Three Star Asparagus

I mentioned yesterday how much we had enjoyed the combination of asparagus, smoked salmon and soft boiled eggs last week. Well, apparently one of us enjoyed it so much that he decided to go off to the supermarket and buy all the constituent parts so we could have it for tea again last night. And it was just as scrumptious second time around.

The real revelation has been the method that Heston Blumenthal suggests using to cook the asparagus which I am going to share with you here. It’s easy peasy and produces perfectly cooked asparagus with just the right amount of bite and a slightly “roasty” flavour (I initially put charred as the adjective there and then realised that not everybody wants their food to taste burned-by-any-other-name).

So, step 1: preparation. Snap the woody ends off your asparagus. Retrieve, from your slightly chaotic cupboard, a medium sized saucepan and attendant lid. Put two pieces of kitchen towel down beside the hob.

Step 2: pre-cooking. Place a scant tablespoon of olive oil into your pan, then bung (a technical term) the asparagus on top and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Lid on.

Step 3: apply heat. Put the lidded saucepan over a medium heat and set a timer for five minutes. This would be a good moment at which to pour a glass of wine. You may wish to shake the pan vigorously several times during the cooking process to redistribute the stalks inside – or simply to work out some of the day’s frustrations.

Step 4: remove from heat. Tip onto sheet one of the kitchen towel and use sheet two to absorb any excess oil.

Step 5: serve.

WW note: I would reckon on counting a single point per portion of this to account for any oil – remember that most of the excess is blotted off.