blend from Mariage Freres in Paris)
(from when I was there 2 years ago, and this was the hands-down favorite)

In the next week I’ll likely post most of these recipes. The only one I’m missing is the ham mousse (from a cooking class herrie has it and I’ll get it from her.

The ginger scones are Sarah’s recipe – from a cooking class in San Juan Capistrano. Sarah is from Scotland, and over the years we enjoyed several of her family favorites on the cooking school menu. These are easy to make, and I decided to do something totally different – I made the scones and froze them all raw the day before the tea. Gosh, why didn’t I do this years ago? All you have to do is take them out of the freezer about 20 minutes ahead of baking (when you turn on the oven) and increase the baking time by a few minutes (maybe 5 or so). I may never, ever, make them fresh again – just pop one or two out of the freezer when I want them for breakfast. Or a bunch when I need to serve something for my DH’s Bible Study Group. Of course, they won’t keep indefinitely in the freezer, but will likely be fine for a couple of months!
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My mother came from the era of 3×5 cards for her recipes. And when I was searching for just the right chocolate dessert to serve at the tea the other day (more about the tea later), this recipe floated out of the stack. It’s not an old-time recipe (probably it’s from the 1970’s), after the advent of Cool Whip and instant chocolate pudding anyway. I found some other versions on the internet, but none by this exact name. So I have no idea of the origin of this one. It’s basically a layered chocolate (and whipped cream) pie with walnuts.

The crust is a simple press-in bottom layer in a 9×13 pan (walnuts, flour, butter). Once that’s baked and cooled, you make a cream cheese layer (with powdered sugar, Cool Whip and the cream cheese), then a thick chocolate pudding layer. Then it’s topped with more Cool Whip and chocolate shavings and more nuts on top. This is a VERY simple and easy dessert. And it could feed a big crowd if you don’t cut very big pieces. It went well with the tea because I could cut it up into smaller pieces to look more like “tea” sized servings. We had ample leftover. It is best made the day ahead, and actually keeps for several days.
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It’s been six months or so ago that somebody, on another blog, mentioned Russ Parsons’ most recent book, “How to Pick a Peach:.” I always enjoy reading his columns in the Los Angeles Times, but hadn’t looked at the book. Visiting the library recently, it was there and I checked it out. This isn’t a memoir. It isn’t exactly a cookbook, either. It is, however, an excellent guide and history about the most popular/common of the produce we eat on a day-to-day basis. I really expected to be bored to tears. Wrong. I started reading at the beginning and read it all the way through.
Parsons has included recipes with every chapter, his favorites for that particular vegetable or fruit.

The history and story parts about each one are fascinating. Now, I’ll admit, this isn’t exactly like reading Robert Ludlum, but if you’re a foodie, and you enjoy choosing and EATING better tasting produce, you might want to read this book.

I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time – sometimes – choosing the best produce. Even celery, for goodness’ sake. What IS it with celery lately – seems like I keep choosing heads that are air and hollow within the stalks. Heavy with strings. Seems like more than ever. Even lettuce – every 3-4 heads I buy, once I cut into it, it’s got rust inside. And tomatoes. I adore tomatoes, but rarely do I buy anything except vine-ripened anymore, or the little tiny ones. And then there’s apricots. I’ve been so disappointed the last couple of summers with really poor tasting apricots – mealy flesh and not good to eat. Even peaches and nectarines are spotty at best. So, that’s why I picked up the book in the first place. I hoped to find answers. Only time will tell whether the advice is useful for shopping in a traditional grocery store. Farmers’ markets usually offer better choices and fresh ones too, but it’s not always convenient.

So after finishing the book I got to thinking about how I could possibly remember all the advice offered in the book. I can’t exactly carry the book around with me every time I shop. I thought about using a big yellow pad and writing down the crux of each one (refrigerate, not refrigerate, picking large vs. small, the coloring of fruits, why to buy one variety over another). You know, that kind of thing. But I realized this written thing was going to be quite long and detailed. Not something I’d haul around with me in my purse when I go to the grocery story or farmer’s market. What to do, what to do? I could put it into my Palm pilot which goes with me most places. That actually might work; I’d just have to navigate to that file and then find the right section describing the produce I’m pondering. And I may just do that. Or, I could try to write just the barest of details onto 3×5 cards that could live in my purse. I already carry around 3 such cards with slaps of paint on them with the wall colors in our home, so adding 2-3 more would not be a big deal.

So what did I do? Well, I haven’t written it up for my Palm yet, but I will. Nor have I written up the 3×5 cards, either. But first I went out and bought the paperback edition of this book so I can mark up the pages however I wish. There were 8-10 recipes in the book that I wanted to keep anyway of the 100 in the entire book.

What I did decide to do, though, is share some of the information with you. And in the process, I’ll synopsize each chapter with the shortest of details you and I will need to buy the best stuff. And I’ll include some of the interesting facts about the different fruits and vegetables in Parsons’ book. You’ll learn something, and I’ll maybe retain more of the information in my brain if I have to write it up! That’s my plan. I’ll need to take my camera with me to the grocery store next time to take photos of lots of different kinds of vegetables and fruits. Especially the summer fruits that we only see some months of the year anyway. So, stay tuned.

