Year In Pictures: 2010/06/13

[plonq]

I am surprisingly tired this evening, so I'm just going to post this picture and head off to bed.

We bought a couple bunches of asparagus at the farmers' market yesterday, and we grilled one of them (along with a couple of steaks) for dinner this evening.

Comments

[dalesql.livejournal.com]

I never would have thought of grilling asparagus. How do I cook them on a grill? Just sear them a bit and serve, or what?

[plonq.livejournal.com]

Grilled asparagus is a real treat. There are a few recipes out there, but what we do is pretty close to this recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/the-surreal-gourmet/grilled-asparagus-spears-recipe/index.html).

Trim the asparagus as normal (some people peel it as well, but we don't), then put it on a plate and drizzle it with olive oil. Roll it around in the oil to get it completely coated, and optionally add a dash of salt.

Lay it out on the barbecue over low-medium heat and give it a quarter turn every minute or so to keep it from burning. You want the outside to be nicely caramelized, but not burnt. The thinner spears cook faster than the fatter ones, so I usually end up removing it from the heat in stages as it is done.

I've heard a few recommendations to put a dash of nutmeg on the asparagus as you're grilling it. I tried that on a few of the spears(you can see it on the three to the lower right of the picture). I love both nutmeg and asparagus, but the two flavours did not work together well IMO. It may be that I overdid it with the nutmeg, but I don't think I'll be doing that again.