I'd like to document this method of cooking asparagus, despite its fuss, and my obvious inability to follow its directions.
Taken from Sokolov, who states:
"Madame Saint-Ange, the author of the best French cookbook ever written (with typical self-confidence, she called it La Cuisine de Madame Saint-Ange), devotes two densely packed pages to this simple procedure [cooking asparagus].
The trimming alone occupies her for a few hundred words. Bref, cut away any isolated leaves along the stems and then peel them, immersing them in cold water as you go. Drain and then sort by thickness into bundles of six, eight, or ten, according to their size. Tie each bundle with two pieces of string, one 2 inches below the tips, the second 3 inches farther down the stems. Then arrange the bundles side by side so that the points are all on an even line. Finally, with one stroke of a large knife, slice away the bottoms of the stems, leaving all the bundles the same length, around 7 inches.
There is a point to all of this fuss. The sorting makes it easy to cook all the asparagus evenly. The peeling and cutting eliminate inedible fibrous areas. And the tying helps prevent damage to the tips when you move the cooked asparagus out of the pot and onto the serving dish.
And what about the pot? Even well-ordered homes do not often have a purpose-built bolte a asperges, a 10-inch tall cylindrical pot with a basket that fits inside and removes a whole bass without harming it. What matters is that the asparagus be completely submerged in lots of water-- 7 cups per pound, lightly salted.
Bring this water to a full rolling boil and plunge in the asparagus. Do not cover. Cook medium asparagus for 12 minutes after boiling resumes. Thin asparagus takes less time, thick ones more. Test with a knife point. Overcooking is a sin. Better to have just a bit of snap left than to let them slide into insipid flaccidity.
Drain off the asparagus cooking liquid. Place the bundles on a dry clean dishcloth while they drip-dry. Transfer to a long serving dish lined with a white cloth. Carefully cut to remove the strings. Serve with melted butter or, for a grander effect, hollandaise. For cold asparagus, use a vinaigrette or mayonnaise."
I'm afraid I fell into the insipid category on my attempt. :( Ah well, better luck next time.
Taken from Sokolov, who states:
"Madame Saint-Ange, the author of the best French cookbook ever written (with typical self-confidence, she called it La Cuisine de Madame Saint-Ange), devotes two densely packed pages to this simple procedure [cooking asparagus].
The trimming alone occupies her for a few hundred words. Bref, cut away any isolated leaves along the stems and then peel them, immersing them in cold water as you go. Drain and then sort by thickness into bundles of six, eight, or ten, according to their size. Tie each bundle with two pieces of string, one 2 inches below the tips, the second 3 inches farther down the stems. Then arrange the bundles side by side so that the points are all on an even line. Finally, with one stroke of a large knife, slice away the bottoms of the stems, leaving all the bundles the same length, around 7 inches.
There is a point to all of this fuss. The sorting makes it easy to cook all the asparagus evenly. The peeling and cutting eliminate inedible fibrous areas. And the tying helps prevent damage to the tips when you move the cooked asparagus out of the pot and onto the serving dish.
And what about the pot? Even well-ordered homes do not often have a purpose-built bolte a asperges, a 10-inch tall cylindrical pot with a basket that fits inside and removes a whole bass without harming it. What matters is that the asparagus be completely submerged in lots of water-- 7 cups per pound, lightly salted.
Bring this water to a full rolling boil and plunge in the asparagus. Do not cover. Cook medium asparagus for 12 minutes after boiling resumes. Thin asparagus takes less time, thick ones more. Test with a knife point. Overcooking is a sin. Better to have just a bit of snap left than to let them slide into insipid flaccidity.
Drain off the asparagus cooking liquid. Place the bundles on a dry clean dishcloth while they drip-dry. Transfer to a long serving dish lined with a white cloth. Carefully cut to remove the strings. Serve with melted butter or, for a grander effect, hollandaise. For cold asparagus, use a vinaigrette or mayonnaise."
I'm afraid I fell into the insipid category on my attempt. :( Ah well, better luck next time.
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