Sunday, April 20, 2008
Food, Recipes
White asparagus
Colorless but far from tasteless
CREDIT:Photos/Melissa Libby & Associates
Michael Tuohy
Every year when spring comes along, it brings wonderful, delicious new ingredients for me and my chefs to work with. One of my particular favorites is asparagus! Usually around the time that the green asparagus from California comes to market, we begin to see the highly sought after white asparagus from France. White asparagus is often larger than the green, but not always. The white asparagus isn’t allowed to surface from the ground but rather, stays undercover, underground. This lack of exposure to sunlight enables it to maintain its natural white color, never turning green from its chlorophyll.
Asparagus and white asparagus are grown and eaten all over the world, through most of the year. I find spring to be the best and most celebrated time to eat asparagus. It’s at its most tender and flavorful. At Woodfire Grill, we like to serve the French white asparagus chilled as an appetizer or small plate, accompanied by a tangy rich sauce gribiche and some micro celery from Ashland Farm.
To prepare, take the bottom 1/4 of the asparagus off and discard. I use a vegetable peeler; peel the entire length of the spear starting just below the tip. Then, I cook the white asparagus in boiling, salted acidulated water just until tender. Remove with a skimmer, and plunge immediately into an ice water bath to stop any further cooking and retain the texture. When cooking the asparagus, it’s ready as soon as you can easily pierce a spear with a small knife. You do not want to cook it too long, or you risk having a mushy texture.
The sauce gribiche is a classical sauce created by Escoffier. Sauce gribiche was created to be served as an accompaniment to chilled poached fish. I find with the combination of sieved boiled eggs, tarragon, chives, parsley, Dijon mustard, champagne vinegar, shallots, black pepper, salt and olive oil, you can’t go wrong! I place all of these ingredients in a bowl and gently whisk together. It’s somewhat emulsified, somewhat broken. It gives a nice appearance to the plate along with a bright creamy tang to the asparagus. I like to place a little micro celery that comes to us from a local farm named Ashland Farm, on top. The celery is an attractive little green that packs a really big celery flavor enhancing everything. White asparagus has a much milder flavor than its green cousin. It tends to lend itself to assertive accompaniments. I also like to embellish with a little sprinkling of fleur de sel (the flower of the sea). This adds a nice textural crunch and a little burst of salinity.
There you have it: a delicious dish to celebrate and impress your friends. Buon appetito! SP
Michael Tuohy is the owner and executive chef of Woodfire Grill. 1782 Cheshire Bridge Road. 404-347-9055. www.woodfiregrill.com.
WHITE ASPARAGUS WITH SAUCE GRIBICHE
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 white asparagus
- 1 lemon
- 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- ¾ cup champagne vinegar
- 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 3 shallots, minced
- ½ cup capers, chopped
- ¼ cup cornichons, chopped
- 1/3 cup fresh chervil, chopped
- 1/3 cup fresh tarragon, chopped
- 1/3 cup fresh dill, chopped
- 2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Pinch of white pepper
INSTRUCTIONS:
Trim and peel the white asparagus. Tie into a bundle with butchers twine or use rubber band, and place into acidulated boiling water. Cook until tender (6 to 10 minutes, depending on the size).
Remove from water, and place into an ice water bath to stop the cooking. White asparagus should be very limp, not al dente and not mushy. Place on plate covered with a paper towel, and refrigerate until needed for sauce:
Place champagne vinegar, shallots, salt and pepper in bowl; let stand for 10 minutes. Add Dijon mustard, eggs, cornichons and herbs, slowly whisk in extra virgin olive oil until incorporated and sauce-like consistency.
Arrange asparagus on platter or individual plates, and spoon sauce over generously. Garnish with fresh chervil sprigs or parsley. Serve with dry crisp white wine like sancerre or sauvignon blanc.