ASPARAGUS RECIPES & COOKING TIPS

April 26th, 2011

STORING ASPARAGUS
Keep in a plastic bag in crisper drawer.

PREPARING ASPARAGUS
Soak asparagus in cold water. To trim the asparagus, simply snap off the tough woody bottoms by bend the stalk at the natural breaking point (where the color changes from white to green), 1 to 2 inches from the base.

COOKING ASPARAGUS

There are so many ways to cook asparagus!  Below are basic techniques:

Grilling
Set up grill for direct cooking over medium heat.  Toss trimmed asparagus with extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place on the grill directly or in a grill basket.  Grill until just tender and lightly charred, about 5 minutes.

Steaming
Steaming is a great option for the health-conscious cook because it utilizes very little or no fat. Place a steamer basket in a large pot filled with 1 inch water.  Bring water to a boil.  Add 1 pound trimmed asparagus, cover, and cook until crisp-tender, 2 to 6 minutes.

Blanching
Drop trimmed asparagus into a large pot of simmering water and leave it for about 3-4 minutes. Then drain and shock by putting it in an ice bath. When blanched, the texture of asparagus becomes a little softer, but still crisp, and the color brightens up.

Sautéing
Sautéing asparagus is the cooking method most often used to prepare asparagus as side dishes to meat or fish entrees or in sauces for pasta. With sautéing as well as with stir-frying, it’s preferable to use blanched asparagus for softer texture. In a skillet, heat up oil or butter, add the trimmed asparagus and cook, tossing every once in a while, until tender but still firm and crispy, about 3 to 5 minutes.  (For a healthier option use vegetable broth instead of oil or butter.)

Roasting
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place trimmed asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper; toss to combine.  Roast asparagus until tender, tossing occasionally, about 15 minutes.

These cooking techniques were sourced from sustainabletable.org.

SERVING IDEAS
• Add asparagus to your favorite salad, stir-fry, or omlette.
• Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, melted butter, or grapeseed oil (such as Aprés Vin Lime Riesling or Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil).
• Squeeze lemon or lime juice over it.
• Douse with balsamic vinegar or any vinaigrette.
• Wrap with prosciutto.
• Top with shaved Parmesan and bake.
• Add a dollop of garlic sauce, lemon-thyme butter sauce, mustard sauce, or hollandaise sauce along-side.
• Serve with sauteed mushrooms.
• Sprinkle with fresh herbs, especially tarragon or chervil.
• Sprinkle with goat cheese and crumbled bacon.

ASPARAGUS RECIPES…

Grilled Asparagus and New Potatoes

Ingredients:
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
• 6 small red potatoes, unpeeled, quartered
• 1 lb. fresh asparagus, trimmed

Step 1:
Heat grill (set to medium heat).  In large shallow bowl, mix 1 Tbsp oil, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning.  Add potatoes and toss to coat.  Place in grill basket.

Step 2:
Place grill basket on grill.  Cook 15 minutes, shaking grill basket occasionally to turn and mix potatoes.

Step 3:
Meanwhile, place asparagus in same shallow bowl.  Add remaining Tbsp oil, remaining 1/4 tsp salt, & remaining 1.4 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning.  Toss to coat.

Step 4:
Add asparagus to potatoes in grill basket.  Cook 10 minutes or until potatoes and asparagus are tender, shaking basket occasionally to turn and mix vegetables.
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Asparagus Wrapped in Pancetta with Citronette

Ingredients:
• 2 pounds large asparagus, 12 to 18 stalks per pound
• 4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta
• Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme
• Coarse sea salt

Step 1:
Snap the tough bottom stalks off the asparagus. Unroll the slices of pancetta. Lay an asparagus spear on a slight diagonal across one slice and roll it up, covering as much of the stalk as possible but leaving the tip visible. Place on a tray or small baking sheet and repeat with the remaining asparagus. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour (this rest will help the pancetta adhere to the asparagus).

Step 2:
Preheat a gas grill or prepare a fire in a charcoal grill.

