Seasons Eatings

I'll finish off this month of in-season recipes with a great weeknight meal, perfect for pairing with grilled shrimp or a poached egg.  Grits are stone ground corn, similar to polenta, which would also work in this recipe. The way I prepare them here, they are low in fat and vitamin rich, not what you think of when you here the word grits. I wanted to infuse the the meal with flavor so I finely chopped asparagus stems and sauteed them in a little olive oil and sea salt to combine with the water.  I slowly added white grits to the water, bringing them to a boil, then covering and reducing the heat to low, stirring consistently until absorbed.  I then added skim milk and stirred until creamy and fully cooked.  All said it took about 25 minutes.  Recipe below...

Asparagus Grits

Ingredients

1 bunch of asparagus

1/2 cup white grits (now at Trader Joes)

1 1/2 cup water

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup low fat milk

--

Prep asparagus by removing woody part of stalk, and chopping in thin slices up to just below the tip.  Reserve tips for roasting. Heat 1/2 tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat in a deep saucepan.  Add chopped asparagus, saute for about 5 minutes until soft.  Add water and 1 tsp of cracked sea salt. Bring to a boil, gradually adding the grits, stirring constantly, bringing back to a boil. Cover and reduce heat.  Stir frequently until the water is absorbed. Add the milk and continue to cook, covered, stirring until creamy.  

--

To prepare the asparagus tips preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss with remaining olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.  Spread onto a sheet pan and roast for about 10 minutes until the heads are crisped and tender.  Serve atop the grits, with grilled shrimp or a poached egg. 

My Natural Color

Let me start with the fact that I made a BIG mess in my kitchen doing this project.  I also had a lot of fun.  I've been wanting to make my own food coloring for a while, not only because it seems like a good idea, but because I love the colors I've seen produced from vegetable dye.  I had some wins and some losses with this project. Green was a fail.  I used my juicer to extract the color, then cooked it down, adding a few tablespoons of vinegar to ready it for dying eggs.  I tried to make green using spinach.  Unfortunately the meaty plant part separated from the water part and it became kind of pulpy.  No prob, I strained it, but then when I cooked it, it turned brown.  That's not green! I tried it without cooking it, but the dye wouldn't stick to the egg.  So no true green.  Boo hiss.  I read that you could boil yellow apples to make light green, or red onion to make jade, but I was looking for kelly, so I moved on. I did have some big wins.  I made blue!  This involves some chemistry, which was very exciting for my little helper Wylie. This is a great activity to do with little kids!  Scroll down for my vegetable dye recipes.

To make blue: Juice a half head of red cabbage. Simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes, this will reduce the water, rendering a thicker dye.  Add 2 tablespoon of white vinegar. Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl and allow to cool. Add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.  Allow to foam, stirring occasionally until combined. 

To make yellow: Juice yellow carrots and a tumeric root.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Add a few saffron threads.  Cook until reduced, add vinegar.  Strain through a fine sieve.  

To make red: Juice beets and purple carrots.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until reduced, add vinegar. Strain through a fine sieve.

To note: the dyes can easily be applied to frosting. Simply omit the vinegar and stick to sweet vegetables like beets, cabbage, and carrots.  Their flavor profile will be masked by the sugar.

So, I'm no master Easter egg artist. I simply roll my hard boiled eggs around in the dye and let them air dry. I blended colors to give some variation to the eggs. I think they turned out quite nice...  Now I just need some one to come and clean this joint!

Plastic Eggs and Paper Grass

I am not really an Easter person, it's usually an after thought.  I'm trying a little harder this year, because I think it's becoming a bigger deal for the kids. We've decided to team up with another family to do a DIY egg hunt at a wooded park up in the Oakland Hills.  The fellas are going early to hide the plastic eggs and the ladies will follow behind with our brunch, the grandparents and the kids.  Our plan is to post up at a picnic table and sink our teeth into hot out of the oven cinnamon rolls, pork sausage and asparagus frittata, washed down with mimosas and coffee. In the early morning we'll give the boys their Easter Baskets. I kind of skip the candy, because Jasper can't have chocolate, plus they'll be getting enough jelly beans and marshmallows in their eggs later on. This year they are each getting a special book, a coveted movie, and little things like sidewalk chalk and play dough.

Easter Eats

I'll be hosting an Easter brunch this Sunday and I plan to make a small spread featuring homemade cinnamon rolls, plenty of cured pork products and a riff on Eggs Benedict that features my asparagus hash recipe. This simple, but stand out recipe has a complex flavor and is satisfyingly salty. I usually serve it for breakfast, but it would be totally delicious with fresh pasta or incorporated into a lemony risotto. 

Asparagus Hash

1 bunch of asparagus
2 oz of diced pancetta
1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
Course sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Rinse the asparagus, cut off the woody bottom of the stalk (about 1 1/2 inches)then chop into 1/4" slices up the stalk, leaving the tips intact.  

Combine the asparagus, pancetta, EVO, and salt and pepper in a mixing bowl, incorporating the ingredients.

Spread the mixture on a sheet pan and roast for 20-25 minutes, until the pancetta is crispy and the tips of the asparagus start to brown, turning the ingredients half way to ensure even roasting. 

Helpful tip:

This is delicious with a poached egg.  Here's how I do it:

How To Poach An Egg (you can do this)

Fill a saucepan with 2 inches of water

Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to the water

Bring to a low boil and reduce heat so that the water is extremely hot, but not quite simmering.

Once the water is steady, gently crack an egg into the water.  Allow to cook and set to desired yolk consistency.  I prefer runny yolks, so I only poach for about 3-4 minutes (until the white is completely set), but 5 minutes will yield a gelled to firm yolk.

Remove the egg from water using a slatted spoon, allow the water to completely run off the egg and place it where you want to eat it, or retain a little bit of the hot water using a non-slatted spoon and place it in a bowl if you are waiting to plate.

 

Eggs Over Easy

I never noticed that plastic Easter eggs have holes at the top.  Did they always?  I made this garland in about 10 minutes using assorted sizes of eggs in shades of blue and white. They are strung with blue and white baker's twine from Paper Source.  It's so pretty, I think I'll have to make more.