You can either cut off a couple of inches of the stalk or, preferably, you can simply bend each spear until it breaks at its natural breaking point. Using the breaking method will make sure that you end up with nice tender spears of asparagus without any waste.
You'll find that you lose more of the stalk with thicker asparagus than with the young thin spears.
How to Steam Asparagus
Steaming asparagus is quick and easy. If you want to get fancy though, you can buy a special asparagus steamer that will allow for steaming the asparagus upright. A steamer basket will also do the trick nicely though and costs a lot less.
Once you have removed the woody stems and washed your spears, place them in the steamer basket, put some water in the bottom of your saucepan and place the steamer inside it. Put the lid on and let them steam. Depending on how tender you want your spears, they should be ready in about 2-3 minutes. They'll be done when they've turned bright green and are fork tender.
If you don't have steamer basket, you can bundle the asparagus together with some twine and stand them upright in a pot with about an inch of water in it. This will ensure that the tips of the asparagus are steamed and not boiled.
How to Roast Asparagus
My favorite method for cooking asparagus is roasting and eight times out of 10 this is how I will cook it. The other two times I will grille it
Here's what I usually do:
Quick Roasted Asparagus
Preheat oven to 400
Dump asparagus spears on baking tray
Drizzle with plenty of olive oil
Toss asparagus spears to coat in olive oil
Spread them out on baking tray evenly
Sprinkle sea salt (or kosher salt) on asparagus
Grind pepper over aspargus
Sprinkle bits of chopped garlic over asparagus
Stick in the oven and cook for about 10-15 minutes
I usually let them cook until the asparagus is sizzling in the oil and there's a bit of browning. If you like yours a little crisper, you can take them out after they've turned bright green.
Once they are out of the oven, you can squeeze some lemon on them or shred some parmesan cheese over them or sprinkled some balsamic vinegraite or caesar dressing.
1. Select asparagus that is firm, has tight heads, and does not have a strong odor.
2. Wash all spears in cool water, making sure to clean any residual soil off of the tips.
3. Cut about an inch off the bottom of each spear. Leave spears whole, or cut into pieces.
4. Using a steamer basket above boiling water, or a saucepan containing about 1/2 cup boiling water, add asparagus and cover pan. Cook until all pieces are tender, about 6 to 10 minutes.
1.Wash spears in cool water to clean any residual soil or sand from the tips.
2.Bend the spears and they will snap at the natural breaking point, to remove the woody bottoms. CHOOSE ONE OF THE 5 WAYS TO COOK THE ASPARAGUS!
NUMBER 1:Boil asparagus in 1 inch of salted water in a wide skillet for 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately rinse them under cool water to stop the cooking and preserve the bright green color.
NUMBER 2:Steam asparagus spears or pieces for 3 minutes, then rinse under cool water.
NUMBER 3:Roast asparagus in a 500 degree F oven for 3 to 5 minutes, or until tender. Roasting is usually best for thicker spears.
NUMBER 4: STir-fry 2-inch lengths of asparagus with black bean sauce for a change of pace. Or stir-fry with garlic and ginger and toss with a little dark sesame oil.
NUMBER 5:Grill asparagus by skewering four or five spears together, making a raft that prevents individual spears from slipping between the grill bars. Buy the thickest spears you can find and secure them with bamboo skewers about 2 inches from the top and 1 inch from the bottom. Break the skewers off where they exit the raft. Brush the raft with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
To prepare asparagus, you will need to rinse the spears and break off the tough ends. After that, how you cook asparagus is up to you.
Purists enjoy their asparagus with nothing more than a drizzle of good-quality olive oil, but you can enjoy asparagus in many different dishes: in soups, salads, stir-fries, risottos, scrambled eggs, pasta, and many more dishes besides
Steaming: First, you need to tie a bundle of asparagus spears together with kitchen string, just under the tips and also near the bottom, making sure the bottom ends are level. Place the bundle in a tall pot of 2 inches of boiling water, unless you have your very own asparagus steamer. Cover and steam for 5-8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the spears. While the ends of the asparagus are being boiled, the tips are actually being steamed. The end result should be bright green, crisp yet tender spears.
Boiling: Lay the asparagus spears in a large skillet with about an inch of water. Boil for up to 5 minutes, depending on thickness of the spears.
Blanching: If you are using the asparagus in salads or for other cold dishes, plunging the boiled or steamed asparagus in cold or iced water as soon as they are done immediately stops the cooking process and helps preserve the color and crispness of the asparagus.
Microwaving: Lay asparagus in a microwave-safe baking dish, with tips towards the center. Add about a 1/4 cup of water; cover and microwave for 4-5 minutes. Roasting: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lay asparagus on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil. Roast for 8-10 minutes.
Stir Frying: Cut spears diagonally into 1 1/2 inch to 2-inch pieces, and stir fry with a teaspoon of sesame or olive oil for 3 minutes.
Roasting: Place asparagus on a baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray and roast in a preheated 450 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness of the spears. Or, instead of using cooking spray, drizzle a little olive oil over the asparagus before roasting.
Grilling: Place asparagus spears on a preheated (medium-high heat) grill sprayed with olive oil spray and cook for about 5-8 minutes until tender, turning occasionally
Lois, obviously you know how to wash them and break/cut off the woody bit. So lets cut to the chase. You can steam them and serve them with a cheese sauce over them as a side to lets say a meat or fish dish. What I do is I get five spears per person wrap a slice or two of prosciutto or bacon and char them on the BBQ or do them in the oven, don't forget to season with a little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Comments
Preparing Asparagus for cooking
You can either cut off a couple of inches of the stalk or, preferably, you can simply bend each spear until it breaks at its natural breaking point. Using the breaking method will make sure that you end up with nice tender spears of asparagus without any waste.