Step 3:
In a small bowl, whisk together the orange zest, juice, and mustard. Continuing to whisk, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until emulsified and smooth. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Step 4:
Place the asparagus on the grill and cook, turning occasionally, until it is just tender and the pancetta is crisped, about 4 to 6 minutes. If the pancetta browns too much before the asparagus is cooked, move the spears to a cooler part of the grill.

Step 5:
Whisk the citronette again, and pour half of it onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with half of the chopped thyme and pile the asparagus on top. Drizzle with the remaining citronette and sprinkle with the remaining thyme. Serve with a small bowl of coarse sea salt for dipping.
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Asparagus-Parmesan Cheese Puffs

Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb. asparagus spears
• 3/4 cup milk
• 5 Tbs. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Gruyère cheese

Step 1:
Cut or snap off the tough stem ends from the asparagus spears and discard. Cut the spears crosswise on the diagonal into 1/4-inch pieces. Bring a sauté pan three-fourths full of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the asparagus and simmer just until tender, about 1 minute. Drain immediately and set aside.

Tags: Asparagus, Recipes, Wine Pairing
Posted in Chef's Corner

Corn Cakes with Sauteed Kale & Spicy Tomato Sauce

February 7th, 2010

February is, we’re told, time for love. Time for romantic, expensive dinners, for doting gifts, for all the pressure that comes with trying to show someone how much you adore them by how much you can plan or spend. What if, instead of the fancy, fussy, forced Valentines Day displays of adoration, we stepped back and had a relaxing, low-key evening actually celebrating and enjoying the people we love? Not because there’s a recession, and we begrudgingly forego the jewelry and champagne toasts, but because there’s something really lovely and deeply satisfying about staying in, cuddling up, feasting on hearty, homey food with a rich glass of wine?

Sounds pretty good to me. If you want your fancy V-day reservations out on the town, you’re certainly welcome to them. But when it comes time to wind down and focus more on the people in your lives than the fanfare, this simple meal hits the spot.

When I first tried the Airfield Zinfandel, all I could think was “smoked eggplant.” The wine has multiple layers, a deeper note that longs to be paired with the earthiness of eggplant or a wintry green like kale, but also a brighter acidity begging to accompany tomatoes. But the smokiness? Where was I going to find the right flavor to complement that?

Mozzarella, turns out. Smoked mozzarella has a beautiful aroma, of hearth and home, just like the meal. It is a bit browned on the outside and has the creaminess of fresh mozzarella but a nuttiness I associate with, say, browned butter or roasted brussel sprouts. Leftovers are joyous on toast in the morning.

The rest of the recipe is a feast of colors and textures, giving the lie to the notion that winter food is bland and bitter. Start with a cheery yellow corn cake, beautiful by the stack. Cover with sauteed fresh kale, dotted with bacon. Finish with a spicy tomato sauce bedecked in smoked mozzarella. Settle in by the fire (or the space heater) with a bottle of Airfield Zin and a loved one or dear friend for an evening of endearing conversation and affection—proving the best things in life are, after all, (just about) free.

CORN CAKES WITH SAUTEED KALE & SPICY TOMATO SAUCE

Corn Cakes:

• 1 cup flour
• ¾ cup coarse cornmeal
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ¾ cup plain yogurt + ¼ cup water, mixed
• 3 Tbs melted butter
• 3 ½ Tsp baking powder
• ½ Tsp baking soda
• ½ Tsp salt
• 2 eggs

Separate eggs, adding yolks to watered down yogurt, sugar and butter. Whip whites until they form soft peaks. Mix dry ingredients, stirring in the wet and folding in egg whites. Depending on the consistency of the yogurt, you may need to add a bit more liquid to get a good consistency for pancakes, though the finished batter should be fairly thick. I used a very thick yogurt then added 1 Tbsp each cream and water to thin it down.

Make corn cakes as you would any other pancakes, although corn cakes should be a bit thicker. A diameter of roughly 4 inches makes for a good single serving.

Makes approximately 6 cakes. Leftover cakes are wonderful with maple syrup or berries for breakfast; batter keeps 4-6 days.

Sauteed Kale

• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• Enough olive oil to fill bottom of pan in thin layer, approximately 6 Tbsp
• 1 large bunch kale, washed
• 4 Tbsp diced bacon (hint: cutting frozen bacon width-wise creates conveniently sized pieces and avoids having to separate pieces of bacon)
• 4 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted
• 1 red onion, diced 

Fold each piece of kale in half, cutting fibrous center stem out with kitchen scissors. Chop leaves into bite-sized pieces.

