How to cook asparagus

Salad from the garden

Asparagus can be eaten raw, but most often it is boiled in salted water, always adding vegetable or butter. Since the lower part of the stems is tougher, they are boiled in a vertical position. To do this, they are tied into a tight bundle and a weight is placed in the middle. The finished asparagus is doused with cold water - this way it will retain its rich color and will crunch appetizingly on your teeth. We suggest you try the asparagus salad recipe.

Ingredients:

green asparagus – 300 g
radishes - 5–6 pcs.
egg - 1 pc.
butter - 1 tsp.
sugar - 0.5 tsp.
lettuce - 1 bunch
olive oil - 2 tbsp. l.
lemon juice - 2 tbsp. l.
Dijon mustard - 1 tsp.
honey - 1 tsp.
salt and black pepper - to taste

We wash each asparagus stalk, clearing it of hard fragments and outer skin. Cook them with salt, butter and sugar for 10 minutes, then plunge into ice water. Dry the stems and cut into small pieces. We tear the lettuce leaves with our hands and cover the plate. Place asparagus and thinly sliced radishes on top. Lightly salt and pepper, pour everything with a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, mustard and honey. The final touch is to decorate the salad with halves of boiled eggs.

How to freeze green beans

It always seemed to me that freezing green beans was a troublesome task that required special skills.
I was afraid that the beans would darken or be undercooked or something else would turn out wrong. It turned out that everything is extremely simple: we cut the pods, blanch them, dry them and freeze them. I’ll tell you in detail how to blanch, and of course I’ll tell you how to freeze green beans for the winter so that you have a variety of vegetables in stock. I froze two types of beans: green beans with rounded pods and yellowish ones with flatter pods.

You can take either one or both - everything will come in handy in winter.

For freezing, we select only young pods, elastic, without hard veins. We cut them on both sides, removing sharp tips and tails with the remnants of twigs. Wash under cold water, cut into 3-4 cm pieces.

The next step is blanching. The difference from cooking is that the heat treatment does not last long - one or two minutes, only the top layer softens and the vegetables turn out to be half-cooked. Blanching green (asparagus) beans is a must before freezing this product.

Firstly, a slight bitterness is removed, which, when raw pods are frozen, will appear and worsen the taste. Secondly, the process of action of plant enzymes stops, which means that more vitamins will be preserved and the taste will not deteriorate.

Third, blanched beans gain a vibrant color while maintaining their texture. Let's prepare two containers - one will contain boiling water, the other will contain very cold water or add ice cubes. Place the beans in boiling water in portions and wait until it boils again.

Time it for two minutes and blanch until the liquid is barely boiling. Catch it with a slotted spoon or drain it into a colander.

Without wasting time, immediately transfer it to ice water to stop the heating. Leave in cold water for five minutes, changing it or adding more ice if necessary.

Dry the cooled beans in a colander or scatter them on a towel in one layer. It will dry out in 30-40 minutes.

Cover a cutting board or large dish with plastic or put on a thick bag of suitable size. Scatter the pieces in one layer. Place in the freezer for 3-4 hours.

Pour the frozen pods into bags, roll them tightly or tie them. We sign and place in the freezer for permanent storage. It can be stored for 10-12 months.

How to properly freeze green beans

Green beans are commonly referred to as green beans. It is used in salads, casseroles, soups, and can be seen in supermarkets in the frozen food section. Now we will figure out how to freeze green beans for the winter, how to prepare them so that they are no worse, but better, than those sold in the store.

When purchasing, pay attention to the ripeness of the pods - they should be young, with a delicate skin that can be easily pressed with a fingernail, and the pod itself breaks without the slightest effort. You won’t see any grains inside; if there are any, they will be almost invisible, no larger than a grain of rice. The photo clearly shows what it should be like.

Before blanching, we will sort out the pods, wash them, and cut off the noses and tails.

Cut into pieces, 3-4 cm each. It will be just right.

Now there are two ways: blanch in plain water or in salted water. When blanching with salt, the beans can be kept longer, 3-4 minutes. It will become a little salty and almost ready.

