Chef John: Alright, I don't know if this is an appetizer or a salad or a vegetable side dish, but it is delicious as is pan-seared asparagus with some lemon and balsamic and a little Parmesan at the end. That is one bunch of asparagus that I washed. Alright, trimmed up the bottoms of course. Little salt, pepper, little reggiano Parmesan. We are going to use one lemon, some olive oil and some balsamic vinegar, as always all the ingredients and recipe are on the site, foodwishes. Alright, so here we go, this is a kind of a neat trick. Take a pan and line it with some heavy duty, aluminum foil, here is what we are going to do, we have got sear the asparagus, but we are not going to cook it all the way and then we are going to wrap it in this foil, with the flavorings and it's going to, kind of steam and finish cooking. Really interesting technique.
So, I dumped in my couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. I dumped in a little bit of olive oil as the juice of the lemon. Just a little, I don't know, maybe two three pinches of salt and pepper and that's just going to sit there and wait for our seared, pan-seared asparagus. Just give that a little shake and just let that sit like that. Now, in a pan, now don't use your non-stick here, because I don't like nonstick getting super high heat. In your stainless steal pan, I want you to bring that up to scary hot level. Let it get super hot, drizzling just a tea spoon of olive oil and then you are just going to pan sear the asparagus, alright. So there is no water, there is no pre-blanching and I know some chefs who are freaking out now. You get a boiled asparagus first, no you don't. Alright, I want a really nice intense asparagus flavor. What I am trying to get here is almost a grilled asparagus, okay. Now, see that it's still stiff, I have been shaken it and it's not moving.
You will know when these are done, is they will just start to soften a little bit. So, we are going to cook it in the foil really. So, this took me maybe six or seven minutes, Again super high heat the whole way, you can see the edges start to get a little black, little brown, just like you put them on a grill. So, just keep them moving maybe every minute or two, give them a little shake. Now, see how that just wasn't as stiff as before it just starts to soften and I do have some nice color on those and again, this might be one of those dishes where you kept it kind of experiment once and do it wrong and then you will get it perfect. Right, so when I thought those were just starting to get tender. They just became slightly bendable, is that a word? Then, I am going to put them quickly into my bowl that's lined with the heavy duty aluminum foil. I am going to give that a fold and one fold is good. Now, those are going to kind of a steam in there and finish cooking.
Now, I am going to use a second piece of foil, because I want that dressing to go everywhere, which it will kind of seep out and that is it and that is where all the flavorization is going to happen and again I don't I think that's a word either. Anyway, what are you going to do and you can actually feel that heat now. You are going to let that sit for about five minutes. Give it a toss, maybe halfway through and when you unwrap that, as I am slowly doing now, wasting valuable time. Right and you will see why I use that second piece of foil. That just kind of seeps out. That's okay, it's totally flavorized, the asparagus. I got the delicious sweet Balsamic the lemon, the salt, the pepper, olive oil; oh my God! So, delicious and those are just barely tender and they are just barely warm. Otherwise we won't be able to touch it, okay.
So, now we are just going to set our plate up. So, I have got me a nice stack of slightly crisp, although fairly tenders asparagus. They have been infused by delicious flavor, because they are wrapped in that foil, steamy hot. I am going to shave over with a potato peelers some beautiful reggiano Parmesan. Maybe I will dust it with a little more salt and pepper, maybe I won't and I am going to serve a little extra lemon on the side. Alright, you could drill some extra balsamic here. But, that was just perfect for me. Such a great side dish. Such a great appetizer. Warm salad or what do call a warm salad, but anyway, need a little trick. I know it's spring and there is lots asparagus in the market. So, there you go, don't boil it first, no need to. Just sear it in the pan, until it just starts to soften, just as the spirit just become a little pliable, wrap it tight in a foil with your flavorings and you have got one great vegetable dish. Give that a try and enjoy!
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