Saute garlic in olive oil, taking care not to burn. Reserve approximately ½ the oil & ½ the garlic. Add red onion and cook over medium-low heat until onion is softened and gooey, 5-10 minutes. While onion is cooking, toast pine nuts (hint: set timer for 1 minute, shake, set timer for another minute; when nuts turn color, immediately pour into separate bowl or they’ll keep cooking in the pan, even with the heat off).

Add bacon to pan with onions, allowing to just crisp before adding kale, stirring slightly. Cover for 2-3 minutes to allow kale to absorb liquid and soften, then stir gently. Give it a bit more time if they’re still rough or crisp. Leaves should be bright green and just tender, but not mushy. Sprinkle pine nuts on kale.

Tomato Sauce

You may use your favorite pre-made tomato sauce if you want an easy substitute. Alternately, you can search for the ingredients that made my sauce truly special—or come up with a variety of your own based on what’s local and tasty in your area. I started with a big can of diced tomatoes, roughly 2 cups worth. Canned tomatoes are usually made from tomatoes picked at the height of freshness and it isn’t hard to get cans whose only ingredient is—tomatoes. Considering they’re cheap and keep forever, canned tomatoes are about the perfect food.

To this I added about 1/3 cup of a Middle Eastern pepper sauce, available by the jar—spicy with a hint of vinegar, the paste is packed with red peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and chilies. I also added 1/3 cup fried eggplant, also available by the jar. I further added the remaining garlic and oil, leftover from the kale, salt, pepper, and about 2 teaspoons of an Italian seasoning blend (marjoram, thyme, oregano, basil).

Use tongs to top corn cakes with tong-ful of kale. Cover with a ladle full of tomato and dot with pieces of smoked mozzarella. Microwave briefly to assist with the melting (or put briefly under a broiler).

Enjoy!

Recipe provided by Jeannie Rose Field.

Tags: Recipe, Recipes, Wine Pairing
Posted in Chef's Corner

Transforming Holiday Goodies to Post-New Year’s Resolutions

March 2nd, 2009

Ah, fall.  Leaves turn pretty colors, the air is crisp and clean, the anticipation of holidays looms bright.  The house smells of cinnamon, pumpkin, turkey.  It is a delicious time of year.

But fall is over and we’re in the dead of winter.  The pretty leaves and big holidays are long gone come dreary January.   The post-holiday winter months can seem like an endless string of cold days and gray skies, with nothing much to anticipate until spring.

But it doesn’t have to be!  Just because the holidays are over doesn’t mean you have to stop enjoying the tasty food that sends cozy aromas and sighs of contentment wafting through the house throughout the holidays.  Nothing warms up a dreary day like a hot slice of pumpkin bread spiced with cloves and cinnamon, or a plate of butternut squash ravioli drenched in nutty sage browned butter sauce.

Well, maybe there is one reason:  New Year’s resolutions to eat more healthfully, anyone?  That kind of puts a damper on the sugar and butter-heavy treats associated with Christmas and Thanksgiving.  But it doesn’t have to mean the end of good food.  Even the most indulgent of treats can be reformed.

I tweaked two tasty fall recipes to fit post-New Year’s Resolution health standards:  Pumpkin Bread & Sage Brown Butter Sauce.  They draw flavor from fragrant spices and herbs and a little patience.  Enjoy separately, or as a dinner-dessert combination with a chilled glass of Airfield’s Lightning, a nice counterpoint to the rich flavors in the food.  Don’t forget to pour yourself a glass of wine as you cook to whet your appetite!

Pumpkin Bread

Reforming this dish was easy.  In fact, I like the revised version so much I never make the “original” which inspired this recipe.  Substituting applesauce for half the oil heightens the rich autumn taste and makes the bread very moist without being greasy.  I increase slightly the amount of spices and decrease the sugar, providing a nice depth of flavor instead of an overwhelming shot of sugar.  One small can of pumpkin makes two loaves, but since the bread freezes and reheats well, it is easy to make one batch to enjoy now, and slice, wrap and freeze the other batch for an easy portable snack for later.