Then, when added to salads and main courses, no heat treatment is required. Place the pieces in boiling water, add salt (if necessary), blanch for two to four minutes, depending on the chosen cooking method.

After blanching, quickly transfer the pods to a bowl of ice water and cool. By the way, the same technique is used when freezing green peas for the winter; they are blanched in exactly the same way.

Drain the water, place the pieces of beans on a towel or thin cloth, and dry. Place in bags and freeze.

It is not necessary to defrost green (asparagus) beans before using them. For example, it is added frozen to soups and main courses. But for salads and appetizers, of course you need to defrost them.

Now you have detailed instructions and a choice of how to freeze green beans for the winter in two ways. In any case, use only young pods for freezing and do not forget that they need to be processed as quickly as possible. Have a delicious and satisfying winter!

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Source: https://chopoel.ru/zagotovki/zamorozka/kak-zamorozit-struchkovuyu-fasol.html

The strawberries are ripe

Asparagus isn't just green. It is grown underground, and in one day the shoots can grow 15–20 cm. If you dig them out of the soil without allowing them to break through to the surface, the color will be white. If you let the stems sprout, hold them in the sun for a while and then cut them off, they will turn purple. And if you leave them under the warm rays longer, they will soon turn green. Gourmets claim that white asparagus in salad recipes cannot be compared with anything.

Ingredients:

white asparagus – 300 g
fresh strawberries - 150 g
lettuce - bunch
dried pine nuts - 2 tbsp. l.
hard cheese - 50 g
sugar - 3 tbsp. l.
light balsamic vinegar - 1 tsp.

Boil asparagus until softened with 1 tsp. sugar and 1 tsp. butter. Dry the stems on a paper towel and chop into large pieces. We dry the washed strawberries and cut each berry in half, tear the lettuce leaves with our hands, and grate the hard cheese or crumble it by hand. Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan. Dissolve sugar and balsamic in it. Stirring constantly with a spatula, keep the mixture over low heat until it turns into caramel. Place lettuce leaves, asparagus, cheese and strawberries mixed on a plate, pour over the sauce, and sprinkle pine nuts on top.

How to Freeze Asparagus

Total cooking time – 2 hours 0 minutes
Active cooking time – 1 hour 0 minutes
Cost – high cost
Calorie content per 100 g – 20 kcal
Number of servings – 8 servings

Ingredients:

Asparagus – 1 kg or any amount

Preparation:

The faster you freeze fresh vegetables and fruits, the better it will affect them, because this way the products will be able to retain all their beneficial properties, shape and color. And in the case of asparagus, every minute is precious - the longer freshly picked asparagus sits in the refrigerator, the worse it will affect its appearance and taste.

Therefore, once you have purchased or harvested asparagus, try to freeze or cook it as quickly as possible.

Fresh asparagus should be firm (never limp), bright and juicy. And to check the degree of its freshness, rub the stem against the stem - a characteristic creak should sound, as if you were running your finger across clean glass.

Rinse the asparagus under water, trying to pay attention to each stalk, so as not to miss any areas contaminated with sand or other dirt.

Peel the asparagus with a vegetable peeler or knife, especially at the base of the stem where it thickens (this is where the skin is rougher and needs to be removed).

When washing and peeling the vegetable, set aside all limp stems separately. The fact is that such limp asparagus after defrosting will be too soft and will not be suitable for some dishes. But in soup or cream of asparagus - just right, because the vegetable in such dishes is boiled and even crushed in a blender into a homogeneous mass, and elasticity is not so important.

Also sort the asparagus by length while peeling. There are some dishes in which long asparagus looks more impressive, but for salads or pies the length of the asparagus stalks does not matter - they still have to be cut.

Also make sure you have enough ice cubes in advance. Ice is needed to instantly cool the asparagus after blanching.

Prepare a saucepan and boil water in it. At the same time, pour cold water into a deep bowl or pan. Place asparagus stalks in boiling water for 2 minutes.

At this time, add ice cubes to the prepared cold water, after the allotted time, transfer the blanched asparagus here.

