Spring Asparagus

When I was a little girl (don’t you just love a paragraph that begins like that?) in southeastern Colorado, every spring I would accompany my mom and aunt as they picked the bountiful asparagus that grew wild along the irrigation ditches.  I don’t know if it was the fact that it grew alongside the muddy water or that it smelled so pungent but it was the one vegetable that I didn’t like.  (Yes, I even liked beets and spinach!)  As the years passed, asparagus remained on my “well, I’ll eat it but…” list.  Just within recent memory has it, unexpectedly, become one of my favorite spring treats.

For some unknown reason (to me, at least) this spring has given us a bumper crop of asparagus in upstate New York.  We’ve had long, skinny spears and short, fat ones – bright green, musty green, purply-green – you name it – we’ve picked it wild, from the garden, or in bundles from the farmers market in Cooperstown or, in the city, at the Union Square market.  Fresh, local asparagus is so wonderfully delicious that you really don’t have to do much other than steam or grill it and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and add a sprinkle of crunchy sea salt.  We’ve indulged and had a couple of late breakfasts comprised of fat steamed asparagus with some shaved black truffles (very indulgent) and later with shaved Parmigiano (from DiPalo’s on Grand Street {dipaloselects.com}) and cracked black pepper.  I would have preferred the addition of some hollandaise sauce but let willpower control any further indulgence.

And, because we’ve had so much, for the first time in a long time, I also pickled it using the same recipe that my mom and aunt shared so many years ago.  However, I didn’t can the jars in a boiling water bath, just sealed and refrigerated a couple of jars for our use and shared the others with friends.  Pickled asparagus makes a terrific hors d’ wrapped with some thinly sliced speck or prosciutto, a great addition to a summer salad, or as a side with grilled fish.

Pickled Asparagus

Depending upon the size of the spears, makes 4 to 6 quarts

5 cups white or rice wine vinegar

½ cup coarse salt

4 pounds very fresh asparagus, tough ends cut off to make a neat end (do not peel

as you want firm stalks)

As many fresh garlic cloves as you like for each jar

1 sprig fresh dill per jar

½ teaspoon mustard seed per jar

1 small, hot chile per jar, optional

Make an ice water bath in a large shallow pot or bowl.  Set aside.

Combine the vinegar and salt with 5 cups of cold water in a heavy, nonreactive saucepan over high heat.  Bring to a boil.

Working with a few spears at a time, blanch the asparagus in the boiling liquid for 45 seconds.  Using tongs, transfer the blanched asparagus to the ice water bath.

As cooled, place on a double layer of paper towel to drain.

Keep the vinegar mixture at a bare simmer once all of the asparagus has been blanched.

Pack the cooled, blanched spears in clean, sterilized quart jars, tips up.  Place as many garlic cloves as you like, a sprig of fresh dill, ½ teaspoon mustard seed, and, if using, a small hot chile into each jar.  Cover with the hot vinegar mixture, leaving about ¼-inch space at the top.  Screw on lids and, if refrigerating, set aside to cool.

If canning, place the jars in a boiling water bath (the water must cover the jars by 1-inch) and boil for 5 minutes.   Remove from the boiling water and tighten the lids.  Set aside on wire racks to cool before storing.

Mickey’s Asparagus Salad

This is a photo of a wonderful asparagus, beet, and goat cheese salad that my son, Mickey, made for us at a recent family dinner.  When I asked him what vinaigrette he had used he said – and I quote – “It was probably my classic French vinaigrette: shallots, mustard, sherry vinegar, canola or olive oil and sea salt and white pepper.”