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2/3 cup water
2 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Optional:

Airfield Estates Winery sells Apres Vin Grapeseed Flour, chock full of antioxidants and other health benefits.  Try substituting in 4 tablespoons Riesling flour for a thicker bread and an interesting twist of flavor.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two loaf pans.
2. Mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar in a large bowl until well blended.
3. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger in separate bowl and stir into pumpkin mixture until just blended.  Note: if you’re not up for the extra cleaning, it is ok to cheat and add all the ingredients in one bowl- it still turns out fine!
4. Pour into the prepared pans and bake for about 50 minutes.  Because the batter is so moist, you will almost certainly need to leave the loafs in for an additional 10-20 minutes; check every 5 minutes.  Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Sage & Browned Butter Sauce

Sage & Browned Butter Sauce with Butternut Squash Ravioli is a classic, but turning a dish primarily made of butter into something that can be called healthy with a straight face is no easy feat!  For this I turned to Airfield’s Lightning.  By using Airfield’s Lightning and a little chicken broth to thin the sauce, I could use less butter and still make enough sauce to spoon out in generous portions over the ravioli.  The body in the wine complements the nutty notes drawn out by slowly browning the butter, retaining the flavor.  Finally, I maintained a nice creamy texture by thickening the sauce with a arrowroot, a powder with a similar effect as corn starch, and a touch of cream.  Maybe something as rich as a sage brown butter sauce will never be good for you, but at least it can be not that bad for you, and still taste oh-so-good.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup Airfield’s Lightning
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp arrowroot
3/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp light cream
Black pepper
Sea salt
Butternut squash ravioli; also delicious with pumpkin; Prepare according to package directions

Directions:

1. Melt butter in saute pan over medium heat til golden brown.  It is imperative to go slowly on this step to bring out the full depth of nutty flavor.  Gently slosh butter back & forth.  Be careful not to let it burn; there’s a fine line between browned butter and burned butter!  Use a light-colored saute pan if you have one; it is easier to tell the color of the butter.
2.  While butter browns, cook pine nuts on low heat in a dry saute pan until golden brown.  Remove from heat.
3.  When butter has browned, turn to low heat.  Add 20-30 sage leaves (approximately 1/3 cup; tear in half if quite large) to hot butter.  The sage leaves should begin to fry in the butter.  Allow them to heat in the butter for a few minutes to infuse the flavor into the butter.
4. Add wine and increase heat to medium.  While it reduces, stir arrowroot into chicken broth until dissolved and add to pan.  Sauce should be medium thickness and a bit satiny.
5. Stir in nutmeg.
6. Add cream just before removing from heat.  Stir to combine.  Sauce should be fairly rich and thick.
7. Grind a bit of black pepper and sea salt over sauce to taste.
8. Add pinenuts and serve over raviolis prepared according to package directions.

Optional:

For a bit of texture, add 1 diced onion when you add the sage leaves and cook in butter until onion softens.
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese adds another nice touch.
For a lighter, springy version, omit the cream and nutmeg and add 1-2 tbsp lemon juice instead (start with 1; add more incrementally until you are pleased with the tanginess).

The sauce is also an excellent accompaniment to an earthy vegetable like steamed brussles sprouts or broccoli.  Serve with plenty of bread for soaking up the last drops of flavor.

Click here to be directed to Jeannie Rose’s food blog and find more delicious tips and recipes.

Tags: Lightning, Recipes
Posted in Chef's Corner

Bombshell Red…Deglazing in Style

March 2nd, 2009

Airfield Estates is proud to introduce Jeannie Rose Field, a native Prosserite, as the new Chef’s Corner chef.  Jeannie Rose is a highly accomplished individual.  She received her undergraduate degree from Stanford Unversity and is currently studying law at New York University.  Jeannie has a deep passion for preparing and enjoying gourmet foods, especially when a delectable dish is achieved through faux gourmet tricks.

