Asparagus with Mustard Sauce

The mustard sauce adds a bite to the smooth taste of asparagus. Best when served immediately after cooking the asparagus, while it's still warm. The sauce can be made ahead of time - cover and keep refrigerated until serving time.

Recipe

2 eggs, hard boiled and peeled
1-1/4 lbs. asparagus
salt
1 T. minced fresh chives for garnish

MUSTARD SAUCE
1/2 c. mayonnaise
2 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. water
1 T. red wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper

Put the hard boiled eggs, one at a time, in an egg slicer. Cut through them, then rotate 45-degrees in the slicer and cut through them again to create strips. If you don't have an egg slicer, chop with a sharp knife. Set aside.

If your asparagus are thick, peel the lower third with a vegetable peeler and snap off the ends, otherwise cut off the tough bottom part of the stalks. In a large saucepan, bring 3 c. salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the asparagus in one layer, cover partially and bring back to a boil; cook for 3-5 minutes (depending on thickness of the asparagus) until tender but still firm. Remove from the pan with a slotted spatula and put on a platter.

For the sauce put all the ingredients together in a small bowl and whisk until smooth.

At serving time, arrange the spears so the bottoms are close together and the tips are fanned out. Coat the lower third of the asparagus spears with the sauce and sprinkle the eggs and chives over and around them.

– Jacques Pepin, "More Fast Food My Way"

Cucumber Mint Raita

A very refreshing yogurt-cucumber-mint mixture, this is a perfect complement to Chicken Tikka Masala. It would also go well with grilled lamb, chicken, or salmon, or as a dip with pita bread.

Recipe

1/2 large English cucumber (unpeeled), halved, seeded, and coarsely grated
1 c. plain yogurt
3 T. chopped fresh mint
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Wrap the grated cucumber in a kitchen towel and squeeze dry. In a medium bowl whisk the yogurt, mint, cumin, and cayenne to blend. Add the cucumbers and stir. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Makes about 2 cups.

Stuffed Summer Tomatoes

This is the perfect recipe for summer tomatoes, stuffed with zucchini and mushrooms. It's still too hot to turn on the oven. I'd rather have a cool salad of refreshing vegetables anyway! It was surprisingly easy to transport – stuff and store stuffing side up in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Recipe

4 firm tomatoes
1-1/4 c. diced (1/4-inch) white mushrooms
1-1/4 c. diced (1/4-inch) zucchini
1/3 c. chopped red onion
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/3 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 c. diced (1/4-inch) baguette
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 T. olive oil
2 tsp. red wine vinegar

GARNISHES:
1/3 c. diced red onion
1/3 c. diced kalamata olives (or 16 pitted olives)
crumbled feta cheese
olive oil
Fleur de sel or coarse salt
4 sprigs fresh basil

Put the tomatoes in boiling water for 45 seconds, drain, and peel off the skin. Cut about a 1/4-inch slice from the stem end of each tomato and dice those slices for garnish.

Hollow out the tomatoes, removing the flesh, seeds and juice, which I did very carefully because the tomatoes I used were fairly ripe and not hard, so be careful! A serrated spoon would have worked well I think.

Preheat the oven to 400-degrees. Spread the diced mushrooms and zucchini on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 3-4 minutes to sweat and soften (I assume you could use a microwave for this step but I don't own one!). Transfer the softened veggies to a bowl and stir in the onion, garlic, walnuts, bread, salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar. Mix well and spoon the stuffing into the hollowed out tomatoes. Refrigerate, stuffing side up, until ready to serve.

To serve, place the tomatoes stuffed side down on the plate and scatter the reserved diced tomatoes and garnishes around the plate and sprinkle with the olive oil and fleur de sel. Poke a tiny hole in the top of the tomato (I used a toothpick) and insert a basil sprig, and serve.

– Jacques Pépin, "More Fast Food My Way"

Mini Savory Cheesecakes on Arugula

A perfect light lunch or dinner first course for four, these blue cheese mini cheesecakes are rich, elegant and tasty. Depending on the saltiness of your cheese you may want to omit the salt in the recipe. The little gems are set on a bed of lightly dressed arugula (1 T. olive oil, 1 tsp. red wine or balsamic vinegar, dash of ground pepper). I served these as a first course to my pecan crusted razor clams with a nice glass of Penner-Ash 2012 Shea Pinot Noir.

Yet another Jacques Pépin recipe from "More Fast Food My Way," you can watch his video located here. 

Recipe

2 tsp. unsalted butter
1 slice bread, cut in cubes and put in food processor
8 oz. whipped cream cheese
2 large eggs
1/4 c. sour cream (I didn't have any so I used plain yogurt)
dash of salt and 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
2 T. minced fresh parsley
1/4 c. crumbled blue cheese
3 cups arugula

Coat four 3/4 c. ramekins generously with the butter and bread crumbs. Mix the cream cheese in a medium bowl and add the eggs, sour cream, salt and pepper, most of the blue cheese (saving 4 chunks for later), and 1 T. of the parsley. Mix well with a whisk and pour into the souffle molds. Push one little chunk of blue cheese into the middle of the mold, and top with the remaining tablespoon of parsley. Put on a baking sheet and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before unmolding. Unmold in your hand and turn it over so it's right side up, and place on a bed of arugula.

– Jacques Pépin, "More Fast Food My Way"

Asparagus Custard

With gorgeous, fat asparagus available at the farmers market, this Asparagus Custard was perfect for the first course (another recipe from Jacques Pepin's "Fast Food My Way") for my Stuffed Scallops on Mushroom Rice. It's worth watching his technique for peeling asparagus (click here to watch Jacques demonstrate the right way to peel asparagus in his Ragout of Asparagus recipe). The custard is an easy, quick recipe.  Serve on a bed of fresh arugula with a nice chardonnay – and that's it!

On Amazon Prime, this dish is featured in Jacques Pépin's' "Go Fish" episode.

Recipe

1 pound asparagus (about 13 fat spears), tough ends removed and bottom half of stalks peeled with a vegetable peeler
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
3 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add asparagus, bring back to a boil and cook, covered, for 2-3 minutes. Drain. Cut off the top 3" and save for garnish (about 3 per serving). Put the rest in a food processor with the garlic and puree until smooth. Add the eggs, cream, salt (but save a little for the asparagus tip garnish) and pepper and process for 10-15 seconds.

Generously butter four custard cups or molds that hold 1/2 cup. Pour in the asparagus mixture and put them in a straight sided skillet that you used to cook the asparagus in, add enough  hot tap water to come halfway up the sides of your mold. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350-degrees. A knife inserted in the center should come out clean. Remove molds from the skillet and let rest for 10 minutes before unmolding.

Split the asparagus tips lengthwise. For each serving I split one tip in half and put on top of the custard, and take one tip and split in quarters lengthwise and place around the plate. Then put the tips in a skillet with a pinch of salt and some butter. Heat gently until hot.

Unmold the custards onto four plates and arrange the asparagus tips on top.

– Jacques Pépin, "Fast Food My Way"