Prudent Foodie

Asparagus and Pasta with a Lemon Sauce - Meat Optional

This year the asparagus has been extra early, and I'm really enjoying it!  There are so many things you can do with asparagus, but this simple, lemony pasta is one of my favorites.  A few years ago, I decided I wanted a creamy lemon sauce to use with pasta and asparagus, and after a little experimentation, this is what I came up with.  It's a bit like a very light hollandaise, but much more fool proof to make. 

As you might guess from the title, I usually make this with just asparagus and pasta, because at this time of year, who needs anything else?  On the other hand, the addition of some chopped chicken or a few sauted scallops, will make a complete meal for a meat eater as well, so I'm including those possibilities too.  With regard to herbs, you can just add salt or pepper, or a little tarragon is always good with asparagus.  If you are feeling quite trendy, replace the tarragon with some lavender for a little different flavor. I use fresh, since I grow both, but dried will work fine as well. Use half as much if you use dried.  I also like to add chives at this time of year, when they are freshly sprouting in my garden.

Pasta and Asparagus with Lemon Sauce (with optional Chicken or Scallops)

2 egg yolks

2 TB butter

~ 3TB lemon juice (usually this is 1/2 of a juicy thin skinned lemon, or a whole thick skinned one)

3/4 cup cream

1 TB chopped fresh chives (optional)

1 TB chopped fresh tarragon (optional)

1 TB chopped fresh lavender (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

3/4 pound fresh asparagus

1 chicken breast OR 1/2 pound bay scallops  - optional

2TB extra virgin olive oil

1/3-1/2 package linguini

Snap the ends of the asparagus, cut into two or three inch long pieces, and place with 1/4 cup water in a covered microwave dish, and set aside.

Meat Option: Saute the the chicken breast or the scallops in the olive oil.  If you are using the chicken, chop it into bite size pieces.  Set aside in a covered dish to stay warm.  

In a saucepan, beat the egg yolks with a wooden spoon or birch whisk, then add the lemon juice and stir well.  Add the butter, and turn on the lowest possible heat then stir continuously until the butter melts.  Add the cream and either the lavender or the tarragon and chives if you are adding herbs.  Continue to stir while you allow the creamy sauce to warm up.  Do not let it boil, but allow it to cook slowly and thicken a bit as it warms up.  If it is too thick you can add more cream, or very carefully, some milk or half and half.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Meanwhile boil a pot of water for the pasta, and when your butter for the sauce is just melted, toss it in and cook as you like it.  Have the water boiling, or it will take longer than the sauce.  This is not a real big problem, since this is an unfussy sauce, and you can let it sit a little while and rewarm gently if you need to.

Just before the sauce and pasta are done, put your asparagus in the microwave for 3-4 minutes to steam (just long enough so that the pieces are cooked but still a big crunchy).  Drain the asparagus and the pasta, and stir them together with the sauce, and the chicken or scallops if you are using them, in a warm bowl.  Snip a few extra chives over the top if you like for looks.  Serve to great acclaim!  DeeDee

"leftover" Chicken Risotto

One of my very first posts discussed things to do with leftover store bought roast chicken.  This recipe would of course apply to such a bird, but as it happens I had leftovers from a couple birds I roasted myself. Once again we had people over for dinner on Saturday night (it started out with 2 and somehow grew to 9), and I decided to try out a recipe my mom had pointed out to me.  Since it actually came from a cookbook, I can't quote it chapter and verse here, but let me give you a broad hint.  Stuff a roasting chicken with a couple mandarin oranges cut in half and a few rosemary sprigs.  Rub the bird with olive oil and honey, and then baste liberally a couple times with white wine and chicken stock while you roast it. Reduce the pan juices to make a sauce.  This made a lovely main dish, and I had a two leftover carcasses with quite a lot of meat on them. 

