A is for Asparagus

Kate in Rotenburg

 I learned to love asparagus when we lived in Germany for four years. Each spring, it seemed as though every village had an asparagus festival and you could get an all-asparagus meal at any German gasthaus.

Me at a gasthaus

Germans prefer white asparagus, and that’s what we ate in soups (spargelsuppe), with ham (spargel mit schinken), with hollandaise sauce (spargel mit hollandischer) or with buttered and parsley potatoes (spargel mit butter).
 

Many years later, my daughter Kate introduced me to grilled asparagus -- she likes to barbecue hers. These days, I mostly roast it in a 400 degree oven for 10 or 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the spears, or I make soup, which is ridiculously easy.

 

Our street in Richen

Although I don’t eat it for every meal like the Germans, I do like to use asparagus as often as possible during the season. When Don was trying to lose weight, he told me that asparagus is extremely high in fiber and so is filling for dieters. My mother has fond memories of cold asparagus with mayonnaise that she ate as a child in the California Delta town of Rio Vista, so I eat leftovers that way.



 Click here for my Asparagus Risotto recipe.

Click here for the asparagus and fried egg recipe.

Asparagus Soup – for 2 people

You can sauté ½ of a chopped onion first or just toss it raw and cut into pieces  in a pot with  about 8 or 9 thick spears of cleaned asparagus and 2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock.

 Let the mixture simmer until both vegetables are soft. Then just put the mixture in a blender or food processor and liquefy. (Be careful.)

Return the broth back to the pot and add 1 cup of milk (or half milk and half cream). Add salt and pepper. (Julia Child favors white pepper so as not to mar the look of the soup with pepper bits, but I kind-of like seeing the pepper.) A dollop of sour cream and a bit of chopped chives look lovely on top.