The Charmed Kitchen

Asparagus Irene

Asparagus will always be one of my favorite vegetables.  I just love it. I grabbed a couple of bunches at a local produce market the other day.

As I started writing out the recipe for this dish, I was thinking about my Mom and how much she loved asparagus. She always wanted the bigger asparagus spears- she said they had more flavor.

I remember her showing me how to break the bottom of the stalks off and how she would cook them until they were just done- but not mushy.

She wouldn’t consider eating canned asparagus- only fresh- so the season was short. It was something to be savored while it lasted.

Most times she just placed the cooked asparagus on a plate, topped with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of salt. One time, though, she made a white sauce and poured it over the asparagus. It was bliss.

Naming a recipe can be tricky. Sometimes, I just list the ingredients in the dish- like chicken with pineapple and honey. That works, but feels a little like cheating to me. I started out calling this Asparagus with Eggs, which was fine. Then I thought of how much my Mom loved asparagus. So in her memory- I named the dish after her.

For this version I used a white sauce, and topped the asparagus with 2 poached eggs, too. It was a lovely dish and made for a great dinner.

It also makes a nice meat-free meal.

Here is the recipe.

Asparagus Irene

1 lb. fresh asparagus, washed and stems trimmed

white sauce- recipe follows

fresh lemon, cut in wedges

2 eggs

vinegar- for the poaching water

salt and pepper to taste

Put the asparagus in a steamer and cook for about 5 minutes- or until almost done. Set aside. Make white sauce, but add some lemon juice to it. I just kept squeezing lemon wedges in until it tasted right to me. Set sauce aside. Boil some water in a shallow pan and add a tablespoon of vinegar to the water. Drop the two eggs in and simmer, covered until the whites are opaque and the yolks are still runny. While the eggs are cooking return the asparagus to the heat and cook until just tender. Place asparagus on a serving dish. Sprinkle with a little salt. Gently place the eggs on top of the asparagus. Spoon some of the white sauce over the eggs. You will have more sauce than you need. Save it for another use. Garnish with lemon wedges and parsley, if you like. Finish with some salt and fresh ground pepper. Serves 2.

Basic White Sauce (Bechamel)

The start of many a classic dish.

2 T. butter or oil
2 T. flour
1 1/4 c. warmed milk
salt and pepper to taste

In saucepan melt butter or heat oil and add flour, stirring until smooth. Slowly whisk in milk, stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly. Turn heat down and continue to cook, stirring constantly for a couple minutes longer. Season to taste. If you are going to store the sauce for later use place a layer of wax paper on top, store in a container with a lid or pour a little milk over the top to prevent a skin from forming. Makes about 1 c.

Lemon: Add zest of a lemon, 2 T. lemon juice and 2 T. butter just before serving.

Fresh Rosemary

I will be giving a talk on herb Gardening at the Richmond Heights Library. This is a free program, but you are encouraged to register ahead of time. So if you want to learn more about growing your own herbs, this might be the time to do it.

The program is on Thursday, April 18 at 7pm at the Richmond Library.  The branch address is 5235 Wilson Mills Road, Richmond Hts., OH 44143 and the branch phone number is 440-449-2666.

Pickled Eggs

Here is the clip from my appearance on New Day Cleveland. As always, David and the whole crew are delightful to work with.

If you are going to have colored eggs after Easter, I hope you fine these recipes fun and helpful.

Spring Salad

I learned at an early age to appreciate a good salad. My mother really knew how to make a salad. Her prepping a tossed salad was a ritual I observed often as a kid.

Mom was a big believer in a tossed salad. She wasn’t fond of salad where the dressing was just poured over the top.

She also was a firm believer that most people over dressed their greens. She said when you tossed a salad properly, there should not be a puddle of dressing in the bottom of the bowl. She was right.

Mom also liked to serve salad on its own, not with the rest of the meal. She said that way you really enjoyed your salad. We always ate salad before the rest of the meal. I still prefer to do that.

When I was making this salad for dinner the other night, it made me remember the first time I bought her a one pound box of Spring greens. She was not a fan of iceberg lettuce and used assorted greens in her salads, along with other veggies. I knew she would love the mix of greens.

The problem was, as she told me later, that she couldn’t empty the box. She said every time she grabbed a handful of greens out to make a salad, the rest would just expand. She said she had made several salads and the box didn’t appear any emptier.

So here is the salad I made the other night. Just the perfect starter for any Spring dinner.

Spring Salad

4 c. Spring mix  greens

6 asparagus spears

4 oz. sugar snap pea pods

1 carrot- shredded finely

3 broccoli stems, shredded finely

1/2 c. diced sweet onion

fresh parsley, chopped

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

salt and fresh ground pepper

4 oz. feta cheese crumbles

Wash and spin dry the greens and place in salad bowl. Trim tough ends off asparagus and steam 4 minutes. Place in cold water to stop cooking and cut into 1-inch pieces. Add to greens. Add remaining vegetables to salad bowl. Drizzle with oil- not too much- and then toss. Add salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Toss again. Serve in individual bowls and add cheese to taste. Serves 3-4.

