asparagus – Cooking the Books

March 27, 2020

End times call for good steak

I had originally planned for this to be my obligatory spring is here post, but things have changed.

While I had almost balked at springing for a good New York strip for this springtime recipe I found from Bon Appetit, I am now quite glad that I ultimately decided it was worth the cost, as it’s one of the few remaining joys left in a pandemic.

Also, it turns out that good steak is pretty damn good.

The recipe allowed me to skirt the difficulty of fitting everything in my little skillet by searing the steak to perfection and letting it rest while the veggies cooked in the same dish. It all ultimately comes together when you place the steak (sliced) on top and drizzle on the Dijon mustard sauce, but it’s much easier than trying to stir it all together at the same time.

Plus, with peas, asparagus, and spring onions, it’s perfect for springtime.

Oh, and during these very stressful times, it’s also relatively simple and doesn’t require a lot of ingredients that keep you in close contact with people for too long at the grocery store.

All in all, pretty freakin’ worth it.

Ignore the dystopian hellscape, dream of steak.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

1 lb. boneless New York Strip steak
5 cloves garlic, divided, 1 grate and 4 thinly sliced
⅓ c. Dijon mustard
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 t. honey
¼ to ½ t. cayenne pepper
⅓ c. + 3 T. olive oil, divided
1 bunch scallions (white and green parts), thinly sliced and divided
1 (10 oz.) bag frozen peas
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Pat the steak dry and season with salt and pepper all over. Let rest while you prepare the Dijon mustard sauce.

Whisk together the 1 clove of grated garlic, mustard, vinegar, honey, cayenne, ⅓ c. olive oil, and 1 T. water, in a medium bowl to combine. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Heat a 9- to 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Rub the steak with ~1 T. olive oil, and cook, turning every ~2 minutes, including some searing on edges, until medium-rare, so that a thermometer reads 120 degrees, for about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer steak to a plate to rest.

Heat remaining 2 T. of olive oil in the same skillet, reducing heat to low. Add the slices of garlic and all but 2 T. of the spring onions, and cook, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Add the peas and a splash of water, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add asparagus, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring regularly, until the asparagus is just tender, another 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Slice steak and layer on top of the vegetables in the skillet. Drizzle some of the mustard sauce over the steak and top with the remaining spring onions.

Serve with any additional mustard sauce as desired, though be careful not to overdo it, and enjoy even in the end times!

May 4, 2019

Fitting vegetable gratin for mediocre fowl dinner

My sweetie and I had what we thought would be a fun idea when we were ordering meats earlier this year. We should try all these random non-chicken birds available from our favorite sustainable meat supplier, we thought. How bad could they be, we thought.

Well, I am here to tell you that there’s a reason we as meat-eaters dine on chicken more often than wild game birds. There’s the buck shot for one, and the feathering, but mostly it’s the strong and not altogether pleasant taste.

We made it through the birds, but in the future, I’m probably not going to eat too much partridge, wood pigeon, or pheasant. Unless the apocalypse comes sooner than I hope.

But to go along with these fowl, I thought I’d make a nice vegetable gratin to go with our meat-heavy dinner.

While the preparation went more smoothly than for the birds, the end result was a similar level of meh. It was easy but at the cost of being pretty bland.

It was less offensive than the birds to my taste buds but it also made a lot more and we’re still slowly going through the leftovers. I much prefer the similar vegetable dish I made last year on a sheet pan — marinated artichokes add so much, I guess (probably mostly salt) — than this Dutch oven gratin.

It looks pretty good, but it’s just not bad.

If you’re looking for a plain dish, or have ideas of sprucing up my adaptation of a The Kitchn recipe, here’s what I did:

Ingredients

2 small fennel bulbs, sliced*
3 medium leeks, halved and thinly sliced
¾ to 1 lb. potatoes, sliced*
1 medium onion, thinly sliced*
1 bunch of asparagus, cut into ½ inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced (I used the jar stuff, and didn’t measure)
1 ½ c. sour cream
1 ½ c. Parmesan
½ t. ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste
*Note: A mandoline is recommended for slicing these vegetables, so they can be evenly thin. I used ⅛ inch.

Directions

Heat an oven to 400 degrees.

Add all the sliced vegetables to a large Dutch oven. Add in the sour cream, Parmesan, nutmeg, and salt and pepper, and stir well to lightly coat the vegetables with the cream mixture.

Bake, covered, for 45 minutes. Carefully remove the lid/cover, and bake for another 15 minutes uncovered so the top can brown. Cool for about 10 minutes, and (try to) enjoy!

August 25, 2018

Quiche me like you mean it

After two weeks of traveling, I’m finding it nice to be home. And one of the surest signs that we’ve been on the road too much (and that I’m officially grown up) is that I got burnt out on fast food. Yes, I was craving salad and vegetables.

