La Cocotte Verte

— Serves 6 as a first course

Don’t skip the pickled onions in this recipe — they add piquancy and a wonderful jolt of pink to contrast with the green asparagus. Choose asparagus that are not too thin for this salad; tiny thin ones overcook very easily. The asparagus can be served at room temperature or chilled.

*Items marked in green are available from The Gourmet Corner.
Suggested wine pairing: Domaine des Grandes Perrières Sancerre 2008*

Quick-Pickled Pink Onions

• 1/2 tsp each salt and sugar
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 tsp 4-color peppercorns (whole)
• 1 small red onion, sliced thinly and separated into rings

Mix sugar, salt, vinegar, and water in a non-reactive container large enough to hold the onion rings

Place onions in a colander in them sink. Pour 2 cups of boiling water over them. Drain onions, then place in the vinegar mixture, shaking and stirring them to get them all submerged (you may need to add a bit more water).

Let onions stand for at least 15 minutes, or until they turn pink. Refrigerate until needed (leftover pickled onions will keep for at least 2 weeks in the refrigerator and make wonderful additions to a grilled cheese sandwich, among other things…).

Tarragon Mustard Vinaigrette

• 2 Tbs minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tsp minced fresh tarragon leaves (or 1/2 tsp dried tarragon)
• 1 Tbs salt-cured capers
• 2 Tsp Edmond Fallot Tarragon Mustard
• 2 Tbs sherry vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• La Baliene sea salt

Soak the capers in 1/2 cup cold water for 5 minutes, then drain.

Whisk together herbs, capers, mustard, and sherry vinegar. Gradually whisk in oil. Adjust seasonings and set aside.

Asparagus

• 1.5 lbs asparagus, rinsed and tough ends snapped off.

Fill a bowl large enough to hold all of the asparagus with cold water.
Steam asparagus over boiling water until they are bright green and bend a little when picked up, 4-5 minutes. It’s better to steam them in two smaller batches rather than one large heap — a big pile of asparagus tends not to cook evenly.

As soon as they are ready, drop the asparagus into the cold water to stop the cooking process. After 5 minutes, transfer to a clean kitchen towel to dry. If serving chilled, place in a covered container and refrigerate until needed.

Serving

• Cooked asparagus
• Tarragon mustard vinaigrette
• Quick-pickled pink onions
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and roughly chopped

Arrange asparagus on a platter. Whisk the dressing again to combine, then spoon over asparagus.

Drain 1/4 cup onion rings, sprinkle over the asparagus

Scatter chopped egg over the salad. Serve.

Tags: Asparagus, eggs, salads, Spring, vinaigrettes

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 4:33 pm and is filed under Vegetables & Salads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.