Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Dressed Asparagus

Actually my favorite way to enjoy asparagus is on its own - just cooked in a boiling water. In this recipe, I embellish plain boiled asparagus with some cute looking and delicious "coat".

Blog's Category: Vegetarian, My Own Fast and Easy





Intro

All credits for this recipe have to go to one of my "culinary idols" and inspiration - Jacques Pepin. He uses mayonnaise pretty often in his "fast food my way" recipes and I remember he has similar recipe for his asparagus appetizer. Anyway, this recipe is my own interpretation; it's easy, delicious and festive looking, thus a great fit for a holiday table ;)


What is it?

It's appetizer - cooked asparagus, dressed with mayonnaise-based sauce and finely chopped boiled eggs.
 
Taste Description

Very pleasant sweet-ish taste of cooked asparagus is not masked here by presence of any flavorful fresh or dry herbs (so no-no to them here). This taste is paired nicely with a soft and comforting duo of mustard boosted mayonnaise and hard boiled eggs. Black pepper notes on a background do not allow you to feel "too comfortable" :)


How to Serve

Serve as cold appetizer, on a large shallow plate. Leftovers can be kept for a couple of days in a fridge.


Asparagus. Dressed.


 
For a large company:
 
  • 2 bunches of fresh asparagus 
  • 2 hard boiled eggs
  • 4 tbs of mayonnaise
  • 2 tbs of Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Snap ends of each asparagus spear, right in a place where it snaps, to get rid of woody ends.
 
 - Bring 3 quarts of salted water to a boil and drop all asparagus in there. Let it cook (do not allow water to boil too much) for about 5-7 minutes until tender but still a bit crisp - I never rely on time and always try it snipping up small pieces to find out if it's just right.

- Transfer asparagus into a large bowl with a cold water and ice for a 3 minutes. Sometimes, when I don't have ice, I just drain it into colander and let very cold water to run over for a minute or two. Drain asparagus into colander and let it stay to get rid of excess water. Ideally, you want your asparagus to be completely dry placing it onto a paper towels but I never do this :)

- Prepare mustard sauce by thoroughly stirring mustard and mayonnaise.

- Cut hard boiled eggs in half and separate yolks from whites. Chop whites finely.

- Assemble whole dish by placing asparagus onto a square shallow plate. Cover middle part of asparagus pile with mayo sauce. Sprinkle with a black pepper. Now, generously sprinkle chopped whites on the edge of mayo "lane". With a tip of your fingers, finely crumble one egg yolk sprinkling it in a center of mayo strip. Use remaining egg yolk, breaking it in a larger pieces and garnishing "base" of your composition. Or use your creativity to make your own arrangement!

Notes

- Use good quality store-bought mayonnaise or homemade. Homemade is easy to whisk up, I just often seek excuses "I'm lazy", "I'm busy", "I'm ..



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IN PICTURES

Here is mayo mixed with Russian mustard here. Russian mustard is pretty much like Dijon, just has rely strong bite to it.

Would it be the regular day, I would stop at this point and served asparagus "naked" like this. But for Thanksgiving table I want something looking more festive..

Finer you chop your egg whites - prettier it will look on a plate and will hold on to asparagus better.


It can be served as a finger food too - it's fun and easy to pull a spear at its sticking out "foot".

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