I poured three or four cups of water over them, added 4 whole allspice, some whole black pepper, a bay leaf, a carrot and some celery and boiled for a while. I would have added an onion, but I was out of them.  This made a fantastically aromatic stock, and since there was a lot of meat left on the bones I picked it off when I was done, and reserved it.  Then  I made a risotto with the meat and the stock!  This tasted as good as any $15 plate of risotto at a restaurant and was thoroughly prudent!  You could of course buy a chicken breast or thigh, cook it by whatever means you prefer, and add it to the dish if you didn't have enough leftover meat. 

Leftover Chicken Risotto

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1 shallot or two cloves garlic chopped fine

2TB olive oil

3-4 cups of chicken stock, at a simmer

1/2 TB lemon zest grated, or just sliced into thin strips or chopped fine

1 cup cooked chicken, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

parmesan to sprinkle

Mince the garlic or shallot fine and saute over medium heat in a large skillet.  When turning gold, add the rice to the pan and saute briefly, stirring with the garlic or shallot.  Pour 1/2 cup of the stock into the pan and stir continuously while it cooks in.  Add the stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring as constantly as you can stand.  I tend to stir most consistently at the beginning and get a little lazier as the rice cooks, turning down the heat and stirring little less frequently.  Add stock until the rice is cooked; when you are on your last 1/2 cup toss in the lemon zest.  Add salt and pepper to taste and chicken, letting it warm up as the risotto finishes cooking. If you are feeling lush, put a TB or butter or a little cream in at the end and stir.   Place a bowl of shredded parmesan cheese on the table to sprinkle over the risotto.  Serve it to acclaim.

We had this with the first local asparagus of the season - steamed in the microwave and tossed with a little Nunez de Prado olive oil, salt, pepper and some lemon zest.  Yummy!  DeeDee

Polenta with Pulled Pork, Garbanzos and Kale

Last fall,I became the possessor of a cold frame.  We experimented last spring with this, but built it too late, and not tight enough.  In the fall, I planted beets, chard, kale, salad mix, radishes, etc.  I was able to harvest radishes and salad greens last fall, but the beets, chard, and kale weren't ready.  Fast forward to this spring, and in mid-March I had kale from my very own garden!  Pretty exciting stuff.  Luckily, I had some pulled pork as well (see this post for the recipe), and yet another opportunity to come up with something new to do with pulled pork was born.  I served this over polenta, which I thought was very good, but rice or couscous would be good too.  I like the double boiler method for making polenta which is quick and easy. 

Pulled Pork with Garbanzo Beans and Kale

1 1/2 cups pulled pork

2-3 cups tender young kale - I used Russian red, but dinosaur and lacinato would be good too

1 cup cooked or canned garbanzo beans

1/4 cup water

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp celery seed

1 tsp dried tarragon

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

2TB olive oil

1/2  small can crushed tomatoes

1 cup polenta

4 cups boiling water

butter and parmesan cheese for the polenta to your taste

salt and pepper to taste

For the Polenta

Put an inch of water in your double boiler, or if like me, you don't have one, rest the sauce pan you are making your polenta in in a larger pan with an inch of boiling water in it over low heat.  Put the polenta in the sauce pan and pour the boiling water over it.  Stir to remove lumps, and then stir occasionally for 20-30 minutes until the polenta is ready (while you make the sauce).  Add butter, salt and pepper and parmesan cheese to the polenta according to taste, and stir. 

For the Pulled Pork, Garbanzo and Kale Sauce

Mince the onion and garlic, and saute in the olive oil.  In a mortar and pestle crush the celery seed coarsely, and then add to the onions and garlic along with the tarragon and cayenne.  Saute on medium  to low heat until the onions are golden, 5-10 minutes.  Add the kale and the water and cover, cook on low for 5 minutes to wilt the kale.  Add the tomatoes (if you prefer a dryer sauce, use 1/2 instead of a whole can), and another 1/4 cup of water and cook for 10 minutes more.  Add the pulled pork and garbanzo beans, and warm through until the sauce is simmering. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over the polenta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Accept compliments gracefully ;-)  Dee Dee