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Location: Living near our Nation's Capitol since 2010
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Asparagus! Nature's gift in the Spring....Like most of you, I adore it. Of course it is delicious with Hollandaise sauce..but since I am constantly watching calories, I m just about as happy with a squeeze of lemon and some sea salt. Yummmmmmy!!
When I get asparagus I just drizzle extra virgin oil and salt over it and roast. Everything else at the dinner table is secondary, I think there has been a couple of flesh wounds trying to get at the last pieces.
I was thinking of trying something else with the asparagus, awhile back TGIFridays had battered and deep fried green beans and my MIL made some herself after seeing the commercial for them, they were great! I was thinking it would be good to try with asparagus also.
Fresh picked asparagus from the farmer's market was full of sand.
I had been some time since I purchased asparagus at the farmers market. it was very sandy and i washed ans soaked it but it still had sand in the flower end. Exactly how long should I soak or what can I do to be sure to get all the sane out. Other than that it was so much better than grocery store asparagus. do you know where most grocery store asparagus comes from?
I had been some time since I purchased asparagus at the farmers market. it was very sandy and i washed ans soaked it but it still had sand in the flower end. Exactly how long should I soak or what can I do to be sure to get all the sane out. Other than that it was so much better than grocery store asparagus. do you know where most grocery store asparagus comes from?
First, you may need to rinse it well 2-3 times until you get all the salt out. Asparagus and leeks both require a tremendous amount of washing as they are grown in sandy soils.
As to where asparagus is grown, it really depends on the season. It is generally available nearly year around these days. During the fall and winter months, most asparagus comes from California and Mexico. California has three primary asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)production areas: the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta (San Joaquin, Sacramento,and Contra Costa Counties), the Central Coast (Monterey and San Benito Counties), and the San Joaquin Valley (Fresno, Kern, Merced, and Kings Counties). Most of the asparagus in Mexico is grown near the Pacific coast.
During the late spring and summer, a good deal of asparagus is grown in Michigan and Washington State.
It is not that difficult to grow but it does not do all that well in hot weather. It is an early crop that does well immediately after the last freeze.
Unless they mishandled it, asparagus should not be sandy up on the top end. The shoots grow above ground. This is strange sounding to me as I have never once had sandy asparagus...and we eat alot of it.
Some farmers bank sand against asparagus like they do with celery and with leeks, to "blanch it," to keep it pale in color and mild in taste.
In any case, length of time soaking it makes no difference, because sand doesn't dissolve. What helps is swirling it around upside down in the water, so the sand falls out from behind the "petals" on the tips.
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Fresh picked asparagus from the farmer's market was full of sand.
