Uneasy and undecided
- rosemary
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
"Improvisation is the ability to talk to oneself." Cecil Taylor
It's the same old question. What shall I cook for dinner tonight? And this time I knew I had to use up the asparagus that is in the fridge, but I didn't fancy risotto and we had had a quiche a couple of days ago. Moreover, last night's dinner of gnocchi had been vegetarian, so maybe a time for meat. So I thought chicken - that goes with asparagus doesn't it - and took a breast out of the freezer first thing? Almost bland with not quite as bland, making something silky and comforting. So now I'm committed to chicken and asparagus. Well too many options is daunting. You need to narrow the options down.
I also thought that it would be an opportunity to try something new from one of my cookbooks, or the net. Somebody surely has done something incredibly tantalising with chicken and asparagus. Time for an experiment.
This time I decided I would begin with my cookbooks, rather than lazily just typing 'chicken and asparagus' into Google and seeing what came up. So I did a fairly exhaustive look into all my vegetable cookbooks, and any books by people I thought might have a good idea.
But I was disappointed. Which is why the 'uneasy' part of today's blog title. If all my well-loved cooks didn't do chicken and asparagus, then maybe it's not a good idea. Nigella - I have about half a dozen of her books - barely mentioned asparagus, which leads me to think that perhaps she doesn't like it, and the rest mostly concentrated on different ways to cook asparagus, ignoring the chicken idea. The closest I came to anything was Nigel and a recipe for rabbit - but it included prosciutto - well maybe I could substitute bacon I thought - and tarragon - not nearly as easy to substitute and probably vital, and I know that even if I felt like a trip to the supermarket(s) I know that tarragon is currently not available. Tarragon is pretty seasonal. But note to self - buy a plant for the garden.
So I browsed - and browsed - and found nothing that really hit the spot. However, I gleaned a few ideas and suggestions from here and there, so here's a rundown, trying to keep to the order in which they were found.
Quick crispy chicken with tomatoes and asparagus from Jamie Oliver. I had already browsed a few, dismissing them for one reason or another - missing ingredients, boring, so when I got to this one I was quite attracted because this was quite different. Moreover it actually was for chicken breasts. Not that this was necessarily important, as I'm not a purist about substituting breasts for thighs and David doesn't like drumsticks. There was pancetta - well bacon would do, and, I've just noticed - basil - which, like tarragon is not really replaceable. But ultimately I decided against this anyway because it required some kind of carbohydrate, and as there was not a lot of sauce, bread was less of an appealing option than it could be. And this piece of advice that I came across in my internet ramblings - was appropriate here:
"every meal should involve something dry, something wet, something green; a carbohydrate, a protein and lots of veg." Nell Frizzell/The Guardian
Barbecued chicken with asparagus - Neil Perry. Now I was tempted enough by this one to actually print out the recipe. No carbohydrates, but a sauce, made from the puréed asparagus and a little garlic and butter - different - that could be mopped up by revived baguette. The chicken was just grilled or charred on a griddle. Dead simple. Ultimately though I was not quite game to present puréed asparagus. I might keep it for another time however.
Chicken and spring greens from Rachel Roddy. Again dead simple, and possibly bland - it's really just poached chicken and spring vegetables - those beans, and some frozen peas would be good here - in chicken stock. I even took some chicken stock out of the freezer just in case I went for this one. No carbohydrate, but that bread would work here. I'm still pondering on this one, mostly because it's relatively healthy, and I could tart it up a bit by adding some white wine to the stock. Her recipe didn't include asparagus - she used broccolini and broad beans, but I see it as a template rather than strict instruction. She even recommended bread - "con pane, the root of the word “companionship”.
Chicken with white asparagus - Angela Hartnett. Yes white asparagus, but I'm sure it would work with green as well. The main problem here is her use of what she calls spring cabbage, which is shredded and added to the mix, but I do have some Chinese cabbage which I could use instead. It also used stock and there was therefore sauce, so the bread would be good. But it didn't quite hit the right note for me. Just too bland I thought.
Miso honey chicken and asparagus - Yossy Arefi/New York Times. Now this is much more exciting. A stir fry with a typical Asian stir-fry sauce, although spring onions are required and chilli sauce - the first I don't have, and the second - well beside not having any, David is not a chilli fan. Although, of course, I could leave out the chilli sauce and just drizzle crispy chilli oil over my portion. The spring onions are a bit of a problem though. I do think that they do more than just make it look pretty. I generally have chives in the garden as a substitute, but they haven't come up after their winter sleep as yet. So, somewhat regretfully - no.
Thai chicken and asparagus curry - delicious. Now I would love to do this, but it's spicy hot and it's cooked in coconut milk, and so not a good idea in this house. It's very similar to a recipe I used to make from an old Women's Weekly cookbook, which used beans rather than asparagus. On another day I might be brave enough - although I would also have to go and buy some coconut milk. Another time perhaps.
Chicken asparagus and bean penne - Coles. Yes Coles and the Taste website, actually came up with three options. I'm sure there were more - heaps in fact, but I couldn't be bothered browsing the whole lot. Now this is the kind of dish that I would throw together all the time with whatever I have in the fridge. Dill I don't have, but I could just use parsley. Nor do I have broad beans, and anyway they are yet another David dislike but those beans and/or frozen peas would suffice. It's a bit lazy though isn't it? And certainly not adventurous. Although - pause for thought - I would never have been able to throw together a dish such as this when I was beginning to cook. How far we all have come.
Chicken, lemon and asparagus stir-fry - Coles again. And again a tempting but everyday kind of thing. Also I have no mushrooms or spring onions, so perhaps not today. I like the lemony idea however, and will bear it in mind for future stir-fries, which are still not my forte, although I am getting better.
Chicken asparagus and mushroom crêpes Taste - I was temporarily quite attracted to this idea, because I actually have some home-made crêpes in the freezer. But I don't have any mushrooms and it's also really similar in some ways to last night's gnocchi in a tomato sauce. It also wasn't a really wonderful recipe - so very basic with no extra flavourings or sauce. Crêpes are an idea though, but another time I think. Too close to those gnocchi for today.
The Taste pies are on the left. On the right is a Jamie Chicken, leek and asparagus pie which I had discarded because of the tarragon again, plus sour cream but more because of the rather complicated way that Jamie went about the whole thing. The pie idea is a good one however - we love pies and tarts in this house - and the one from Taste, didn't even involve me making any pastry because it used filo pastry. Tarragon again though. But what else could I do with filo? I do have some that needs using.
As you can tell I'm still pondering on it all and my general lethargy is leading me to something really, really simple - maybe the pasta or Rachel Roddy's sort of poached dish. The first dish from Jamie had a rather nice touch in which he crushed some of the cherry tomatoes into the small amount of sauce that he had. Which is something to bear in mind.
I see I have indeed been talking to myself somewhat, and I fear I am currently, as I close, leaning to the pasta option - not necessarily quite as in the recipe, but as I would throw together on any other day. Lazy I know. But that's how I feel today.
"It’s food, not science. There is no single “right” way." Nell Frizzell/The Guardian
And there's a nice glass of Riesling to go with it.
YEARS GONE BY
October 12
2023 - Tamarind can do anything
2020 - Missing
2019 - Jerk from the Caribbean
2017 - Vanilla in Tahiti
2016 - Soup, glorious soup
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