Spring Frittata Recipe (Asparagus and Mushrooms)
It’s asparagus season and that means we’re officially into Spring eating – the most exciting tome of the year for us! Here’s a simple recipe that can be assembled in minutes and features the simple flavors of Spring.
Arugula Salad with Lobster, Asparagus and Hazelnuts
We had this fantastic Spring salad with leftovers from Mothers Day. It was a bit of a modern spinoff of the mayo-soaked lobster salads I had as a kid (and still enjoy):
Simple Asparagus Soup
There is nothing better, this time of year, than asparagus soup. It`s the taste of mid-late Spring and only the freshest stalks will do – this soup just isn`t the same in the middle of winter or later summer. You can eat it hot or cold and change it`s ingredients at will.
It also stores well through the week and can easily round-out or become a full meal within minutes of your need.
Asparagus soup only has a few required ingredients for me:
- Asparagus
- Liquid (could be stock though I`m just as easy with tomato sauce or canned tomatoes or even using water as half my liquid base)
- A touch of lemon
- A touch of butter
- Salt and pepper Read more
Cream of Sorrel and Asparagus Soup Recipe
One of my favourite things about shopping at Farmer’s Markets (or our Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) Program) is finding ingredients I haven’t cooked with before and figuring out what to do with them.
This weekend I bought a lovely bag of Sorrel (about a pound). The leaves remind me of arugula and the taste is unique – it starts delicate and soft before turning a tarty corner. Sorrel is almost lemony ni flavor and more sour than bitter. Typical uses are slightly blanched or cooked into soups and stews.
Pickled Asparagus Bits and a few tricks…
Ok it’s time for the can jam… This month we had the option between asparagus and rhubarb – two of my all-time favourites.
Before we get into the recipe, I’ll share a little secret if you promise not to tell anyone:
I keep preserves for longer than 12 months.
I don’t think I’ll need the witness protection program to keep me safe with that one but it’s the truth.
Details on how to make pickled asparagus
There are few things in life that I adore more than a surprise. I actually like the feeling of being surprised more than the content of the surprise myself. Those who have been reading for a while may recall the story of one of my most favourite servers in the world, Heather, who would regularly serve me my favourite beer in the world which was anything but Coor’s Light. It wouldn’t matter what was served, I simply adored the surprise.
We receive a number of comments at WellPreserved – many more come through direct messages on our Twitter feed or through our email. Each time a new one comes in, I get excited. A surprise message from someone with a comment, a question and the odd complaint. We love them all and your comments really are a giant reason of why we pursue this hobby so passionately. We also want to ensure we provide you with a reason to visit and a reason to come back.
Finally – 2009 preserving begins (with pickled asparagus)!!!
It’s been a very, very busy 6 months in my life. I have traveled to Scotland, England, Atlanta, Phoenix, Richmond, Salt Lake City and more. I have launched new programs at work and stayed as busy at ever at home. We’ve had a busy spring and taken a few pleasure trips already – made it to Eigensinn Farm, twice to Prince Edward County and up to the hunt camp in Huntsville.
We also started a blog. 
Thank you to those who have been reading – today is the 6-month anniversary and we had out 10,000th visit this weekend. We have posted more than 200 articles, learned more about food than we thought we knew previously, debated what the purpose of this whole experience is about and met some amazing friends. We still have no ideas where all of this goes – it went from concept to launch in a few hours (while I slept) and we have updated it every day since December 28th. It’s been a lot of fun.
I expected we would have been preserving far earlier than now – life happens and we’re a bit behind where I’d like but there’s lots of time left to preserve our local goodness (while we got to eat fiddleheads, we weren’t able to pickle any this year).
Pickled asparagus was on the menu today. The young lady at the St. Lawrence Market snapped her neck back when I informed her I had selected 25 bundles of Ontario Asparagus ($25). While it was fresh (it had been harvested on Thursday and I bought it on Saturday), we we gave it a big long sweet-water bath to bring it back to succulence. The flavor difference was easy to discern.
We then began the process – cutting the asparagus down to size, measuring out mustard, dill, chillies, dill seed, garlic, onion and broth was followed by sterilizing the jars, packing them tight and a quick run through the pressure cooker.
Our yield was 5 jars (750 ml) and more than 200 stalks of pickled goodness. These will be best near Christmas (a jar will definitely be served at our annual fete) and we are most excited to hear the popping of lids. Enjoy a photo-journey of our afternoon (the process took about 3 hours as I’m a bit out of practice):