I blanched my asparagus in three batches. Firstly, I had a lot of it, and secondly, I blanched the long, short and flaccid stems separately so as not to confuse them in the total mass.

Blanching and instantly cooling asparagus in ice water is a mandatory step in freezing such a vegetable. Without blanching, asparagus will turn black in the freezer and lose some of its taste and aesthetic qualities, and without immediate cooling, asparagus stalks will not be as green and may be overcooked.

Lay out a towel, clean tablecloth, or line the kitchen table with paper towels. Place the asparagus on a cloth to remove excess liquid.

Prepare a place for asparagus in the refrigerator. Clean the bottom of the drawer to place the bags of asparagus.

This must be done to ensure that the freezing process occurs as quickly as possible, and also to protect the asparagus from impacts and breaks during storage.

The fact is that frozen asparagus stalks become fragile, and if you place a bag of vegetables on an uneven surface, there is a risk of breaking the asparagus.

What I do is put bags of asparagus at the bottom of the drawer, and on top I put bags of frozen peas, green beans, or bags of frozen grated carrots or beets.

But there is one more trick. To be sure to protect asparagus stalks in the freezer, freeze the asparagus in foam trays, wrapping them tightly in cling film.

So, when the asparagus has dried well, it can be packaged in bags, forming a suitable weight (for example, 200-300 g). Remove as much air as possible from the bag (by inserting a drinking straw into the bag and pulling it out with your mouth, using your fingers to push it out of the bag, or in any other convenient way).

Indicate on the label the product you are freezing, the date of freezing, weight, as well as the category of dishes for which it is suitable (for example, WHOLE STALMS - baked asparagus, fried asparagus; SHORT STALMS - salads, stews; WILLED ASPARAGUS - cream soup, cream, sauce).

Place tightly closed and packed bags and trays of asparagus at the bottom of the freezer drawer and store for up to 10 months at minus 18 degrees or below.

In order to defrost asparagus, just take it out of the freezer in advance, put it in the refrigerator and wait for the stems to completely or partially thaw (depending on what dishes you are defrosting it for).

Properly frozen asparagus should not change color, lose its taste or its beneficial properties. It will no longer be as crispy as fresh, but frozen asparagus dishes will undoubtedly turn out tasty and appetizing.

Posted by: Yulia Akhanova | in category: Beginning of the freezing season 05/12/2016

Source: https://menunedeli.ru/recipe/kak-zamorozit-sparzhu/

Royal sandwich

In Europe, Louis XIV had a hand in popularizing asparagus. He ordered the construction of a special greenhouse at the palace so that his favorite vegetable could be grown throughout the year. After this, asparagus began to be called the food of kings. So a sandwich with her participation can be considered royal.

Ingredients:

round grain loaf - 1 pc.
green asparagus – 200 g
lightly salted salmon - 150 g
curd cheese - 60 g
cherry tomatoes - 5–6 pcs.
radishes - 2-3 pcs.
olive oil - 1 tbsp. l.
salt, black pepper - to taste

First of all, boil the asparagus, put it in a colander and let the excess moisture drain. Chop the cooled stems into 2–3 parts. Cut the grain bun lengthwise, sprinkle with olive oil, and brown a little in a frying pan. Cut the radishes into thick circles and the tomatoes into quarters. Grease the halves of the buns with curd cheese, lay out asparagus stalks, slices of tomatoes and radishes. Salt and pepper the vegetables to taste. These sandwiches are perfect for a spring picnic.

Soup for a beautiful figure

Asparagus is a faithful assistant for those who are actively getting into shape for the beach season. The calorie content of one stem is 4 kcal. Asparagus is easily digestible on its own and helps digest other foods. In addition, it speeds up metabolism, eliminates swelling, and takes care of the health and beauty of the skin. A recipe for asparagus soup will help you experience the effect in practice.

