Fresh asparagus

Melba's Jammin said:

Woo-hoo! American asparagus (Washington State? Dunno) on sale for
$1.48/lb. Nice fat spears. I bought 2 bunches totalling 3#6 oz. for
~$5.00. When I started breaking it I noticed it was breaking high.

Stick the stalks in a bag in the freezer for adding to make stock later.

Jill

Melba's Jammin said:

Woo-hoo! American asparagus (Washington State? Dunno) on sale for
$1.48/lb. Nice fat spears.

cool, I likes mine pan seared in butter and fresh garlic, a pinch of
salt into the pan

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/43/1671_51089

"You may have heard the tall tale that "asparagus urine" is linked to
higher intelligence. In fact, it's the result of a simple chemical
reaction. Asparagus contains a sulfur compound called mercaptan. (It's
also found in rotten eggs, onions, garlic, and in the secretions of
skunks.) When your digestive tract breaks down this substance,
by-products are released that cause the funny scent. The process is so
quick that your urine can develop the distinctive smell within 15 to 30
minutes of eating asparagus."

Melba's Jammin said:

Woo-hoo! American asparagus (Washington State? ... When I started breaking it I
noticed it was breaking high....And no, I'm not interested in peeling the tough ends for > something else....

Too late this time, though next time you may want to try slavaging
those just as delicious ends by simply potato-peeling 1/3-1/2 of each
spear's bottom before snapping the whole spears in half (so as to
better fit into cooking pan). Works for me with the three lbs. fresh I
get bi-weekly at my hang-out, the Farmers Market that set up booths
near enough to make a trip to just last year. Of course, the spears I
get have bottoms no more than a half-inch in diameter. Perhaps the
fatties, even after peeling, have stringy bottoms?

Picky

Juice said:

"You may have heard the tall tale that "asparagus urine" is linked to
higher intelligence. In fact, it's the result of a simple chemical
reaction. Asparagus contains a sulfur compound called mercaptan. (It's
also found in rotten eggs, onions, garlic, and in the secretions of
skunks.) When your digestive tract breaks down this substance,
by-products are released that cause the funny scent. The process is so
quick that your urine can develop the distinctive smell within 15 to 30
minutes of eating asparagus."

Naaaaah. My pee smells funny within 5 minutes after eating
asparagus...it certainly must be linked to my higher intelligence!!
And it only takes a leeetle bit to do that...amazing stuff!!

:-D
Sandy

Quoted message said:

Naaaaah. My pee smells funny within 5 minutes after eating
asparagus...it certainly must be linked to my higher intelligence!!
And it only takes a leeetle bit to do that...amazing stuff!!

I am proud to say that my bladder is strong enough that I don't have to leave
the table to pee, so I don't know if it starts to smell within 5 minutes :-)

Melba's Jammin said:

Woo-hoo! American asparagus (Washington State? Dunno) on sale for
$1.48/lb. Nice fat spears. I bought 2 bunches totalling 3#6 oz. for
~$5.00. When I started breaking it I noticed it was breaking high.
:-( For the helluva it, I weighed that which I cooked: 26-3/4 ounces.
More than half went to waste. Harummpphhh! And no, I'm not interested
in peeling the tough ends for something else.
It's right tasty, though -- I've cooked it - spears laid flat in my
Bigass sauté pan, with a little bit of water and a wee sprinkle of
salt. Hoooooo-dawgie!

It's been as low as $0.98/lb here (Portland, OR) - but now is back up
to $2.49. I am hoping it will drop again. We were eating 3lbs a
week....
-L.

jmcquown said:

Melba's Jammin said:

Woo-hoo! American asparagus (Washington State? Dunno) on sale for
$1.48/lb. Nice fat spears. I bought 2 bunches totalling 3#6 oz. for
~$5.00. When I started breaking it I noticed it was breaking high.

Stick the stalks in a bag in the freezer for adding to make stock later.

Jill

Agreed. :-)

And next time, look for bunches of the thinner spears.
I've found that there is more waste with the fatter ones.

I toss the broken stems into the freezer and then cook them a bit when
they come out. Keep the cooking water and run the now mushy stems thru
a china cap and save the mush.

Add some chopped tender asparagus for making cream of asparagus soup.

It's divine.....

Om

On Tue 02 May 2006 11:05:59p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it -L.?

