A Thousand Splendid Asparagus

This time last year a blog was born.  It was a time of celebration for my asparagus patch, which was dutifully sprouting the first spears of the spring, beautiful tips tightly closed and purple-tinged.  One year later the asparagus rises again.  And again and again if luck has it.  This blog too, has remained steadfast.  Though a bit more time may elapse between posts, it lives on.  Thank you for tuning in from time to time, and thank you for sharing your thoughts about it.  Your input - whether in person, or posting to the blog - inspires me.  Keep it up!!


As asparagus season rolls out in Western PA and farmer's markets begin to open up (May 8th for some of my favorites), hopefully you can get your hands on some freshly grown local spears.  Or maybe you'd rather drop by here and pick a few.  Either way, you may feel as I do that its time to try out some new recipes alongside your old favorites.  Because the production around here is fast and furious (and short-lived), I'm looking for ways to keep from getting bored.  Last year's big hit was the Cream of Asparagus Soup.  If you've not yet tried it out, make it your goal this spring.


Tonight was not the night for it though.  Tired from a long work week, not wanting to go to the trouble of making a pretty simple soup, I was looking for a quick fix.   Admittedly, I made the mistake this week of over-roasting a set of stalks. Though I do love oven-roasted asparagus, these were made limp, and dreadfully  stringy by my over-calculation of cooking time.  Not wanting to repeat that textural error, I went for the slightly cooked plan, and it was a winner.  In fact, I would go as far as to say this minimal cooking time was just perfect, resulting in just barely tender spears that yielded ever-so-slightly when bitten.  Even better was the flavor combination, a punch of lemon that only fresh grated rind can produce, combined with the salty/briny, earthy complexity of a well-aged parmesan cheese.


Cheers to you on this momentous occasion.  Keep reading, and I'll do my best to send more interesting things your way.


Lemon Parmesan Asparagus


1 bunch of asparagus, tough ends removed, remaining cut into 2-3" lengths
Olive oil  
Salt 
Pepper
Finely grated lemon peel from 1 fresh lemon
Freshly grated parmesan cheese


Directions:  Set pan of water to boil.  Add lengths of asparagus to boiling water.  Time for 2 minutes at full boil.  Remove spears and run quickly under cold water to stop cooking process.  Place drained asparagus on serving plate.  Dress lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Grate fresh lemon rind over spears, then fresh parmesan.