Ingredients:

green asparagus – 300 g
vegetable broth - 100 ml
olive oil - 1 tbsp. l.
coconut milk - 50 ml
shallot - 1 head
salt, black pepper, nutmeg - to taste

Heat olive oil in a saucepan and sauté finely diced shallots until golden brown. Chop the asparagus stalks into pieces, fry with onions for 2-3 minutes, pour in hot broth. Leave some of the top parts of the shoots for serving. Bring the broth to a boil, cook the asparagus over low heat until completely softened. Now let the soup cool slightly and puree thoroughly with an immersion blender. Pour the heated coconut milk into the pan, bring it to a boil again, season everything with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Serve the creamy soup, garnishing each serving with asparagus buds.

Delicious and simple recipes with asparagus

Apart from the pure form of the vegetable, salads and soups are the best recipes for adding asparagus crops. So, puree soup with various variations turns out to be very tasty.

Classic cream soup

To prepare, you need to take 600 g of green or white product, 100 g of butter and 1 glass of milk. Additionally you will need 200 g of flour, 2-3 yolks and spices:

The broth from cooked asparagus is used as a base for the soup, and the vegetables themselves are rubbed through a sieve or used in a blender.
Mix the remaining ingredients so that there are no lumps. The milk can be heated a little and the butter can be melted. Read also: How long to cook peas in soup.
Mix with puree and bring to a boil. You can then pour into bowls and serve with bacon, ham or croutons.

Delicious and satisfying tuna salad

To prepare a healthy and nutritious salad from 6 shoots of green asparagus, you need to take 100 g of canned tuna, 1 tomato, 40 g of feta cheese and 150 g of lettuce. For dressing use olive oil and 1 tbsp. l. balsamic vinegar. You can add salt and pepper:

the delicacy is boiled and cut in half, and then diagonally;
mash tuna and feta with a fork;
the leaves are torn by hand, the tomato is cut into slices;
Mix everything together and serve immediately.

Asparagus goes perfectly with any meat if served in its pure form. And no sauces required!

Shrimp in the white sea

Be careful when choosing asparagus. Under natural conditions it is grown from April to the end of June. The rest of the time we have to be content with vegetables from greenhouses. When purchasing fresh asparagus, carefully inspect the stems. They should be smooth, shiny, with tightly closed heads. If you rub them together, they will squeak. It is advisable to eat fresh asparagus immediately. Or cook another soup, this time from white asparagus with shrimp.

Ingredients:

white asparagus – 400 g
onion - 1 head
garlic - 2-3 cloves
shrimp - 20–25 pcs.
cream 33% - 200 ml
butter - 1 tbsp. l.
olive oil - 2 tbsp. l.
salt, black pepper - to taste
young peas in pods - for serving

Melt butter in a saucepan, sauté onion and garlic. We chop the prepared asparagus stalks into fragments, leaving some for serving. Place the rest in a saucepan and lightly fry, stirring frequently. Pour in a little water so that it covers the stems, simmer under the lid until softened.

When the asparagus has cooled, puree it using a blender. Add hot cream little by little and gently bring to a boil. We peel the shrimp and brown them in olive oil along with the reserved asparagus slices. Before serving, garnish a plate of cream soup with shrimp, asparagus and green peas.

How to freeze asparagus for the winter

The vegetable, often called asparagus, appears in early spring and remains tender until early to mid-June, until it begins to actively grow.

Dishes made from it are extremely healthy and tasty, so many housewives want to know how to freeze asparagus for the winter for further use for culinary purposes. Freezing it allows you to preserve most of the vitamins and other valuable microelements, the shape, juiciness and color of the stems: they will only lose their crunchiness.

Freezing asparagus for the winter

There are a couple of recipes for frozen asparagus - freezing raw and blanched. Both methods will not harm the quality of the product.

How to Freeze Raw Asparagus

Preparing and freezing fresh asparagus (it is better to use white or green) is as follows:

We choose bright, juicy and elastic petioles: to check the freshness, three stalks touch each other - you should hear a creak.
Remove the skin and rough areas with a knife.
We wash the asparagus raw material with water, eliminating possible contamination.
If asparagus is intended for dishes with whole stalks, sort them by length.
If salads or pies will be prepared from asparagus, cut it into pieces.

Place the stems or pieces into bags, squeeze out excess air, seal and place in the freezer. Long petioles can be tied into bunches.

