asparagus

asparagus
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

They are in season again. You know, asparagus. The white kind. They grow inside heaps of earth and do not see the daylight, because then they turn green (or do they? perhaps another color?) Picking them is quite a laborous affair, so they are often expensive to buy. But when you buy them, you buy a lot and indulge: your whole meal is nothing but asparagus. Here I had them the true lazy way: first of all they were on sale in the supermarket around the corner. I know, I know, I should be friends with a local organic grocer and only buy vegetables from him, just like Jamie Oliver does with all his little shops - you know, he walks into some shop and the butcher or grocer or whatever greets him happily, starts his friendly chat, and then hands him the best piece of meat or freshest vegetable, congratulating him on the plans he is having to cook it. Well, that doesn't quite happen with me yet. And I probably never will have a meaningful relationship with either my butcher or my grocer - when I still end up in the supermarket to buy all the other stuff people need in life, like rolls of kitchen paper or sliced bread. But I digress. I bought them the lazy way: the already peeled asparagus were on sale, I bought two packets. We had like 400 grams of asparagus each. Boil them in salted water for around 15 to 20 minutes on a low fire, drain, and put on a heated plate. (Keep the water to make asparagus soup). As the asparagus cooks, boil 6 eggs in a separate pan for around 10 minutes, peel them, and chop finely. Add butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg to make a kind of egg-sauce. Everyone can do this themselves on their own plate in fact. Eat with the nicest ham you can find (I would have needed the organic butcher for this one...) Lovely.