They’re heeeeere…. lovely locally grown asparagus. Probably my favourite vegetable (if I had to choose). I’ve been reading about asparagus steamers lately, long tall pots especially made to perfectly cook your long tall asparagus. Seriously? Imagine having enough cupboard space for this sort of thing. I have always lightly steamed my asparagus lying down in a frying pan, with just a bit of water and a perforated lid. And of course char-grilled asparagus is also fab.
Then recently I saw a couple of recipes mentioned about braising asparagus, which seemed to me like the best of both worlds. You get the freshness of steaming with the extra added flavour of the braising liquids. So I decided to give it a try. Here you see asparagus tossed with a 50-50 blend of butter and olive oil and cooked with garlic, salt and a bit of crushed chilis. Heaven. I ended up with a bit too much butter/oil but will know better next time.
The only drawback with this delicious dish is that it’s too rich for the cats, who also happen to ADORE fresh asparagus (the same as Azar did). When they smell it cooking they start going into a very vocal frenzy, so while I was braising my asparagus in garlic and whatnot, I had to steam a few stalks in water just for the cats.
What’s your favourite vegetable?
Hello July! The temps are soaring (well, kind of, still hasn’t reached mid-40s here) and eating habits also swap over to light summer-style eating. On my tapas tours people often ask what the “Queen of Tapas” eats at home. Or if I ever eat at home! Of course I do eat at home more than I eat out and, despite my appearance, I’m not actually a big eater. But I do go for the Spanish habit of making lunch my main meal of the day. Typically in summer it will be something fresh, like this arrugula, tomato and feta salad. In winter lunches tend to be a bit heartier, with stews and other dishes, which you can find on 
casa azahar 