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The other day I walked into my pantry – I have nice, big walk-in type – and glanced around at the bulging shelves. What to fix? I was looking for something else, but my eyes landed on this box mix for panna cotta that I bought many months ago.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for any jars and bottles of things, like pickled onions, relishes, chutneys, toppings for cheese, or fruit. Even occasionally a sauce. But this was a box, and even those who don’t know me well, will perhaps recognize early on that I rarely use a box mix for anything.

Panna cotta happens to be one of my favorite desserts. It’s relatively easy to make, but when I read the ingredients in this little Canadian Dr. Oetker panna cotta box mix, there wasn’t really anything suspicious in it. And it looked like it took no time at all to make. Even less time than the real thing, and it didn’t have to bake or cook except for heating milk and water.

Sure enough, it was absolutely cinchy easy. It took less than 10 minutes to make the entire thing. You heat up a cup of milk to a simmer, remove from the heat, and stir in the contents of one of the little packages in the box. Once whisked in, you add a cup of heavy cream and whisk some more. Pour into serving bowls and cool, then chill. Meanwhile, the other package contains a nice raspberry sauce. This dry mix is combined with a half a cup of boiling water, and it’s done too.

I didn’t have time to chill the pannas for 2 hours, as suggested, so I put them in a pan surrounded by ice cubes and they were well enough chilled to serve (I did it in the little bowls instead of turning them out onto a serving plate) in about 45 minutes. I was amazed. They were delicious. I may need to have one of these boxes on hand for those occasions when I need a dessert – quick like. I bought it at Cost Plus World Market for $2.49. Probably last year. It’s Dr. Oetker brand. I’d recommend it, believe it or not!

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Needing to clean out my freezer in preparation for receiving a quarter of a 4-H pig in a month, I’ve been working diligently to discard old stuff that I’ll never use and cook up things that have been hiding in corners. I had this nice 2-pound boneless pork loin roast, but what to do with it? I turned to my newest favorite grilling book: The Barbecue Bible by Steven Raichlen. Sure enough, he had several pork loin recipes. This one fit the bill since it didn’t require me to run to the grocery store. All I needed was garlic (yup), rosemary (yup, out of the garden, in abundance), salt, pepper and olive oil. How cinchy is that?

Ideally you’ll want to marinate this roast for a few hours with the herb-garlic mixture all over it, but I didn’t have the time. I’d forgotten to defrost the roast until about noon the other day, so soaked it in cold water (all sealed up) for several hours. Some parts of the middle were still a bit on the frosty side, so I opened up the roast (which is a procedure in the recipe anyway) and let it sit at room temp for about 20 minutes.

photo, from Raichlen’s The Barbecue Bible, showing how to butterfly a pork tenderloin. I used the same technique for a pork roast.

The recipe indicates using a mortar for grinding up the herb mixture, but I had frozen little cubes of garlic to use (pureed) and it took no time at all to mince the fresh rosemary. I just minced and minced and minced with my long santoku knife, then mashed in the garlic, salt, pepper, and finally the oil. It took no time at all to make. I’m including a photo of a page in the cookbook about butterflying the meat. The meat I had was from Costco, and it was already rolled. I opened it up (it was already butterflied), but then you cut shorter pockets in each side (in the fat side of the loins) – not all the way through, and leaving ½ inch at each end. So it’s a kind of slot. To stuff the herbs into. You slather half of the mixture on the inside edges, reform the roast, tie it up (I used those nifty reusable baking rubber bands), then slather the remaining herbs on the outside.

We decided to rotisserie the roast. My DH warmed the grill to high, and between us we positioned the rotisserie prongs in the meat and started it up. You can also do this over indirect heat on the grill itself (positioning a drip pan under the grill, however). It took about 70 minutes for our roast to reach 160 degrees F. We removed it, let it rest for about 5 minutes while I quick-like arranged the artichoke half I’d just pressure-cooked, and a nice green salad. I had meat from the inside of the roast – it was delicious – absolutely mouth-filling with the garlic and rosemary. Loved it. DH had a slice from the outside, and he thought it was a bit overdone. Next time I’d remove the roast at 155 degrees F. and let it sit. And I’d push the pocket to almost the end, so only the very outside slice would be without some of the herb mixture in it. I might also make a sauce to serve with this – a pan sauce would be easy enough to do. Maybe just chicken broth, rosemary and garlic, perhaps some chopped up dried apricots. Boiled and thickened, then with some added butter just at the end. Just a thought. I’ll be making this again, in any case.
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So, there was a blurb by John Willoughby in June’s issue of Gourmet that almost missed my radar. Here’s the blurb quoted from the magazine:

Myth: Searing meat at the beginning of cooking helps seal in the juices.

Facts: Despite its impressive heritage (Escoffier himself espoused the concept), this well-known axiom is completely false. In his book The Curious Cook, food scientist Harold McGee explains how he cooked a series of identical steaks with and without initial searing, then measured the moisture loss from each. The results were clear – the seared steaks actually lost a bit MORE juice during cooking. There is, however, a very good reason to give meat a nice, hard sear when it first goes into the pan. Thanks to a chemical process called the Maillard reaction, it creates literally hundreds of new flavor compounds that give the meat a much deeper and more complex flavor.

 Thank goodness for that last sentence; otherwise we’d be eating gray meat from hereon in. But, they missed one other ascetic – meat just plain LOOKS better when it’s been marked or seared, don’t you think? Photo above is our favorite grilled beef: Ribeye Steaks with Amazing Glaze.

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