With the smell of the approaching summer drifting off the oil seed rape fields all over the Cotswolds, it can mean only one thing - it's almost time to cut the ‘gras. Sightings had been reported on several local menus, and as I stopped at Collis, the market garden just before Evesham on the Broadway road, there were several bunches on the shelves in the shining sun and I couldn‘t resist.
In the vale of Evesham, home of English asparagus it’s time for the early crop already.
While on holiday in Venice, some 6 or 7 years ago I picked some asparagus up on the rialto market (we‘ve since found the market on St. Margherita‘s Square, or the veg barge) and wanting to try something new (yes, chefs do cook on holiday as well) rolled it in olive oil, stuck it under the grill till soft then, looking in the fridge, found some parmesan, as you do, and gratinated it, thus starting my obsession with asparagus and parmesan.
Last Friday I grilled it again. Though this time without parmesan - it accompanied a bistro style dish of Salmon provençal with dauphinoise potato, pepper coulis and balsamic.
The salmon is marinaded in and grilled in tomato sauce. If you grill it (on a conventional grill) skin side up the skin turns crisp and becomes the best part of the whole dish. If the skin is burning before the salmon is cooked, you just need to reduce the heat of the grill. If you are chargrilling dip into flour as explained earlier to avoid it sticking. In season you could use wild salmon. I did last year and it was a complete revelation. Worth every penny.
4 comments
thanks for stopping by my ApronStrings blog. :)
Thanks for stopping by our blog. Your salmon here looks great! The presentation is so nice!
Asparagus and parmesan; nummy! Never tried grilling asparagus, though. Sounds good, I'll have to try that this summer.
Grilled asparagus is so wonderful. I've never tried adding parmesan, but I've added some other cheeses and the result was delicious.
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