It's asparagus time!

[wiseheart]

The season came a little later than usual, but finally it's there. Mum and I both love asparagus, and fortunately, so do the Germans in general. I think they relate to asparagus the same way Hobbits relate to mushrooms. Which is a good thing, because it means that you can find literally hundreds of fantastic recipes for asparagus dishes on the Net. If you're an asparagus lover, google for "Spargelrezepte". Google offers you the instant translation from German, so if you're not that fluent in the language you'll still be able to manage.

So far, we've had asparagus with ham, cheese sauce and baked potatoes three times and asparagus with melted butter and roast bread crumbs and scrambled eggs (also added ham and baked potatoes) once. I'm going to try the Asparagus Milanese next, or the Polnish art. Or the version with poultry stripes. Or the one with mozzarella. I'm not sure which one to try first.

Asparagus is not unreasonably expensive, it has valuable minerals in it and very few calories, aside from being the tastiest vegetable on this planet. It's also a good thing that there are so many ways to prepare it. The only bad thing is: you get a tennis arm in every asparagus season, from all the peeling. But we manage. *g*

Also, I had the weirdest plotcritters about Hobbits cooking asparagus and calling it "the Elf root", for obvious reasons. I think I'm a hopeless case where the mind-in-the-gutter aspect of life is considered. Still, I'm sure the Hobbits would forget all about mushrooms, should they get the chance to know asparagus.

Okay, shutting up now...

Comments

[ajmckay.livejournal.com]

Yummy,asparagus. I don't cook my own, but Noodles and Company makes a mean asparagus dish that is their seasonal special right now. I think I know where I'm heading to before going into work. *grins*

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear! Let's spread the asparagus love!

I think the best asparagus dish I've ever ate were Pfälzer pancakes, which include asparagus, ham and cheese (or rather very thick cheese sauce) rolled into crépes. I so wish to learn how to make them; perhaps one day I'll find the right recipe.

[ajmckay.livejournal.com]

I don't cook anything on my own...horrible in a kitchen, but all the recipes you talk about sound so tempting that I just might try something. Hm...

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Cooking asparagus is the easiest thing in life. You just peeé them (not the heads, apparently, but the rest), then throw them into water seasoned with a teaspoon of sugar (against the slightly bitter aftertaste), lemon juice (so that they stay nice and white) and just a pinch of salt.

According to your personal taste, you can leave them there between 15 or 25 minutes, after which they're ready to be eaten. Add a slice ham or two cut to pieces, some melted butter (eventually with a tablespoon of breadcrumbs roasted in it) and some potatoes, and you're in Nirvana already.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Drat. I meant peel, of course.

[songfire3.livejournal.com]

*g* But you have to peel them *very* carefully! :)

We actually have asparagus in our garden. So I get the tennis arm and lumbago from the harvesting...

I love asparagus with king prawns. And asparagus cream soup. And asparagus with new potatoes, smoked ham and melted butter...lol. Now I'm hungry!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yeah, harvesting asparagus must be back-breaking work. I only saw it on television, but it looks painful.

No tennis arm here, yet - but a somewhat stiff neck, for glaring down at them wile peeling. *g*

[lissas-elves.livejournal.com]

Elf root! ROFL. My-my, I think you'd better write that story. :-))

Yes, asparagus taste just yummy! *starts thinking of what to make for supper tomorrow* And strawberries are in season, too!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yay, strawberries! Aren't thy lovely? Just by themselves, not spoiling the taste with sugar or whatnot.

Do google for the recipes. Most of them are ridiculously easy to do - I've decided to work myself through a lot of them as long as the season lastst - and the result is always fantastic.

You want the story, hmmm? I'm not promising anything I might not be able to keep, but - when do you have your birthday?

[lissas-elves.livejournal.com]

Well, as a matter of fact, my birthday is 8 June ... but I refuse to state the year! *g*

I've got a bowl of strawberries on the kitchen table as we speak; just the smell - it's so delicious.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Drat. I won't manage it until June 8 - but if you'd accept a belated birthday vignette, say, in July, I might try my hand on it. No promises, though.