Of course, I do not need to be nudged too hard but the need for healthier fare hit like a craving. So, I was glad I had saved this quiche recipe for a post-travels dinner.

It isn’t all healthy, what with an all-butter crust, cream cheese, and more cheese. But it was topped with my comfort food veggies, marinated artichokes and asparagus. And eggs, well, I think the jury is still out on whether they’re healthy or not. For the sake of this post, let’s say they’re a good source of protein.

Plus, I was happy to have another reason to make a pie crust in this year of sheet pan recipes.

The recipe was adapted from food blogging fave Smitten Kitchen. But I chose my favorite vegetables over spinach (which is a fine green!) and had to tweak to fit my size sheet pan (roughly 11×15 inch). All worked out perfectly and I found a relatively simple recipe I am sure I’ll be returning to again and again.

Look at those beautiful vegetables and that perfect crust.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

For crust:

2 sticks butter
Scant 2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling the dough
3 oz. ice water (I used a handy shot glass and shaker, don’t judge)
Salt, if desired

Or, feel free to roughly double your favorite pie crust.

For quiche filling:

1 brick (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 c. half and half
7 large eggs
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced white and light green parts
About ¾ bunch asparagus, ends removed and cut into about 1 ½ inch pieces
1 (about 6 oz.) jar of marinated artichokes, drained
1 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese
½ c. grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
Oil, for coating

Directions

Prepare crust. Use a food processor, pastry blender, or hands to mix together the butter and flour until well blended. Add water slowly until dough forms. Pat into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for about an hour. When ready, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about ¼ inch thick and slightly larger than the size of your sheet pan. Carefully place the dough in the sheet pan and trim the edges as necessary. Freeze for about 20 minutes.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Then, when ready, pierce the cold dough throughout with a fork. Cover dough with a lightly oiled piece of aluminum foil. Add weights. (I forgot this step and all turned out fine.) Bake for about 20 minutes until partially done, and then remove foil (and any pie weights) and bake for another 3 to 5 minutes to lightly golden the crust.

Meanwhile, make the filling. I was lazy here and used my stand mixer, but do what works for you. Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl. Carefully add the half and half. Whisk in eggs one at a time, until combined. Stir in the scallions, cheeses, and salt and pepper.

Once crust is ready, pour on the egg mixture. Do not overtop the crust (this amount of egg mixture worked perfect for my sheet pan, but amounts and sheet pans vary). If you have extra, consider you’ve got breakfast in the morning.

Top egg mixture with asparagus pieces and quartered artichoke hearts.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees, and bake the quiche until the crust is fully golden and the eggy filling is set, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool for at least 10 minutes or until warmed to desired temperature, and enjoy!

April 14, 2018

Mom recipes combine to make for delicious sheet pan dinner

So sue me, my first fish recipe comes too late for Lent. But I think this tilapia and asparagus dinner is delicious any time of year.

The recipes come from my mom, and as far as I know she doesn’t necessarily make them together; they just happen to combine the same flavor base that make them work well together. They also just happen to combine some of the best flavors out there — garlic, cayenne, butter, and olive oil. That’s right, two kinds of fat. Yummy!

Tilapia and asparagus sheet pan ingredients.

Mom gave me the tilapia recipe when I was first starting out to cook. Frozen tilapia isn’t overly expensive, it keeps, and this makes for an easy meal when you’re just starting to learn to cook. The asparagus recipe is a long time favorite, as it combines the above flavors with a good deep roasting that makes them impossible to resist. If I ever have any extra asparagus lying around, which is rare, this is how I make ‘em. So, it seemed obvious to combine them into one simple and healthy-ish meal.

Just add some stove-top grain dish, and you’ve got a full meal that tastes great.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

4 fillets tilapia (fresh is best but costly)
1 bunch asparagus
4 T. butter, divided
4 T. olive oil, divided
4-5 cloves garlic, minced, divided (I was lazy and used the jarred stuff but whatever works)
Cayenne pepper, to taste
Salt, optional (I used salted butter so skipped it, but you may want to add more or definitely add some if you use unsalted butter)

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove woody ends of asparagus, and spread out over about half the sheet pan. Top with half the olive oil, half the butter, and half the garlic. Sprinkle with cayenne if desired. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove the sheet pan. On the other half of the sheet pan, dot half the remaining butter and half the remaining olive oil on the sheet pan. Add the tilapia fillets on top. Top with the remaining butter and olive oil, and the garlic; sprinkle generously with cayenne pepper, to taste. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the tilapia is cooked through.

Serve over a grain, spooning on the garlic, butter, oil mix as desired, and enjoy!