Kitchen Garden Forum

I am in the 4th year of my asparagas & cutting lots,I do have a difficulty in in sorting out the hard chewy bit at the bottom of the stem when I cook them, some chefs say you should snap them off before cooking them but this seems a waste. when I cut them of the plant I go about an inch under the soil. Any help please from you cooks.

The chefs are right. Snap them at the bottom and the point they snap at is the point where edible and inedible meet. Anything below that may look fine but will be too fibrous to eat.

They're right! You can always make a soup stock with the woody bits, but you'll need some cream at the last minute.

If you have a lot of woody stalks and you have a stick blender or a food processor, they can always be cooked and turned into soup. They can be temporarily stored in a plastic bag in the fridge or freezer until you have accumulated enough, perhaps combined with a few fresh stalks and a dash or cream of creme fraiche. The asparagus season is so short that it's a pity to waste them. Using a chicken stock cube as a base if you don't have fresh chicken stock this will make a very nice tasty soup. I keep promising myself (although I've not yet had the time) that I will also use the fibre'd pulp to make an asparagus mousse.

Howdy

When I harvest my Asparagus I use the method Bob Flowerdew suggested.

Hold the stalks about a third of the way down and bend them. They will then snap off at the juicy/woody junction.

Ignore all the stuff about steaming and using fancy Asparagus cookers!

Take a large saucepan and cut the stems to the diameter of the saucepan. This is easiest done by holding them over the pan to decide how long they need to be.

Use salted water, unless you have an aversion to salt. Drop the stems in the water once it's boiling. Bring back to the boil and give them 6 minutes. Perfect!!

Guy

I'm with you all the way except I don't use any salt and I only cook them for 3 minutes, not 6.

Thank you all for your replys on asparagas, they have been a great help, the bending advice works. I tried cooking the tough bits and put them in my blender after and they still very stringy, it is an old food mixer though.

sorry, but i will have to add that they are even nicer imo 10 mins in a hot oven with a splash of olive oil and salt, then drizzle of lemon juice as they are served.

Mandy

mandylew wrote:i will have to add that they are even nicer imo 10 mins in a hot oven with a splash of olive oil and salt

Mandy, that's the way I like them too . As well as being lazily convenient, I think it brings out the taste better than steaming or boiling. Also, if your timing is out, they will last fine being kept warm, whilst you're waiting for other stuff to finish.


Colin

Not wanting a waste a bit of this years harvest. I tried peeling the ends of my asparagus, they were deliicious & didn't make it to being cooked as i kept munching them as i peeled. The insides were not stringy at all - the stringiness must have all been in the skin.