You may know this, but the tops of the asparagus spears are the lateral branches and ferns before they have opened up.
I picked ours hard this week and as I mentioned in the previous asparagus post, the first use for them was deep-frying using the same batter recipe as for our fish with a couple of adjustments.
Deep-Fried Asparagus
Ingredients:
22 asparagus spears
5 oz. cups very cold beer (Yuengling for me)
1 small egg
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
2 1/2 teaspoons seafood seasoning, such as Old
Bay
½ tsp. baking powder
dash salt
dash ground black pepper
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for coating
fish
Oil for frying
Directions:
1. Prep asparagus spears and rinse.
2. Pour beer into a large bowl. Add egg, garlic powder,
onion powder, seafood seasoning, baking powder, salt, pepper and cayenne, then
add cornstarch. Whisk in flour until batter is smooth and thick (like pancake
batter).
3. Heat oil in a skillet to 350 degrees F.
4. Lightly flour each piece of asparagus, then dip in beer
batter and fry until crispy and golden brown, about 4 minutes.
The Verdict:
They were delicious, with a good taste and tempura type
batter but I think it could have been a little thicker. But they must have been good as we ate them
all as our entire meal – ranch dressing on the side as dipping sauce - and never got to the planned brisket.
Omelet
Surprisingly, some of the asparagus stems were tender well past the length
that would fit into my 12" pan so I saved them for an omelet. When you order a restaurant omelet, it is
often cooked on a flat top which results in the eggs spreading out a good bit requiring
a double fold and I opted to make mine that way.
I first sliced the asparagus stems small and diced a slice
of Kentucky Legend ham and sauteed them in butter to get them hot and the asparagus
to crisp-tender.
For the cheese, I used Emmentaler which is the traditional variety when people say Swiss Cheese.
Another common variety seen in our stores is Gruyere making these two of the 475 types of cheese produced in Switzerland. The other variety normally found in our stores is Baby Swiss, which is a milder version that was developed in the USA by Guggisberg specifically for the American palette.
I removed the asparagus and ham from the 10” pan and added
two beaten jumbo eggs, put the cheese down the middle along with the ham and
asparagus, and topped with a lid.
We’ll likely pick the asparagus this week then call it a
season after about eight weeks.
Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue
words are links.
Have a great day and thanks for
stopping by Almost Heaven South.
Larry
05/02 & 5/03/23 meal dates
Love love love that omelette. Wish I had some asparagus, I'd make it this morning. I think the best burger in the world comes off a flat top, I never thought about omelettes being cooked that way.
ReplyDeleteLarry, I'm jealous! Not only did you have those fried asparagus spears which looked great but then you enjoyed that great omelet! If only I could eat asparagus again...dang meds! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
ReplyDeleteThis is the only vegetable besides peas no one will eat and they dislike the smell of. Very cool that you can grow it. My dad said it comes up every year which was a surpise I didn't know that so Kudos to you! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI like image three. It looks like a science fiction asparagus forest.
ReplyDeleteI remember picking asparagus as a kid with my parents--fun memories! I have a bit of asparagus in the fridge and am thinking I should fry them up but the omelet looks mighty tasty too.
ReplyDelete