Quoted message said:

Melba's Jammin said:

Woo-hoo! American asparagus (Washington State? Dunno) on sale for
$1.48/lb. Nice fat spears. I bought 2 bunches totalling 3#6 oz. for
~$5.00. When I started breaking it I noticed it was breaking high.
:-( For the helluva it, I weighed that which I cooked: 26-3/4 ounces.
More than half went to waste. Harummpphhh! And no, I'm not interested
in peeling the tough ends for something else.
It's right tasty, though -- I've cooked it - spears laid flat in my
Bigass sauté pan, with a little bit of water and a wee sprinkle of
salt. Hoooooo-dawgie!

It's been as low as $0.98/lb here (Portland, OR) - but now is back up
to $2.49. I am hoping it will drop again. We were eating 3lbs a
week....
-L.

It was 98-99¢/lb. in the Phoenix area for 8-10 weeks and I ate 2-3 lbs./week,
but it's now back up to the usual $3.99/lb. in most places. Fun while it
lasted! :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬
_____________________

In article <[email hidden]>,

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

And next time, look for bunches of the thinner spears.
I've found that there is more waste with the fatter ones.

I toss the broken stems into the freezer and then cook them a bit when
they come out. Keep the cooking water and run the now mushy stems thru
a china cap and save the mush.

Add some chopped tender asparagus for making cream of asparagus soup.

It's divine.....

Om

Thanks for the soup idea. I wouldn't have made it that way.
Re thinner -- I like the thicker spears. :-/
--
-Barb
<http://jamlady.eboard.com> Updated 4-30-2006, Dead Spread
latest church review, and Sam's Festival of Nations costume.
"If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all."

Melba's Jammin said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

And next time, look for bunches of the thinner spears.
I've found that there is more waste with the fatter ones.

I toss the broken stems into the freezer and then cook them a bit
when they come out. Keep the cooking water and run the now mushy
stems thru a china cap and save the mush.

Add some chopped tender asparagus for making cream of asparagus soup.

It's divine.....

Om

Thanks for the soup idea. I wouldn't have made it that way.
Re thinner -- I like the thicker spears. :-/

Oh cream of asparagus soup is devine! I second this notion, absolutely!

Jill

Dave Smith said:

Quoted message said:

Naaaaah. My pee smells funny within 5 minutes after eating
asparagus...it certainly must be linked to my higher intelligence!!
And it only takes a leeetle bit to do that...amazing stuff!!

I am proud to say that my bladder is strong enough that I don't have to leave
the table to pee, so I don't know if it starts to smell within 5 minutes :-)

OK, 5 minutes may be a teensy bit of an exaggeration. But it happens
fast!

Sandy

In article <[email hidden]>,

Melba's Jammin said:

Woo-hoo! American asparagus (Washington State? Dunno) on sale for
$1.48/lb. Nice fat spears. I bought 2 bunches totalling 3#6 oz. for
~$5.00. When I started breaking it I noticed it was breaking high.
:-( For the helluva it, I weighed that which I cooked: 26-3/4 ounces.
More than half went to waste. Harummpphhh! And no, I'm not interested
in peeling the tough ends for something else.

Try the taste test. I don't understand this "breaking" thing. I can't
figure out how to do it. I wonder if it's a "tv" thing. The tv cooks
do it, so we have to do it also. There is so much waste. I tried a
bite of one of the pieces I was going to toss. It was sweet and
crunchy, no toughness and no fiber. Why throw it out? Sure, the cut
end can get dried out and yucky, but why toss half? Just cut off the
fibrous part. If you don't know how much to cut off, just taste it.

Same with leeks. Everybody, except Katra and one other person, says you
have to throw out the green part. So I didn't. I cooked it separately,
and both my wife and daughter (both of whom had told me that the green
part wasn't good to eat) agreed that the green part was just fine. Of
course, cut off the dried out and fibrous part, but still, I doubled the
volume of usable leek. At US$1.99 a pound, I don't like throwing out
perfectly good food.

And then there's the broccoli stalks. They are sometimes better than
the heads.

And I don't peel any of these. I just cut off the tough parts.

--
Dan Abel
[email hidden]
Petaluma, California, USA

This morning's breakfast. Rushed to the steamer. Cooked to perfection. Crisp
toasted whole wheat on the bottom, Dijon musatard, a layer of asparagus and
topped with super fresh free range eggs fresh from the chicken's rear end.
Life is rough!!!

Farmer John