All posts filed under: asparagus

Roasted Asparagus with Clementine Butter Sauce

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As I’m writing this, I just happened to glance outside and saw a hummingbird in the backyard!  Hummingbirds make me so happy!  It tells me, one, it’s Springtime and two, I have enough flowers blooming that they want to stop by for a quick sip!   This week I want to share a few recipes that really celebrate the fresh flavors of Spring.  Easter is this weekend, and what I love about that holiday is that it’s the perfect opportunity to showcase bright, spring vegetables!  Even though I buy asparagus throughout the year, this is the time when they taste the best and don’t break the bank!  The recipe is so easy and I think it will be perfect on the Easter table. The asparagus is roasted in the oven and then finished with a sauce that is both bright and fresh as well as richly decadent.  This is yet another one of those sauces that I have to keep myself from eating with a spoon!

Farmer’s Market Breakfast with Poached Eggs

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I have a confession to make.  Until today, I have never successfully poached an egg. It’s crazy, I know!  I mean, egg-poaching is a very basic cooking skill and I feel so ashamed that until now, it has completely flummoxed me.  About a year or so ago, I was bound and determined to learn the proper technique, only to end up with a pot of what looked like egg-drop soup.  I tried again and again; and again and again, I failed. I was told my eggs were too fresh. Then I was told that maybe they weren’t fresh enough! And then, this week I happened upon a little article in Real Simple Magazine about the many uses of a meat thermometer that just happened to mention that the ideal temperature for poaching eggs was 180 degrees fahrenheit!  Eureka! That was the variable I never considered in my earlier attempts.  I knew that the water should be barely simmering, but I never thought to check the temperature.  Well, that’s what I did, and SUCCESS!  Beautiful, silky, …

Asparagus and Lemon Risotto/Cedar Plank Salmon

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As you can probably tell, I’m more than a little enamored with asparagus right now.  We didn’t have a traditional Easter dinner this year, but I wanted to make this risotto recipe that I hadn’t made in years.  I love using the fresh asparagus because right now it’s in peak season, which means not only does it taste best right now, it’s very economical, as well. It was also great to be able to use one of +Cher Chang‘s Meyer lemons that came fresh from her lemon tree!  Delicious!  I cannot wait for our baby lemon tree to bear fruit!  I was able to use all fresh herbs from the garden and that makes me very happy! It is important that you have all of your ingredients prepped before you start making the risotto.  Unlike a lot of dishes, risotto requires near-constant stirring, so you won’t have time to stop and chop something in the meantime. 4 cups vegetable (or chicken) stock 1 and 1/4 cup arborio rice 1 pound asparagus, chopped into 1″ pieces 6 …

Spring has Sprung! Polenta with Asparagus and Greens

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This week we said an official good-bye to Winter and hello to my favorite season, SPRING!  Now, I understand that half of the country is still feeling the death throes of Old Man Winter, but we in Southern Nevada have had temperatures hovering in the 80s and 90s.  This is crazy weather and it’s not normal to be this hot so soon, but after an unusually chilly winter, I’ll take it.  Of course, heat this early in March does not bode well for us when July rears its head… So, back to Spring!  I was browsing the internet looking for some cooking inspiration and came across a photograph of a beautiful polenta and asparagus dish served at AOC restaurant in Los Angeles.  I’ve never eaten at this restaurant, but the photograph intrigued me so much that I had to recreate it at home.  You see, it combined two ingredients that just scream Spring for me:  asparagus and six-minute eggs.  Now, six-minute eggs have flummoxed me in the past because I’ve never been able to peel …