If you have collected a lot of limp asparagus, you can also freeze it by first turning it into puree using a blender or meat grinder. She will go to making pureed soups.

How to Freeze Raw Asparagus

How to freeze blanched asparagus for the winter

We prepare the asparagus raw material using the previous technology, except for turning it into puree, and proceed to blanching and freezing:

Place a pan of water on the fire and bring to a boil.
Fill another container with ice water. If the water is not very cold, first stock up on ice cubes: hot vegetables need to be cooled as quickly as possible.
Place part of the workpiece in a colander and lower it into boiling water for a couple of minutes.
Let the water drain and quickly pour the raw material into ice water to cool completely. Asparagus processed in this way will not soften or darken during storage.
Place cold asparagus pieces or stems on paper towels and wait for excess moisture to drain. At this time, we continue to blanch the next batch of asparagus.
We pack the workpiece into bags, placing no more than 300 grams in each.
We expel the air and seal the container.

If desired, indicate the freezing date, place the asparagus in the freezer and store for no more than 10 months.

Frozen asparagus, favorite recipes

Before cooking, a frozen product must be properly defrosted without giving it shock therapy, otherwise it will lose both taste and aroma. We take the workpiece out of the freezer compartment, put it in the refrigerator and wait until it thaws.

Boiled asparagus

Having defrosted the asparagus, we begin to boil it as a side dish for meat or as an independent dietary dish:

Boil water with a pinch of salt and 1 tsp. granulated sugar.
Add asparagus raw material and cook for 10 minutes.

If whole petioles are cooked, we place them upright, or place them reclining, heads up: they cook faster than the rest.

Frozen asparagus, favorite recipes

Ingredients

Asparagus – 0.5 kg
Eggs – 1 pc.
Flour – about 30 g

Cream – 1 tbsp.
Ground almonds – 100 g
Lemon – 0.5 pcs.

You will also need a little butter, pepper, salt and sugar, and, if desired, a few orange slices.

How to cook frozen asparagus with almonds

Various dishes are prepared from asparagus, including sweet ones. Almond flavor enhances the familiar taste of the product, and lemon gives it a refreshing note.

Frozen asparagus, recipes

Let's prepare an unusual asparagus dish using a simple recipe:

Cut the thawed asparagus (if it is whole) into several pieces and set the heads aside.
Place a saucepan with salted and sweetened sugar water on the fire.
After boiling, add 2 lemon slices.
After 5 minutes, add the asparagus without heads.
Cook for 10 minutes (add the heads 5 minutes before the end of cooking) and remove the vegetables to towels to cool and drain.
We make the breading: mix the pepper and flour in one bowl, pour the almond mixture into the second, and mix the cream and eggs in the third bowl.
Roll the pieces in the flour mixture, then in the egg mixture, then in the nut powder.
Heat a frying pan with oil.
Fry the asparagus for 3-5 minutes on all sides.

Place the delicacy on plates and serve with lemon and, if desired, orange slices.

Now it’s clear how to freeze fresh and blanched asparagus for the winter, and what you can cook from it. Subject to freezing technology, the product remains the same taste and color, and retains a set of useful substances.

Source: https://agroflora.ru/kak-zamorozit-sparzhu-na-zimu/

Asparagus in the arms of bacon

The culinary possibilities of asparagus are endless. White asparagus is canned and served as an independent snack. Green asparagus is a good side dish for grilled meat. If you add it to a regular omelette for breakfast, it will sparkle with new flavor facets. And asparagus goes well with bacon. Here's a quick and easy baked asparagus recipe that you can treat yourself and unexpected guests to.

Ingredients:

green asparagus - 20 stalks
bacon - 100 g
olive oil for greasing
sesame - 1 tsp.

We wash the asparagus well, put it in boiling water for 5 minutes, then take it out and dry it. We cut the bacon into thin strips 1.5–2 cm wide. We wrap the strips around each asparagus stalk in a spiral. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil, place the asparagus in bacon and place in an oven preheated to 200°C for 5 minutes. Then we turn the stems over to the other side and hold them for the same amount of time. Serve this appetizer hot, sprinkled with sesame seeds.

