Spring fling with Asparagus

Spring has finally not only sprung, but is well underway here in the Alps. It has gotten a cool and very soggy start. I think many of our normal blooms are a bit behind schedule this year not only up here but down in the valley as well. Now that it is here I don't mind so much, but certainly am enjoying the spring green everywhere and all the tiny blossoms and color that springs forth this time of the year. I know everyone enjoys the quickening of our natural world coming back to life after a long winters sleep. 

Our self adopted cat Misha frolicking in our garden

We finally have been able to put our early season window flower boxes out as we wait for our geraniums to wake up and get going. Still a little cool for their taste. They certainly prefer a warmer clime before they give up their blossoms. So we enjoy what is here at the moment, drinking it all in.

Looking up toward Merla peak,  from our balcony

And what is in season now, is what is probably my favorite vegetable, the elegant leggy Asparagus. I adore asparagus in just about every way I have ever had them, I think. And if truth be told, as a kid when Mom served them, even from a can, I still thought I had died and gone to heaven. I still pretty much feel that way whenever I have them even now, but the days of opening a can of asparagus are a very distant memory. It's fresh all the way for me. Even if the season is short, it certainly is sweet. So when I recently found I had some smoked sliced salmon waiting for just the right occasion, it didn't take me long to pair them up with the tender fresh spears I got from the market. The soft smoky flavor of the salmon pairs perfectly wrapped around rosemary infused, oven roasted stalks. I've made them a couple of times lately and I find myself pining for more as I type this blog post out.  So do make sure you try this easiest of treats or even if you find you don't have or want any salmon, oven roasting asparagus is a treat. I think oven roast most vegetables is a wonderful treatment for most vegetables as it concentrates the flavors and adds a natural sweet to their flavor. So do have a go. I added a cheese and prosciutto crudo filled piadina (an Italian tortilla- like flat bread from the Romagna countryside of the Emilia  Romagna region), to fill out this simple lunch. I served the bundles as a side dish for supper the other night and it pretty much upstaged everything else on the plate. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. Buon appettito!

Oven roasted Asparagus Salmon Bundles

4-5 bundles

Ingredients
500 g or 1 bunch asparagus , ends trimmed (about 20 spears, more or less)1- 2 lengths of fresh rosemary or about 1 T chopped fresh rosemary leaves
Pinch coarse salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
2 T olive oil

4 to 6 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400* F/ 190* C.
Lay the asparagus on a paper lined baking pan. Tuck the sprigs of rosemary under the spearsor sprinkle the chopped rosemary, salt, and pepper over the spears.Drizzle with olive oil.
Lay the asparagus on a paper lined baking pan. Tuck the sprigs of rosemary under the spearsor sprinkle the chopped rosemary, salt, and pepper over the spears.Drizzle with olive oil.
Roast until cooked and starting to brown around the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to handle.
Gather about 4- 5 spears together and wrap each bunch in a slice of smoked salmon. Arrange on a serving platter and serve at room or warmish temperature.

Artichoke Flowers to fill and eat

Here's an easy way to jazz up serving whole artichokes the next time you want to impress your significant other or dinner guests. It's so easy you don't need to wait for company to try this simple. I'm currently in web site revamp purgatory so haven't had much time to write posts, so I thought I would get this easy and eye appealing way to serve artichokes, before they are finished here for the season.  So many artichoke recipes so little time left, even if they are in season from December to the beginning of May. I still have several recipes I haven't gotten to. In the mean time, pick up some fresh artichokes. We have a wide range of varieties here, but the best one for this trick are the ones that are long and pointy. That is not what are in these pictures, so don't let that stop you, but the longer ones will make a more dramatic presentation.

You can use a variety of fillings for the filling of your artichokes, but a simple home made mayonnaise with garlic is always a classic favorite. I also made a filling that is sort of like a pesto mixed with a bit of tomato paste that makes a tasty alternative to the mayo filling, but haven't been able to find my photo of it. I haven't added a formal recipe for mayo, but here are a couple of links to a classic mayo recipe here, which is made by hand whisking  and a video from Chef John's Foodwishes series, using an immersion wand to make it in a flash. I make it both ways, but find the wand method so easy especially when I just toss in my garlic to boot and faster than I can type up this post, you've got mayo to go on anything.

Artichoke Flowers

Start first by preparing 4 artichokes.
I start by trimming up the stem, making sure to keep as much as possible as the stem is quite tasty. You just remove the bottom part that is dry or very tough. them peel the outer tough skin off of the stem. Leave the stem attached to the artichoke while you steam them, as it makes them easier to handle. 
Remove  a few of the outer leaves, by gently pulling back on them till they snap off. Remove a couple of rows around the base of the artichoke.

 These were early season artichokes and therefore fairly tender, but you may need to remove more of the outer leaves it they seem too tough.  Do take care, as the spiny varieties are fierce and will put up a fight when you attempt to remove them.

Take your knife and cut at an angle to remove the outer leaves tapering towards the tip. It will pronounce the taper and make them very pointed. You are removing the bits that you wouldn't normally eat, and still have some leaf to pull them off with.

 

Bring enough salted water to a boil and either steam the artichokes above the water or plunge them into the water and cook until tender.  You will know they are done when a knife inserted at the base in towards the heart feels easy to pierce. Remove from heat and cool enough to handle.

Take the artichokes by the stem, turn point towards the work table. Gently splay the leaves out from the middle and press the artichoke directly on the table to fan the leaves out. Use enough force to open  it up.  Trim the stem from the base making sure the artichoke will sit up on it's own. Turn right side up to make sure it is suitably opened. If not them repeat the pressing directly o the table till it is open. Take a small teaspoon and remove the choke part in the very enter of the leaves. Now you will have a small cavity to fill with garlic caper mayonnaise, or whater ever combination suits you. Chives or other herbs are a nice addition as well.

 

My pesto concoction consisted of chopping garlic, basil, and pine nuts together. Then adding a small amount of olive oil to make a bit of a paste. Then added some tomato paste to achieve  a pliable  paste. Then I added ground parmesan and and bread crumbs to make a crumbly texture and a bit of salt if needed. I just keep adjustig the amounts as I go along to achieve a moist crumbly and flavorful paste that I plave in the middle of the choke and  sprinkle around. I'm sure you can come up with a few other filling was well. Bagna cauda comes to mind as well, warm garlicky  anchovy sauce comes to mind too.