I have always looked forward to Wednesday mornings because it is the day that I wake up to the NY Times Dining Section--which often brings new culinary inspirations. Last week, I used Melissa Clark's idea for cooking asparagus in parchment paper. Though she used green, I have been craving the white asparagus that I enjoyed at a birthday luncheon a few weeks ago, so I substituted white stalks for the green. I wrapped them in parchment paper packets, as described in the article and seasoned them lightly with olive oil, salt & pepper and rosemary. The results were a mixed bag--some spears were tender and delicious and others were tough and fibrous.
The jury's out on whether the results were the fault of the recipe or of the cook.
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I continue the experiment and retried this recipe using green asparagus. They turned out truly fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI peeled the asparagus and did half the in parchment and half in foil. Both bunches were seasoned with salt & pepper, olive oil and a tarragon leaf as Melissa instructed. 90 minutes at 200 degrees and they were perfectly done. The foil was easier to work with because you just fold it over and there is no need for staples. An added benefit is that there is no pan to clean. Just throw away the parchment or foil and you're done.