SFist In The Kitchen: Asparagus
When we asked about asparagus season, the bustling woman with farmers' hands working the Zuckerman's stand gave us a quick answer, "We're three weeks in with 12 to go." The thin, long wands are still just at one or two stalls in the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, but we're sure they'll be everywhere soon enough. That's fine with us; we love the distinctive green stalks with their grassy taste, and we're happy to pretend that spring's come a little early by cooking this vernal icon. Chop them up, blanch them, and serve them in an omelette, or leave them whole and take advantage of the visual flair they add to any dish. We'll happily eat them, no matter what the ramifications.
Asparagus takes to a variety of quick preparations: blanch and stir-fry it, steam it, boil it, roast it, or grill it. Classicists can finish with a hollandaise sauce while flush gourmets might choose a pricey drizzle of heavenly aceto balsamico tradizionale. California cuisine enthusiasts can opt for the blood orange vinaigrette that reader Carl Paganelli suggested—"blood orange juice, a little zest, a suspicion of red wine vinegar to bring up the acidity, finely diced shallot, olive oil, salt and pepper." More adventuresome souls might finish with local chocolate goddess Alice Medrich's suggestion of warm butter and cacao nibs. These broken husks of roasted cacao beans add a rich, earthy note that defies an easy description.
SFist Derrick, contributing. Photos by Melissa Schneider.
It's no surprise that asparagus pairs well with other traditional spring foods like fresh goat cheese, but its chemical make-up causes problems for many wines. Most wine aficionados suggest coupling this difficult vegetable with the vibrant acidity and green smells of a Sauvignon Blanc. We like the lime-zest aromas in Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand's Marlborough region, but we also love the mineral tang of Sancerres and Pouilly-Fumés—France's best known renditions of this grape. We find many California examples to be flabby and uninteresting, but we recently met and had dinner with John Williams, owner of Frog's Leap winery, (no, not that John Williams) and we had to admit that his company's Sauvignon Blanc is pretty damn good.
Recipe: Grouper, asparagus and gold chard with a verjus vinaigrette.
Verjus, or verjuice, is the tart juice of unfermented wine grapes. Many chefs consider it more wine-friendly than a harsh vinegar, but we still suggest just a splash in the vinaigrette.
Vinaigrette
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 Tb verjus
3-4 Tb good extra-virgin olive oil
good-quality salt to taste
Grouper
2 small pieces of grouper (our fishmonger had cut them into individual portions for us)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Chard
1 bunch golden chard
chicken/vegetable stock
freshly grated nutmeg
Preheat your oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle salt over both sides of grouper, let sit. Wash and thoroughly dry chard. Cut the leaves of chard crosswise so you end up with strips of leaf divided by the chard stem. Prepare a pot with a steamer basket for the asparagus. Break off the woody asparagus stems.
Pour the verjus into a small bowl and add garlic. Begin whisking, and slowly drizzle in olive oil, whisking the whole time, until the vinaigrette is thick and creamy. Season to taste.
Bring water under steamer to a boil. Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat, and add chard. Stir well until the leaves begin to wilt mere seconds later. Add stock, reduce heat to low, cover and braise for about 5 minutes. Place asparagus in pot with steamer basket, cover, and steam until tender, just 5 minutes or so. Place grouper on baking sheet and place in oven until cooked; check after 5 or 6 minutes. When the chard has braised, remove the lid to the pan and let the stock evaporate. Season with salt and grated nutmeg.
Lay steamed asparagus stalks on a plate, and put grouper on top. Spoon vinaigrette over fish and drizzle some on the plate. Put a small serving of chard on top of the fish. Serve with a chilled Sauvignon Blanc.
Asparagus can be tricky to pair with wine because of that telltale taste. Austrian Gruner Veltliner is one option, but lately we've been enjoying it with Sauvignon Blanc. We're fond of the ones from New Zealand's Marlborough region as well as the Sancerres and Pouilly-Fumés that are France's rendition of this grape, though we suggest being cautious with the 2003's from those regions: that heat wave in Europe flattened the normally uber-tart wines. We also became enamored of the Frog's Leap Sauvignon Blanc after we had dinner with owner and wine maker John Williams (no, not that one), who seems to bring a lot of passion and integrity and organic farming practices to his wines.