Two Parties & LOTS of Asparagus

Every few months or so we get to have dinner at my godfather's house in San Francisco. We are soooo lucky, not just because they are amazing people, but because my godfather's husband, Robert, is - among other things - an absolute genius in the kitchen (and has taught me much of what I know!) This month we were lucky enough to have two dinner parties in a row, one for Easter and the next for my godfather's birthday party the following weekend. Other than the amazing wine, friends, and food in general, the parties had two things in common: delicious pork... and friggin' HUGE asparagus. Easter was fairly low-key with about 10 people and a fabulous meal of roasted rack of pork, lasagna with gruyere cheese, and gigantic broiled asparagus, topped off by my mom's rhubarb & apple pie. Everything was delicious; in fact during dinner we couldn't seem to talk about anything but the food!

















The birthday party the following weekend had a guest list of closer to 50 people, and enough food to feed twice that number. And everything was gigantic. There was an enormous pile (I'm talking like 20 lbs) of jumbo prawns, a mountain of giant asparagus, and then the meat...the biggest pork loin I've ever seen rolled up with herbs and spices and encased completely in pork belly. It was a monster of a roast, intended for the spit on their super-sized non-gas grill. My boyfriend is the BBQ master at these events, and managed to get the thing skewered and rotating; but after the first hour the amount of grease that thing generated was just too much for it, and a nasty little grease fire followed. The roast -a bit charred on the outside but otherwise no worse for wear - had to be transferred to an oven; luckily they have two, because Beth and I were already using one to roast shrimp and asparagus in seemingly never-ending batches. Everything was divine, from the prawns - which tasted like lobster - to the intensely-juicy pork, right down to the gorgeous cakes (made by the very talented Jasmine Rae). But when all was said and done, I came away from both events with an extreme case of asparagus-fervor.













In case you didn't know, the tenderness of asparagus has nothing to do with its size and everything to do with how long ago it was plucked from the ground. In fact, the thicker the diameter the better the quality! There are probably a bunch of things you didn't know about asparagus; for instance, were you aware that there are only two vegetables - asparagus and rhubarb - that will produce for more than one season? No need to replant these guys every year, which is a good thing since it takes asparagus beds 3 years to actually start producing asparagus. During that time they develop strong, fibrous root systems; after that they can produce for up to 15 years, so I'd say it's definitely worth the wait! Asparagus spears shoot up out of the ground at a rather alarming rate; under ideal conditions they can grow 10 inches in a 24 hour period. Once they pop their heads out of the grown you have to keep a close watch on them and pick them before they go from this...



...to this...



...to this!



Yes, asparagus grows into tall, willowy, tree-like ferns with red berries, practically unrecognizable from the original spears. You wouldn't know it from most grocery stores in California, but asparagus also has a very short growing season. In most climates it's only available for a few short months in the spring. So if you buy asparagus in November and wonder why it's extremely tough and stringy, it probably had to travel a great distance to get to you; or it's simply been sitting around for a few weeks. The fresher the asparagus, the easier it is to chew.

One last tidbit before I move on to the actual cooking: asparagus comes in three different colors, green, purple and white. But the "white" asparagus is actually no different gene-wise from green asparagus. For white asparagus, mulch is piled high over the emerging spears so that they never see the light of day; without light, they cannot produce CO2, thus their whiteness. Now, on to more important matters...

You may have been taught to snap asparagus ends off; it's true that the spears have a spot where the tougher end will easily snap off. But for the big, beautiful specimens we had at both parties, it seemed extremely wasteful to snap off a third of the stalk. Instead, we shaved down the ends using a vegetable peeler. This helps the stalk to cook evenly and avoids any stringy toughness at the thick end, and at the same time lets you use the entire stalk! Keep in mind, asparagus does not need to be limp and squishy in order to be tender. Properly cooked, it should be just tender enough to bite through easily.

On Easter, we simply doused the asparagus in olive oil, sprinkled with salt, pepper and lemon zest, and broiled it for 5-10 minutes. For the birthday party, we took it a bit further. We broiled them the same way, but then topped them with slow-poached eggs, a light vinaigrette, and a fancy yummy coarse caper salt (you could mimic this using regular poached eggs and a coarse sea salt). I'd say it was fairly fabulous.

Huge Broiled Asparagus with Slow-Poached Eggs

1 bunch (or more) large asparagus (green or purple or both), thick ends shaved and the very ends cut off
slow or regular poached eggs (5 eggs per bunch of asparagus)
simple balsamic vinaigrette dressing
coarse salt
several TB's of olive oil

Turn oven to broil.

Refer to this link to slow poach eggs. Or, simply poach eggs, using the freshest eggs possible.

Brush prepped asparagus with plenty of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil asparagus for 5-10 minutes, or until just fork tender and ever-so-slightly beginning to brown. Place asparagus in serving dish. Top with poached eggs, sprinkle liberally with vinaigrette, and top with coarse salt. Enjoy!

(Unfortunately I have zero photos of the finished asparagus, prawns or pork...we were just too busy at that point!)