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Asparagus! I'm really proud of what I did in the kitchen on this topic, rockin' out a tasting menu of sorts. Doing three dishes is a good strategy, it affords some back up just in case one falls apart. I also love to make little plates, like tapas. They are fun to eat and also a pretty good way to keep your portions small and healthy.
The salad was a beauty. I love, love, love my Japanese "Aspara Bacon", that's classic Japanese comfort food and something you’ll see on any izakaya (iz-ah-kai-ya) menu. Izakayas are rad, they’re traditional pubs that serve little plates of food and drinks meant to be shared with friends. My finale, the toast with roasted asparagus and a poached egg...just plain awesome! I think I cooked the egg perfectly too but it had to sit in a very hot kitchen while the camera crew prepped for judging... hence the egg continued to cook itself. At least that's my excuse.
The simplest things can be the biggest headaches! Hilarious that I couldn't toast bread during this challenge! No broilers, grills or toasters existed in the kitchen and my attempt to hold bread over the gas flame was just nasty. Luckily John Ash helped me out by finding a pan and extra olive oil for frying. What a nice a guy! Seriously, one of the coolest and an incredible cooking instructor... I'd love to take some classes with him. A total honor to cook side by side with the man!
I got to pay John back for helping me out with the toast. He plated his dish but forgot to add the asparagus! I was looking at his couscous and thinking "where the hell's the asparagus?" We had to do a couple extra takes at the end showing him adding asparagus to his dish. Pretty funny.
The judging was ridiculous! I really got torn apart during the critique. Michelle Anna Jordan has one fierce palate. My brother gave me her book "California Home Cooking" ten years ago and I really love it, but that didn't win me any brownie points. It was great meeting her, picking asparagus and cooking for her too! Next time I'll be in top form.
The giant veggie garden we visited to harvest the spears was gorgeous! Must've been a hundred degrees out at the Chalk Hill Winery that day. Definitely the tastiest asparagus I've ever eaten! Everyone kept munching them on the spot. A real treat to get my hands on all those white ones too—they have a soft, creamy and nutty flavor that's angelic. Man, making me hungry just thinking about it right now.
A great shoot! The highlight for me was eating all that super fresh asparagus right out of the ground and cooking with John Ash. Plus the educational factor...
I had no idea that California produces over seventy percent of the nation's crop. I also didn't know they were so prolific, sending runners through your garden and producing multiple spears year after year. Definitely a veggie worth planting in your garden! It was also interesting to enter the debate about PEE. Yeah, I still think that asparagus tends to make your pee stink. What was it that was said about asparagus?
_+_+_ ASPARGUS
Dear Mr. Asparagus,
It is with great embarrassment I admit I have misunderstood you for so long!
Most of my life I thought I was supposed to seek out the thinnest most petite spears you offered. Most of my life I blamed you for stinky, bright yellow pee. Most of my life I thought you were abundant in the wild. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
I realize you were once abundant in the wild but now, you've domesticated. I'm happy you've ceased that forest lifestyle you once favored and are now found in great abundance living in community with like minded crops.
As for the pee thing, I sincerely apologize. I really never had the problem, but all my life I've heard folks blaming you, behind your back of course, for turning their urine bright yellow and ripe with stank. Who knew they were lying! The vast majority of folks have no problem with you whatsoever, only a small percentage find you disagreeable.
The most damaging, false and utterly ridiculous assumption I had against you was that size didn't matter. It just seemed logical that a smaller, baby veggie would be the most tender and delicious.
And who would've thunk it... bigger is better whet it comes to picking the most tender, succulent and flavorful spears?!
You have fooled me for so long, but I always knew you were delicious! Don't ever think I wasn't aware of that.
I'm not sure how asparagus got thrown into the mix here. I had thought that wild asparagus was out there but then we weren't able to find any experts foraging for it. WE found asparagus experts, but they all agreed it was not really a "wild" plant. Asparagus may be domesticated and tame, but it's also organic and delicious.
I'm sorry, I hope you forgive me and that we can be friends... with benefits for I want to cook and eat you.
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