Strawberries, mmmm...

[lissas-elves.livejournal.com]

lol - I don't want to put pressure on you to do this. But if at any time you feel like it, I'd certainly feel honoured.

*goes to eat strawberries*

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

*goes to eat strawberries*

*does the same*
As I replied to Dís' comment, I'd need the right set of hobbits and a really good plot idea for that. Perhaps I'll need to consult Larner...

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, I wish I'd been able to plant some, it's so expensive in the shops. Always next year though.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's not exactly cheap, but again, few good things ever are.

[jilba.livejournal.com]

You want to try picking asparagus...it's a killer. Crawling across wind swept icy fields, up to one's knees in mud armed with a knife...please really enjoy your asparagus. Some one has suffered for your pleasure!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Some one has suffered for your pleasure!

I know. I saw reports on TV. Over here, Germany is the greatest producer of asparagus. They produce so much that they have to hire hundreds of Polish workers to harvest the things for them. Half of the population living on the German/Polish border live from those harvest times, as they won't have any jobs for the rest of the year.

Of course, we get Hungarian asparagus here. In fact, whenever I can I buy Hungarian products. Sometimes they are a little more expensive, but I feel that I ought to support our own farmers. They work hard enough and earn little enough as it is.

[mistry89.livejournal.com]

It's winter here, so it is Brussels Sprouts (yum!) time. I've never "got into" asparagus, possibly because I was forced to eat them as a child (over-boiled and soggy - cauliflower is also on my "ruined in childhood" list, even with cheese sauce!).
Perhaps I should revisit asparagus next season .....
Cheers!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Erm... I do like my vegetables over-boiled and soggy. Please, don't shoot me, I know every self-respecting connaisseur eats his or her veggies al dente (which, in my estimate, is simply half-raw), but it seems I have no self-respect in that area. I either eat them entirely raw or over-cook them. *ducks*

I love cauliflower, too. And broccoli. Brussels Sprouts, however... I could never get over the cabbage-y aftertaste. The fun thing is, I actually *like* cabbage. Go figure.

[disthrainsdotte.livejournal.com]

It sounds like a good idea for a fic, if you get the time to write it.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I wonder why people like fics of that kind so much. On the other hand, perhaps I don't. My mind is constantly in the gutter, too. *g*

If I only could find the right plot or the right set of hobbits... any suggestions?

[disthrainsdotte.livejournal.com]

The right set of hobbits. Hmmm, I need to consider that. *looks at hobbits who are not looking back.* *g*

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

They aren't? Hmmm...

[disthrainsdotte.livejournal.com]

At the moment they look at each other. I wonder what they think about. *scatches head*

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Perhaps they think: "What the hell is this outlandish thing she wants us to cook? No self-respecting Hobbit has ever eaten anything this weird-looking... and the name! It's an indecent one and no mistake!" *g*

[disthrainsdotte.livejournal.com]

It could be something like that. lol

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

That's what Larner seems to think, and she's the best hobbit writer I've read so far.

BTW, Mum and I are going to the travel agency tomorrow to book that trip to Stockholm. Be afraid! Be very afraid! *g*

[disthrainsdotte.livejournal.com]

I look forward to it. It will be great to see both you and your mum. :)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I'll post the programme, soon, and will contact you privately - you know, for sharing phone numbers and such things.

So far, we don't know whether it will be July 24-25-26-27 or Juli 26-27-28-29; it depends on when the travel agency gets the better (=cheaper) fly tickets. But we'll definitely have some free time, so I'm looking forward to meet you in person.

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Asparagus is doubly delicious because its season is so short. Enjoy it while you can!

(I've thought about planting some asparagus here at Himring, but can't decide where I would put it. As a perennial, it just won't work in my current vegetable beds, which get a new layout every spring.)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, I intend to, rest assured! *g*

Now if I only could think of the right plot and the right hobbits for that vignette...

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Wait until later in the summer to work on that vignette. You don't want Hobbit muses around during asparagus season. They'd eat it all and leave none for you!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Unless they utterly refuse it, of course. Hobbits are a very conservative lot, don't forget it!