Canning and Freezing Episode 3 : Asparagus

6/18/10: Freezing Asparagus

Let me set the records straight. . . No, my family does not grow asparagus. There, done with that. Oh, I should also mention that we have tried! We must have tried to grow every fruit and veggie on earth; have to keep things interesting, ya know. ;D

A friend of ours who owns an asparagus farm in Oceana county gave us a large box of them yesterday and so today I pulled out a ton a big pots and got to work.

How to freeze asparagus: I went to my old faithful Ball Book once again and these are the instructions I found:

Select young, tender asparagus with tightly closed tips. Wash thoroughly and sort into sizes. Trim stalks by removing scales with a sharp knife. Cut into even lengths to fit freezer containers. Blanch small spears 1 1/2 minutes, medium spears 2 minutes and large spears 3 minutes. Cool. Drain. Pack asparagus into plastic freezer bags, can-or-freeze jars, plastic freezer boxes or vacuum package. Seal, label and freeze.

That is exactly how I froze them.

Freezing Details: I froze 2 gallon bags of whole spears, 1 quart bag of trimmed spears, and 2 quart bags of chopped asparagus.

The Blending Operation Went, Well, "Smoothie" :)

7/14/09: Lemon Asparagus Pasta & Strawberry & Peach Smoothies

• Meal details: Main course, lemon asparagus pasta -- steamed asparagus and ruffle pasta tossed together with lots of lemon zest, evaporated milk, Parmesan cheese, and pepper.

Dessert, strawberry and peach smoothies -- strawberry smoothie was made with our own fresh strawberries and a few spoonfuls of ice cream. The peach version was made using our frozen peaches packed in simple syrup. Nothing was added to the peach concoction except for water.

• Recipe sources: The pasta dish came from kitchenparade.com, the strawberry smoothie was found by visiting cooks.com, and the peach smoothie was my own doing.

• Defining moments: I USED THE BLENDER! Gosh, that's a big stepping stone, isn't it? :) Kidding aside, the blender experience was really something extraordinary. You wouldn't believe how many settings it has and the horrific noise it makes!

Besides the blender, anything exciting and new? Well, this would be the first time I had to steam a large amount of asparagus at once. The steaming part was no problem, only the washing and cleaning.

• What I learned: I learned that our blender can crush ice. The day before I made the smoothies I thought the blender wasn't capable of doing this and I thought I would have to do it all by hand. Fortunately, I misread the instructions and discovered that it is possible. Glad to hear that!

I also learned that using the double boiler works very well with steaming the asparagus. And you know what? The asparagus that I've been keeping in the refrigerator is holding up rather nicely. I was thinking they would be limp by this time but they have remained crisp and fresh. I guess the plastic bag with some water is doing its job well. I still need to freeze some because I don't think we will be able to use them all in time. It would be nice, too, to have asparagus available when our fruits and vegetables are ready to harvest.

• Any modifications? Yes, I made some to the pasta recipe. I eliminated the dill from the recipe and I used evaporated milk rather than the half-and-half it called for. I also used less asparagus, about half of what they called for. My family is new to asparagus so we have to take it slow you know!

• How it tasted? The pasta was really bright and fresh and the addition of Parmesan cheese did wonders! According to one taster, I added too much pepper. I may want to go back on that ingredient a bit next time. The smoothies were just how I expected them to be: fruity, summery, nectar-y. . . Don't I explain it so well? Annemarie said the strawberry version was really, really good; said it three times in fact!

• How about a 2nd time? All were winners, so yes. I would, however, add more asparagus to the pasta dish.

Now doesn't that look so nectar-y?

The Word is "PIE!"

6/10/09: Chicken BBQ Pizza and Peach Pie with Asparagus on the Side

No, June 10th is not a Sunday but it happens to be my youngest sister's birthday. Many months prior to her birthday she was requesting me to make BBQ Pizza and Peach Pie for her birthday supper. Click here and here to see my past experiences with BBQ Pizza and here and here for the peach pie. The asparagus came in later and let me tell you how and why. Back in May my family watched a PBS special called Asparagus: Stalking the American Life (you can learn more about this show by visiting this blog). During the duration of the 53 min. program we learned about a farmer who lives in our area who was combating the foreign trade issue. Later on, around the end of May, this same asparagus farmer stops at our farm market and promises to bring some of his asparagus to us on a later trip. He stayed true to his word and last week he gave us 10 pounds of fresh picked asparagus!

The asparagus: (I steamed some and pan-roasted the other half. My family hasn't really tasted asparagus before so we're kind of testing it using light seasoning.)

So here are some photos of the peach pie (1 of 2) made using the canned peaches my family did last year:

My youngest sister can't seem to get the pie ecstasy out of her system! For the past 6 days she has been constantly saying with much ardor: "PIE!"