You'll find that you lose more of the stalk with thicker asparagus than with the young thin spears.
How to Steam Asparagus
Steaming asparagus is quick and easy. If you want to get fancy though, you can buy a special asparagus steamer that will allow for steaming the asparagus upright. A steamer basket will also do the trick nicely though and costs a lot less.
Once you have removed the woody stems and washed your spears, place them in the steamer basket, put some water in the bottom of your saucepan and place the steamer inside it. Put the lid on and let them steam. Depending on how tender you want your spears, they should be ready in about 2-3 minutes. They'll be done when they've turned bright green and are fork tender.
If you don't have steamer basket, you can bundle the asparagus together with some twine and stand them upright in a pot with about an inch of water in it. This will ensure that the tips of the asparagus are steamed and not boiled.
How to Roast Asparagus
My favorite method for cooking asparagus is roasting and eight times out of 10 this is how I will cook it. The other two times I will grille it
Here's what I usually do:
Quick Roasted Asparagus
Preheat oven to 400
Dump asparagus spears on baking tray
Drizzle with plenty of olive oil
Toss asparagus spears to coat in olive oil
Spread them out on baking tray evenly
Sprinkle sea salt (or kosher salt) on asparagus
Grind pepper over aspargus
Sprinkle bits of chopped garlic over asparagus
Stick in the oven and cook for about 10-15 minutes
I usually let them cook until the asparagus is sizzling in the oil and there's a bit of browning. If you like yours a little crisper, you can take them out after they've turned bright green.
Once they are out of the oven, you can squeeze some lemon on them or shred some parmesan cheese over them or sprinkled some balsamic vinegraite or caesar dressing.
1. Select asparagus that is firm, has tight heads, and does not have a strong odor.
2. Wash all spears in cool water, making sure to clean any residual soil off of the tips.
3. Cut about an inch off the bottom of each spear. Leave spears whole, or cut into pieces.
4. Using a steamer basket above boiling water, or a saucepan containing about 1/2 cup boiling water, add asparagus and cover pan. Cook until all pieces are tender, about 6 to 10 minutes.
5. Serve.
1.Wash spears in cool water to clean any residual soil or sand from the tips.
2.Bend the spears and they will snap at the natural breaking point, to remove the woody bottoms. CHOOSE ONE OF THE 5 WAYS TO COOK THE ASPARAGUS!
NUMBER 1:Boil asparagus in 1 inch of salted water in a wide skillet for 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately rinse them under cool water to stop the cooking and preserve the bright green color.
NUMBER 2:Steam asparagus spears or pieces for 3 minutes, then rinse under cool water.
NUMBER 3:Roast asparagus in a 500 degree F oven for 3 to 5 minutes, or until tender. Roasting is usually best for thicker spears.
NUMBER 4: STir-fry 2-inch lengths of asparagus with black bean sauce for a change of pace. Or stir-fry with garlic and ginger and toss with a little dark sesame oil.
NUMBER 5:Grill asparagus by skewering four or five spears together, making a raft that prevents individual spears from slipping between the grill bars. Buy the thickest spears you can find and secure them with bamboo skewers about 2 inches from the top and 1 inch from the bottom. Break the skewers off where they exit the raft. Brush the raft with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
To prepare asparagus, you will need to rinse the spears and break off the tough ends. After that, how you cook asparagus is up to you.
Purists enjoy their asparagus with nothing more than a drizzle of good-quality olive oil, but you can enjoy asparagus in many different dishes: in soups, salads, stir-fries, risottos, scrambled eggs, pasta, and many more dishes besides
Steaming: First, you need to tie a bundle of asparagus spears together with kitchen string, just under the tips and also near the bottom, making sure the bottom ends are level. Place the bundle in a tall pot of 2 inches of boiling water, unless you have your very own asparagus steamer. Cover and steam for 5-8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the spears. While the ends of the asparagus are being boiled, the tips are actually being steamed. The end result should be bright green, crisp yet tender spears.
Boiling: Lay the asparagus spears in a large skillet with about an inch of water. Boil for up to 5 minutes, depending on thickness of the spears.
Blanching: If you are using the asparagus in salads or for other cold dishes, plunging the boiled or steamed asparagus in cold or iced water as soon as they are done immediately stops the cooking process and helps preserve the color and crispness of the asparagus.
Microwaving: Lay asparagus in a microwave-safe baking dish, with tips towards the center. Add about a 1/4 cup of water; cover and microwave for 4-5 minutes. Roasting: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lay asparagus on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil. Roast for 8-10 minutes.
Stir Frying: Cut spears diagonally into 1 1/2 inch to 2-inch pieces, and stir fry with a teaspoon of sesame or olive oil for 3 minutes.
Roasting: Place asparagus on a baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray and roast in a preheated 450 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness of the spears. Or, instead of using cooking spray, drizzle a little olive oil over the asparagus before roasting.
Grilling: Place asparagus spears on a preheated (medium-high heat) grill sprayed with olive oil spray and cook for about 5-8 minutes until tender, turning occasionally
Wow, talk about over complicating things in some of these answers. It's asparagus people, not truffle soaked in champagne!
Asparagus - keep it simple and enjoy one of the best tasting vegetables ever:
1- Trim stringy, yellow ends with a paring knife.
2- Poach in water until dark green and retains firmness on the outside.
3- Pull from water and add butter and salt.
Lois, obviously you know how to wash them and break/cut off the woody bit. So lets cut to the chase. You can steam them and serve them with a cheese sauce over them as a side to lets say a meat or fish dish. What I do is I get five spears per person wrap a slice or two of prosciutto or bacon and char them on the BBQ or do them in the oven, don't forget to season with a little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.