Asparagus is a favorite spring vegetable. Though it takes usually 3 years before your garden will produce a bumper crop, cheating and buying it off the grocery shelf is still OK, especially when the price is right! Here's an easy side dish to your meat entrée, or add some cooked potatoes and some shrimp, cooked diced chicken or your favorite sliced linked cooked sausage and make it a meal!
|
Asparagus Fritatta
Prep : 20mins. Cooking Time: 30 mins Yields/Makes : 6-8 sides
Heat oven to 375 degrees
• 6 egg6 tablespoons of milk
• 1/2 lb of asparagus, trimmed and halved
• Oil (for saute and to oil pan)
• 3 slices Havarti Cheese (can be any cheese)
Using a non stick 9-10 inch frying pan that can also be used in the oven, sauté your asparagus in oil. Set aside. Using the same pan (oven proof), oil well, including sides. Beat 6 eggs and 6 tablespoons of whole milk. Salt & pepper to taste. Add eggs to pan of hot oil. Let get firm on bottom. Add asparagus and cheese. Place in oven until the top is firm. Approx 12-18 mins. You can use any meat, any cheeses and most vegetables in this. For those not concerned with carbs, add cooked potato chunks.
|
|
Summer Squash
and Squash
Blossom Risotto
from
Deborah Madison’s
LOCAL FLAVORS
(serves
4 generously as a
main course)
THE TOMATOES
1 pound or more
ripe yellow tomatoes
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons chopped
marjoram or 1 ½ tablespoons
chopped oregano
2
tablespoons chopped
parsley
sea salt
THE RICE
1 pound bright yellow
zucchini
5 to 6 cups
vegetable stock, homemade
(see below) or store
bought
1/3 cup finely
diced shallots
2 tablespoons
unsalted butter
1½ cups
Arborio rice
½ cup
white wine
1 cup freshly
grated Parmigiano-
Reggiano
20 to 30
squash blossoms, slivered*
sea
salt and freshly ground
pepper
BASIC VEGETABLE
STOCK
1 onion and/or 1
to 2 cups leeks trimmings
(roots and inner leaves)
2
carrots
2 celery ribs
with leaves
2 bay
leaves
8 parsley stems
a
few thyme sprigs or
pinches leaves
4 garlic
cloves
1 ½ teaspoons
sea salt
*Use any summer
or winter squash blossoms.
Remove the stamen
from male blossoms.
|
Squash Blossom Risotto
-
Cut the tomato
walls (sides) into
small neat pieces
and finely mince
the cores. Put them
in a bowl with the
garlic, herbs, oil,
and a few pinches
of salt and set
aside. Cut the zucchini
into small dice,
about twice as large
as the grains of
rice. Have the stock
simmering on the
stove.
-
Melt the
butter in a wide
pot. Add the shallots
and squash and
cook over medium-low
heat, stirring
occasionally, until
the squash has begun
to color, about
15 minutes.
-
Add
the rice and
stir to coat it
with the butter.
Pour in the wine
and simmer until
it’s
absorbed, then
add ½ cup
stock and simmer
until it’s
absorbed. Keep
adding stock in ½-cup
increments until
the rice is
cooked, using
5 to 6 cups
in all. Turn
off the heat
and stir in
the tomatoes
and cheese.
Stir in the
squash blossoms,
taste for salt,
and season with
pepper.
-
STOCK
- Chop everything
roughly into large,
bite-sized pieces.
In addition to
the basic ingredients,
include
clean trimmings
from the vegetables
you’re
using in your
soup, risotto,
or whatever you’re
making,
such as celery
root skins, mushrooms
stems, squash
seeds, corncobs,
zucchini
ends, tomato cores,
chard stems
or bell
pepper cords.
(Avoid strong,
aggressive vegetables
such as mustard
greens, turnips
and parsnips._
Add these trimmings
to the stock
as you do
your cutting and
slicing.
If the recipe
calls for an herb,
add a few
springs to the
stock as well.
The more vegetable
matter you
use, the more
flavor.
-
For
a light stock,
bring the vegetables,
2 quarts of
cold water, and
the salt to a
boil. Reduce the
heat and simmer
for 25 to 40 minutes.
For a slightly
more robust stock,
sauté the
vegetables in
a tablespoon of
olive or vegetable
oil first to brown
them, which gives
color as well
as flavor to the
stock, then add
the water and
salt. When the
stock is done,
strain it immediately.
If you want
to reduce it further,
do so after straining.
|
