Asparagus at attention

Sure - there's been a lot going on - and that's why I have been bad about posting - but I do have a week of good content coming up - progress on all fronts: plants growing, birds, barn, the roof.  It's clear this is the time of year where things take off and don't show any signs of slowing down in the foreseeable future.

With the recent rains the asparagus patch has been really producing lately - which is terrific for us...  the hard part with a year 1 patch is knowing that the season is very short and sweet - we can only lightly harvest for the first week or two then we need to back off.  So - understanding that we have been trying to make every incident where these fresh green spears of tasty goodness make their way into the kitchen count!  Last night was simple fresh spears steamed for about 5 minutes and then little bit of butter and lemon juice applied to them - EXCELLENT!

On Saturday night, however, we made a farm fresh egg and asparagus frittata - which was excellent and thrown together...  here's the simple recipe should you want to replicate the culinary pleasure we made:

Fresh asparagus frittata:

• About 10 spears of fresh asparagus snapped or cut into 1" long pieces


• 1 medium onion chopped


• 2 garlic clove mashed and chopped


• Olive oil


• Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 c)


• 5-6 farm fresh eggs

Preheat oven to 425.  Add all eggs to a bowl and wisk until very frothy, you can add a little milk if you so desire.  Set aside.  In a cast iron skillet add olive oil and heat.  Add onions when oil is hot and then add garlic.  Salt and pepper here too.  As the onions start to become translucent, add asparagus pieces.  Cook while stirring for about 3 minutes - the asparagus will turn bright green - do not over cook.  Dump contents of cast iron pan into a large mixing bowl - add cheese and stir.

Add a little more oil to the hot skillet - do not return to heat.  Add eggs to veggies - toss - and pour into skillet.  help distribute the veggies in the skillet for an even frittata then place skillet into oven.  Bake for about 5-8 minutes (this will depend on how hot the skillet was when you added the egg mixture.  Watch for the surface to start to rise and some higher areas to sturn golend brown.

Remove and cut up - enjoy!

Comments

[Jeph Remley]

This sounds great! You really need to start including more food photos since you're such a great cook! Oh, and I saw on another blog this week where someone commented on picking their asparagus and then eating it raw before they got to the kitchen. I never would've through to eat the stuff raw... I guess you want to know it's REALLY fresh and tender if you're doing that.

[Andy]

Um - if you think - for one second - I'm not doing the "one for you, one for me" deal while picking... your are crazy! :)

Fresh, tender, sweet, the flavor starts to change within hours of picking... just like corn.

You HAVE to eat it fresh at the patch - or in a salad - or, well, you get the point!