Sunday, August 12, 2007

Broiled Asaparagus

I used to hate asparagus. Absolutely despise it. We used to have canned when I was a kid in the '70's and I never touched it again. Until sometime in the '90's, a friend cooked me dinner and served steamed asparagus. Not wanting to be an ungracious guest, I showed no sign of having an issue with it and dug in. Well, I was kind of busted because I was totally blown away. It wasn't slimy at all! And had a good flavor and a nice crunch to it.


So, the vegetable quickly became a favorite. I had it grilled at the Pepper Lounge here in Chicago and added that variation to the toolbox. In lieu of grilling, the broiler works well, too.


This almost doesn't count as a recipe either. These guys lose heat very quickly, so make this as the absolute last thing before you serve the meal.

Broiled Asparagus
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed (i.e. snap off the tough part of the stalk)
1/2 bottle vinaigrette
3/4 cup Gorgonzola crumbles


Marinate the asparagus in the vinaigrette in a flat pan (like a lasagna pan) for at least an hour in the refrigerator.


10-15 minutes before serving, heat broiler (to High if you have settings). At 5 minutes until service, place stalks on the broiler pan, drizzling remaining vinaigrette over the vegatable. Set pan 3 inches from the flame (again, if adjustment is available). Broil for 5 minutes, remove from broiler, top with crumbled Gorgonzola and serve immediately.

This is my first use of the new stove's broiler for an older recipe and I'm quite happy with it. I set the pan at the second rack level from the flame, about 3", as the first one (1"?) seemed really, really close. They came out just perfect and could have even had another minute or two to get a bit of char.

I used a White Wine with Gorgonzola dressing from Whole Foods, which worked really nicely.

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