Jeannie’s first contribution to the Chef’s Corner starts with our newly released red table wine, the Bombshell Red.  Grab yourself a bottle and follow along as Jeannie walks you through the steps to prepare this delicious, mouth-watering dish.
From the Chef~

My grandma is a big believer in avoiding waste, so I think of her every time I use one of my favorite faux gourmet tricks:  deglazing.  Deglazing is an easy way to squeeze every last bit of flavor from food and can be done with whatever ingredients are on hand.  It adds simple culinary oomph, transforming scraps into a luscious sauce that can be endlessly reinvented using the same techinque.  Cooking meat on the stove and deglazing the pan is also a great alternative to using a grill or barbeque.  Best of all, it requires only one pan, making cleaning up that much easier in my cramped kitchen.

What is this miracle trick, you wonder?  The basic technique involves adding liquid to those bits that get stuck to a skillet after cooking meat on the stove, known as ‘fond.’  The liquid dissovles the fond and the carmelized meat juices, combining them all into a flavorful sauce reflecting the flavors of the meat.

I let the pan get quite hot and add a tiny bit of oil, searing the meat on each side and removing the meat.  Instead of throwing out the fond left behind or starting over with a clean pan, I add wine and a little this and that to the skillet, scraping up all the flavor left behind from the meat.  I’ve tried various combinations of butter, olive oil, spices and fresh herbs, juices, broth, dried fruit . . . anything on hand.  The sauce can be thickened with a startch, like flour or cornstarch, or it can remain a more liquidy jus.

As much as I love to experiment, one version I keep coming back to is this deep velvety red wine prune sauce, using Airfield’s Bombshell Red.  The recipe makes use of the bright, punchy flavors in the wine, which complements the dish well.  The sauce is thick and velvety, layering a powerful tang over the juicey bites of beef, an elegant combination.

Marinade:
• 1/2 cup seedless unsweetened tamarind paste (available at Indian or Mexican markets)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup mild molasses
• 1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 3 tablespoons lime juice

Note: If you cannot find tamarind paste, it can easily be made.  Boil whole tamarind bods in a shallow layer of water until soft; remove hard outer shell and mash in water, forcing contents of pan through strainer to make paste.  Will be runny at first; let paste simmer until starts to get syrupy.

Bring first four ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer until reduced to one cup, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and stir in lime juice.

Marinade approximately 2 lbs beef cubed as if for kebabs, about 2 inch pieces.  I buy meat pre-cut in kebab cubes, making preparation easier.  Reserve 1/4 cup marinade.  The meat can be marinated and frozen for later use or left in the fridge in a sealed container for a few days.

Meat & Deglazing Sauce:

Pour yourself a glass of Airfield’s Bombshell Red, take a good sniff, and enjoy while you cook.

Heat saucepan on high, add a little oil, and cook pieces of meat for a few minutes on each side, searing the meat.  Leave meat on heat until inside is done to your liking; it does not take long for meat to go from rare to well done, so keep a close eye.  Remove meat and set aside in a covered container; keep warm in a pre-heated oven that has been turned off.

Remove pan from heat and add 3/4 cup Airfield’s Bombshell Red, scraping browned bits from meat into the wine.  Turn heat back on low and add the following:

• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 3 tbsps sugar
• 1/4 cup reserved marinade
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chopped prunes

Mash prunes into the sauce with the back of a spatula.  Let sauce simmer until resembles fudgey melted chocolate.  Drizzle over meat and serve with Airfield’s Bombshell Red.  Recipe makes between 1 to 1-1/2 cup sauce.

Hints: Use tongs for turning the meat in the pan and removing from pan and kitchen scissors for cutting the prunes.

Serving suggestion for a quick but delicious Faux Gourmet meal: Serve with Airfield’s Bombshell Red, a crusty baguette, and an arugula salad mix topped with:

• Slices of ready-made roasted red peppers
• Slices of pan-grilled pears lightly sprinkled with   sea salt (Use the same pan used for the deglazing sauce)
• Chevre cheese
• Toasted pecans
• Dress with a salad dressing of equal parts balsamic vinegar, olive oil and honey and black pepper and salt to taste.

Click here to be directed to Jeannie Rose’s food blog and find more delicious tips and recipes.

Tags: Bombshell Red, Deglazing, Recipes
Posted in Chef's Corner