TNRifleman":3zjngcww said:
I am cooking dinner for my mother in law's 60th party this weekend for about 15 people. I am doing several different types of pork tenderloin and one of the sides I am doing is roasted asparagus. I was out at this local store in Collierville today that sells specialty flavored balsamic vinegars and olive oils. I was looking for an oil to rub the asparagus with before cooking and the lady told me that she uses a blood orange infused oil, with sea salt and cracked black pepper. She said it is incredible but I just can't decide how it would be. Outside of doing a test run, any thoughts on something slightly sweet/citrusy tasting on asparagus?
That blood orange stuff is awesome! The key to asparagus is to dry roast it in a pan. Trying to sautee, or even worse, boiling, will overcook it into mush. The best asparagus is slightly crispy, and bright green.
1) Rinse the bundle of asparagus, and trim up from the bottom about 1" or so. The best ones are the thin sprigs
2) In a hot pan, dry roast the asparagus in a single layer until it develops a nice char. Sprinkle a little salt over top to help extract some of the water and allow for better browning
3) After a nice even char has developed (they wont' be all-black, but charred in places), remove from pan and set on a plate. Do in as many batches as it takes to cook the bundle. The key is single-layer pan roasting. Sample a sprig to see if it's achieved an appropriate doneness. It should be more flexible than raw, yet still have a warm crunch to it.
4) WHen you're all done, pan roasting it, melt a stick of butter (or half a stick.....you decide how saucy you want it to be). Add your vinegar to the pan & whisk in with the butter. Salt as necessary, and add a bunch of cracked black pepper
5) When your sauce is almost at the desired consistency, toss back in your (probably now cooled) roasted asparagus to coat & warm for serving.
