Hello, young Padawan
We couldn’t end this series of “in the kitchen” articles without a little recipe. Luckily, it’s the beginning of asparagus season, but be careful, because it doesn’t last: April, May, and June are the three months of white asparagus season in France, so we can’t afford to miss it out.
So, let’s treat ourselves to a delicious starter, taking advantage of this divine panacea for both the body and the taste buds. For the benefits of asparagus and a delicious oven-baked recipe, click here, and for other delicious recipes, click here or there.
Grenobloise style Asparagus, à la chill.
For two servings
A bunch of white asparagus
8 Grenoble walnuts
4 tbsp walnut oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp mountain honey (from Grenoble!)
Salt, Madagascar pepper
Recipe
First, carefully peel the asparagus, one by one, and cut off the ends. If ever, I discovered a super practical object to peel them in record time, of which I leave you the link here. It’s a kind of double peeler, really ingenious.
Then, place them in Marion’s vitaliseur basket, or any other steamer basket of your choice over medium heat. For the vitaliseur, about seven minutes is enough, depending on the diameter of your asparagus. Check regularly after six minutes of cooking to be sure.
Once cooked, place the steamer basket and the asparagus under running cold water to stop the cooking.
Meanwhile, remove the walnuts from their shells and roughly chop them.
In a small bowl, add all the ingredients for the vinaigrette: walnut oil, cider vinegar, mustard, honey, salt, and pepper. Stir well.
Presentation
Arrange a few asparagus spears on your most beautiful plates, sprinkle with vinaigrette, and add a few chopped walnuts. Enjoy immediately.
With this lovely, pleasant starter, I recommend a nice rye bread, and for wine, I’d say a Gewürztraminer or a Riesling, both French wines from the Alsace region. It’s a little further north than Grenoble, of course, but perfect with the walnuts and honey, so I’m excused, lol.
And that’s it for this first recipe, which marks the beginning of the white asparagus season. See you next Friday for new adventures.
XO 🌷
