As is so usually the case with uncared for bits within the kitchen, soup is usually a savior, and a terrific instance is that this recipe from The Guardian. Chef Tom Hunt simmers the stumps with pungent leek greens, hearty spinach, and oats to extract taste and vitamins and provides a dram of white wine to deepen the flavors earlier than passing all of it by a sieve, leaving the powerful components behind. Completed with a dollop of yogurt or a little bit of cream, and you’ve got a bowl of spring bounty to push back the remnants of winter.
How then does one go about discerning the place exactly the tender stalk ends? As identified in Food52, the widespread recommendation is to carry the tip of an asparagus spear in a single hand and the tail within the different and really gently bend till there’s a satisfying snap. That’s roughly the road of demarcation. You then line up your different spears to the trimmed instance, tip to tip, and slice by the rest.
When you’re actually seeking to maximize your asparagus haul, it’s also possible to do this tip from Martha Stewart Living. Reasonably than snapping her spears, Stewart trims off simply the very finish — the place it appears to be like dry — and makes use of a vegetable peeler to scrape away the thick pores and skin of the widest portion and reveal the nonetheless tender coronary heart. However do not throw out these peelings. You should use them to make — you guessed it — soup.
