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VARIOUS ASPARAGUS COOKING METHODS

Asparagus boiling [English method]
There are several alternatives. The easiest and fastest is simply to boil asparaguses; bunch them or
not, in salt water. The disadvantage is that the hard and fibrous parts boil in the same way than the
tip which is much more tender. For this reason you can erect the asparaguses bundles vertically
with the tips out of the water: the stems boil with water and the
tips steam. To check the boiling stage, prick in one of the tips
with a kitchen knife: if it enters like in butter, the boiling is
ready. According to the variety and the gauge of the asparagus,
that can take from 15 to 22 minutes, if the asparaguses are
immersed in boiling salt water. It is preferable to start cooking in
boiling water, in this way flavours remain imprisoned in the
vegetable and are not diluted in the cooking water.

Asparagus steaming
Steaming preserves best the vitamins, but part of the flavour is involved in the vapours. You can of
course use water aromatised with fish, or the meat in the liquid which generates the vapour, but the
management of flavours is increasingly more delicate than by boiling. Use asparaguses of the same
diameter because the boiling times differ depending on the gauge.
Depending on the size and the variety of asparagus, the time of steaming varies from 12 to 18
minutes.

Asparagus cooking in asparagus cooker
As the asparagus-cooker is based on steaming for the tips
and cooking for the stems, the advantages dominate and the
disadvantages are suppressed. The use of baskets removes
the drudgery of bunching; you spare some time.
Depending on the diameter, the cooking time varies from 8
to 18 min.

Asparagus cooking in the frying pan
It is a hardly used method, that best emphasizes the flavours of the green asparagus: melt a piece of
butter and slowly cook asparaguses cut in dices until they are tender. Nothing prevent you from using
a good quality oil, even of olive; the method is well appropriate for the green asparagus. You can also
bleach asparaguses five minutes with boiling water before cooking them with the frying pan.
Time of cooking: approximately 10 minutes, check cooking with a knife’s tip.

Asparagus cooking in the oven
Bleach asparaguses not before charging them with or without papillote, decorated with cheese,
butter, lemon or other perfumes. It is an interesting means to revisit, to create alternatives of the
recipe. Cooking time: 15 to 20 min at 180°C; 15 min at 220°C.
These times can vary a little depending on the size of the asparaguses.

Asparagus cooking in the microwave oven
It is the fastest way to cook asparaguses: lay them in a pyrex dish, add some water in the bottom, salt
copiously and put a little lemon juice to prevent from blackening. Put a micro-perforated film for
microwave oven to prevent from drying.
Cooking time, depending on the size, varies from 7 to 8 minutes.

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