When Asparagus Becomes Comfort Food

In California we can eat locally grown asparagus for almost 9 months of the year. The heaviest production here in the Central Coast is from February to June, so right now the local markets are full of the stuff. Every time I pop into my neighborhood victualer for even just a quart of milk, I grab a bunch of asparagus -- just because. It's spring after all, and it's good and right that we should eat as much asparagus as we can.

I was going to fire up the barbie and grill some spears, but the weather had turned gloomy and damp and suddenly I was yearning for some hearty comfort food, not roasted asparagus. A good old pantry standby, Arborio rice, let me have my asparagus and my comfort food at the same time.

Risotto with Asparagus and Walnuts

1 Tablespoon butter
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Or, half EVOO and half lemon olive oil.
1 Small onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 Cups Arborio rice
1/2 Cup dry white wine
4 Cups vegetable stock, heated
1/4 Cup chopped walnuts
1/2 Pound asparagus cut into 1-inch lengths. Save a few longer pieces for garnish.
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Salt and Pepper
Walnut oil to finish (optional)
Lemon zest for garnish

Heat butter and olive oil in a large saucepan. Saute the onion, stirring constantly, for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add the rice and stir over medium heat for about a minute without browning the rice. Add the wine and boil rapidly while stirring, until almost evaporated. Stir in the hot stock, one ladleful at a time, letting each ladleful get absorbed into the rice before adding more. After 10 minutes add the asparagus and keep cooking, adding stock as needed. After another 5 minutes, test a grain of rice; it should be al dente. Stir in the walnuts and lemon zest and add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and drizzle a little walnut oil over the dish, stirring lightly to blend. Serve immediately, garnished with lemon zest.

Makes 4 side dishes, or 2 generous entree portions. The vegetarians in your family will love you.

Tasting Notes from a Road Trip: Santa Cruz

I drove up the coast last weekend to visit my family who lives in Santa Cruz. There are lots of fine places to eat in that off-beat town, but with little kids in tow, it's not advisable to linger for hours tasting new ethnic foods and chatting up the chefs. We proceeded with caution.

At a little downtown Indian eatery, I ordered their signature drink, "Lavender Love." Whipped up like the popular cold coffee drinks served at Starbucks and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, this concoction blended lavender tisane (lavender buds steeped in water, no black tea), a frozen banana, vanilla ice cream, vanilla extract and a teaspoon of lavender buds. It was rich and delicious. Note to self: another way to use up lavender buds from my garden, and a real departure from the usual milk shake flavors. And to my surprise, the kids were game enough to try it and pronounced Lavender Love "pretty good."

Across the street, we wandered in to a shop selling olive oils and a wide selection of flavored vinegars from all over the world. After much tasting and the nod of approval from the youngest amongst us, we selected a Blood Orange Olive Oil from Tunisia and a Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar from Sicily. That night we dipped freshly baked bread into saucers of the oil dotted with large droplets of the vinegar, and also poured the mixture over fresh asparagus spears. And as that weren't enough, we had taken the advice of the shop owner and bought a box of brownie mix and substituted the Blood Orange Olive Oil for the vegetable oil called for in the recipe. The result was a rich dessert with an unusual flavor kick that tasted like a confection from an expensive box of European chocolates.

It's artichoke season, so on the way home I stopped at a roadside farm stand outside of Castroville, the self-proclaimed "Artichoke Capital of the World," and bought an armload of baby artichokes.

It's too bad I won't be there for the annual Artichoke Festival in May, where they serve artichokes in every possible way: breaded, steamed, fried, and baked. But I like them simply steamed with garlic cloves and lemon wedges and pulled one by one from the head, and dipped in -- what else? -- a mixture of Blood Orange Olive Oil and Raspberry Vinegar seasoned with a little salt and pepper. For variety I might consider Meyer Lemon Olive Oil and a Chardonnay Vinegar. Either way, pure heaven.

Rhubarb and Roses on my Mind

This week my rose garden came to life in an explosion of color. The first buds appeared on one of my favorites, a sweet, old-fashioned floribunda with an ugly name: Gruss an Aachen. Apparently it is German for “Greetings from Aachen,” a medieval city on the German-Belgian border also known by its French name, Aix-la-Chapelle. I would have preferred, had they asked me when they first introduced this rose in the early 1900s, to call this beauty by its melodious French name but nobody bothered to consult me.

Anyway, I have two of these planted right outside my bathroom window, in the dappled shade of an olive tree, and they are really spectacular. 

From bud to full bloom in about a week

While admiring my roses, a note from a newly discovered cousin in Devon, England – also an enthusiastic gardener – who had recently wowed her family by making a fresh Rhubarb Fool for dessert, made me remember a recipe from Gourmet magazine I’d used years ago that combined rhubarb, strawberries and rosewater. And that’s how this all comes together.

I don’t use this recipe any more because I no longer own an ice cream maker, but if you do, it’s a sophisticated dessert that is also very healthy, great for impressing guests.

Roasted Rhubarb with Rosewater and Strawberry Sorbet

For the Sorbet:

¾ Cup water

½ Cup sugar

2 1-pound packages of frozen whole strawberries (not in syrup), thawed

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Cook water and sugar in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and cool the syrup completely.

Puree the strawberries with syrup in a food processor until smooth, then force through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and stir in the lemon juice. If the mixture isn’t already cold, chill by putting the bowl in an ice bath and stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes.

Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker, then transfer to an airtight container and put in the freezer to harden, at least 3 hours. While this is freezing, cook the rhubarb.

For the Rhubarb:

¾ Cup sugar

1 ½ Teaspoons flour (or potato starch, if you want gluten-free)

1 ½ Pounds rhubarb stalks, cut diagonally into 2-inch pieces

¾ Teaspoon rosewater (found in Middle Eastern or Indian markets)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F with the rack in the middle position.

Whisk together the sugar and flour in a 13 x 9-inch shallow baking dish. Add the rhubarb and toss to coat. Roast until the rhubarb is just tender but not falling apart, about 20-25 minutes.

Cool to warm, about 30 minutes, then sprinkle the rosewater over the rhubarb. Serve the rhubarb and its juices with the strawberry sorbet.

Serves 6.