Amy’s Easter Hummus

Hummus is always a favorite at parties around here. I’ve made classic hummus and have added roasted peppers and made some with black olives and with garlic scapes.

I always remember the time my dear friend, Amy, wanted her hummus to be really colorful. It was for her Easter dinner. I believe that was the same year she dyed the egg whites for the deviled eggs. Amy really knew how to get the details right.

She and I had talked about how best to make tasty, colorful hummus. She decided to make spinach hummus and beet hummus in addition to her classic hummus. She wanted something that tasted good, but looked like Spring. She ended up with a beautiful array for her dinner that year. Tasty, too.

Here are the directions for making them.

Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans, drained, or about 2 cups cooked garbanzos

1/4 c. olive oil

2 T. lemon juice

2 T. tahini (sesame seed paste)

2 cloves garlic

salt and hot pepper sauce to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth. Adjust seasonings. Chill. Serve with pita bread, crackers or fresh vegetables. Also nice spread in a pita bread with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce. Freezes well.

Green Hummus

Make the original hummus recipe from above but add 2 c. fresh spinach and ½ c. chopped cilantro.

Pink Hummus

Make the original hummus recipe from above but add 2-3 small cooked beets.

Note: You might want a little more salt in either of these recipes or a bit more lemon juice.

Miss you, Amy.

Pickled Eggs

A lot of people color eggs for Easter every year. In another week, they will be looking for ways to use hard cooked eggs. Deviled eggs are great, as is egg salad, but you have more options.

Here are a couple of ways you might want to enjoy some of your eggs. The first recipe is for classic pickled eggs. The second recipe came from my friend Jimmy. It is a type of fresh relish made with beets, pickles and hard cooked eggs.

Pickled eggs are fun and easy to make. They are traditionally pickled with beet juice, so they turn a pretty pink color, too. The recipe can be made without beet juice, but what fun is that? Actually, you can leave out the beets, just use plain water.

Once the eggs are ready, I store them in a jar in the fridge. If you add beets to the jar, they will “pickle” along with the eggs. Pickled eggs will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge.

To get beet “juice” you just cook peeled beets in water until tender. The water turns bright red from the beets. You can skip the cooking beets parts by using canned beets, if you prefer.

Pickled Eggs

1 c. beet juice (cooking liquid)

1 c. apple cider vinegar

1 c. sugar- you can use less

1 onion, sliced thin, optional

1 T. pickling spice

2 t. salt

6-12 hard cooked eggs, peeled

In saucepan, heat all ingredients together, except the eggs. Bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes on low heat. Cool mixture down. Place eggs in a jar or other container with a tight fitting lid. Pour over the beet juice mixture. Cover jar and place in the fridge. Wait one day before eating. Eggs will keep a few weeks.

Eggs with Pickles and Beets

This recipe was given to my friend Jimmy, by an Ukranian co-worker of his.

I don’t have an exact recipe. Jimmy said she took pickles, eggs and beets, all diced fine, and layered them. When I asked him what kind of pickles- sour or sweet- he said both.

It is served as a side with meals, or with bread or crackers as an appetizer.

I played around with the ingredients and really loved the combination. I used both kinds of pickles and used pickled beets as well. You could use cooked, diced beets, either fresh or canned.

Eggs with Pickles and Beets

½ c. diced sweet pickles

½ c. diced dill pickles

½ c. diced cooked or pickled beets- if you made pickled eggs, you can use those beets

3 hard cooked eggs, peeled and diced

Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl- or layer in a glass dish. Chill before serving. Serve with crusty bread or crackers, or just as a side dish with meals.  Makes 2 cups.

Hot Cross Buns

These rich rolls are a traditional at Easter. At least they are in my house. The dough is rich and slightly sweet. The frosting on top adds to their sweetness.

Hot cross buns can be served at breakfast, brunch or even as a dinner roll. I have served them with coffee, after dinner. So I guess they can be a dessert, too. I used leftover buns to make bread pudding one year.

Because the dough is rich, they are slow to rise. If they aren’t jumping out of the pan after an hour or so, don’t worry. They do rise quite a bit in the oven.

After they cool a bit- pipe on the icing in the crisscross pattern that gives these rolls their name.

Hot Cross Buns

 2/3 c. sugar

1 t. salt

2 packages active dry yeast

About 5 cups bread flour

1 ½ c. milk

½ c. butter

2 eggs

1 c. raisins

Icing

¾ c. powdered sugar

1 T. milk

In bowl combine sugar, salt, yeast and about 1 ½ c. flour. Heat together milk and butter until very warm. Beat milk mixture into to flour mixture and beat 2 minutes with electric mixer. Beat in 1 egg and 1 cup flour and beat 2 more minutes until batter thickens. Stir in raisins and enough additional flour to make a soft dough. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top, cover with a towel and allow to rise in a draft free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Place dough on floured surface and divide into 15 equal pieces. Cover with towel and lest rest 15 minutes. Meanwhile grease a 9×13 inch pan. Form dough into smooth balls and place in prepared pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat remaining egg. Cut a cross in each bun and brush with the egg. Bake for 25 minutes or until buns are golden. Remove buns to wire rack to cool 15 minutes. Make frosting, place in decorating bag and pipe onto buns. Makes 15.