How much and how to cook asparagus correctly

As professional chefs say, in French cuisine, anything that can be peeled will be peeled. It's the same with asparagus. This is not at all necessary and depends on your personal taste preferences, but there are 2 reasons why it is better to peel asparagus.

Firstly, its skin is difficult to chew. And secondly, asparagus may not cook evenly. The stems take longer to cook, but during this time the inside of the asparagus may turn to mush. By the way, it is also better to trim the ends with a sharp knife.

We recommend cooking asparagus as quickly as possible. There is a very high risk that you will overcook it and the dish will be spoiled. The ideal asparagus should be a cheerful green color and crisp. But asparagus that is overcooked will become overly soft, wilted and not particularly appetizing.

How long does it take to cook fresh asparagus?

There are two main approaches to the process of cooking asparagus in a pan:

classical
folk

The classic approach involves cooking this vegetable in a vertical position . This is due to the fact that its bottom is coarser, due to which it requires a higher cooking temperature, and the delicate heads can even be cooked by steam when cooking the main shoots.

But for this cooking method you need a tall pan. Finished peeled asparagus sticks need to be tied together in approximately 8-10 pieces. Pour 1 liter of water into the pan, add 1 teaspoon each of salt, sugar and lemon juice.

Next, place the asparagus bunches in boiling water. Cooking time for green asparagus is no more than 5 minutes, white - 7 minutes. It is very important not to overcook the vegetable. Otherwise, it will become loose and it will be difficult to get the desired result in the finished dish.

Red fish, green shores

Asparagus, among other things, is an incredibly healthy product. The active substances contained in it strengthen the heart, nourish connective and bone tissue, remove toxins, and have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the kidneys and liver. Asparagus has been known since ancient times as an aphrodisiac. The Greeks had a tradition of decorating newlyweds' costumes with asparagus wreaths. And in France, newlyweds were served three dishes with this vegetable. Baked salmon with asparagus is perfect for a romantic dinner.

Ingredients:

salmon steak - 4 pcs.
green asparagus – 1 kg
olive oil - 3 tbsp. l.
lemon zest - 1 tsp.
lemon juice - 1 tbsp. l.
lemon - 0.5 pcs.
garlic - 2 cloves
Cherry tomatoes - 8 pcs.
Provençal herbs, salt, black pepper - to taste

We wash and dry the fish steaks well. Remove the hard parts from the asparagus stalks, wash and dry. Mix olive oil with lemon zest and juice, add crushed garlic, Provençal herbs, salt and black pepper. Pour the marinade over the fish and asparagus and let it soak for 10-15 minutes. Cover the baking dish with foil, lay out the asparagus first, then the salmon. Place lemon slices on top and cherry tomatoes on the sides. Place the pan in the oven at 200°C for about 15 minutes. By the way, this recipe is also suitable for grilling.

Pie with vitamins

The Asparagus family has much in common with the Lily family. So it turns out that asparagus is a close relative of onions and garlic. If you like savory pastries with onion filling, you can experiment a little and make quiche Laurent - an open-faced asparagus pie. She feels great in baked goods and gives her a subtle aroma.

Ingredients:

Dough:

flour - 165 g
butter - 100 g
salt - 0.5 tsp.
ice water - 3 tbsp. l.

Filling:

green asparagus – 300 g
ham - 100 g
egg - 3 pcs.
pecorino cheese - 100 g
cream 20% - 400 ml
salt, black pepper, nutmeg - to taste

Grate the frozen dough and grind it into crumbs with flour and salt. Add water and knead the dough. We compact it into a baking dish, make neat sides and put it in the oven at 180 °C for 15 minutes.

Remove the hard parts from the asparagus stalks, chop into fragments, and blanch in boiling water for 2–3 minutes. Cut the ham into cubes. To fill, beat eggs with salt and spices, add cream and grated pecorino. Place asparagus and ham into the baked base, fill with filling and return to the oven for another 40 minutes. Let the quiche Laurent cool before serving.