Squirrel X's Culinary Miscellany!
asparagus-agna
"Make anything with love, and BAM! It's a beautiful meal."
__Emeril Lagasse
"Who could ever weary of moonlit nights and well-cooked rice?"
__Japanese proverb
"What I love about cooking is that after a hard day,
there is something comforting about the fact that
if you melt butter and add flour, then hot stock, it will get thick! It's a sure thing.
It's a sure thing in a world where nothing is sure!"
__Nora Ephron
"A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness."
__Elsa Schiaparelli
"Noncooks think it's silly to invest two hours' work
in two minutes' enjoyment; but if cooking is evanescent,
so is the ballet. "
__Julia Child
"Cooking is a creation."
__Piero Selvaggio
"'Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers."
__William Shakespeare
"Cooking is like love.
It should be entered into with abandon or not at all."
__Harriet Van Horne
Asparagus-agna
Ingredients:
4 pounds asparagus
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
5 cups whole milk
8 ounces creamy goat cheese
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
15 lasagna noodles
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Instructions:
1) Preheat the oven to 375�.
2) Grease a 9 by 13 inch bakin' dish.
3) Trim the asparagus and cut it into one inch pieces.
4) Separate one and a half cups of the asparagus tips
and set 'em aside.
5) In a large kettle of boilin' water, cook the remainin' asparagus
for about three minutes.
6) Drain and rinse it with very cold water.
7) Drain again and set aside.
8) In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
9) Whisk in the flour then cook, continuin' to whisk, for about one minute.
10) Gradually stir in the milk.
11) Bring mixture to a boil, then immediately reduce the heat
to medium-low.
12) Continue to cook and stir for about ten minutes, or 'til thickened.
13) Remove from heat --- the stir in goat cheese, lemon rind,
lemon juice, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
14) Continue to stir 'til the cheese is fully melted.
15) Cook the noodles in a large kettle of boilin' salted water
'til they're almost tender --- about seven minutes.
16) Drain and cool in cold water.
17) Remove the noodles from the water and arrange 'em in single layer on damp terry cloth towel.
18) Put three noodles in a single layer in the prepared bakin' dish.
Spread with 1 cup of the sauce, then one third of the mozzarella cheese, and then one third of the cooked asparagus. Repeat twice.
19) Finish with a final layer of noodles and the remainin' sauce.
20) Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the top.
21) Bake for twenty five to thirty minutes, 'til light golden and bubbly.
22) Sprinkle the reserved asparagus tips over the top.
23) Bake for an additional fifteen minutes,
or 'til the asparagus tips are cooked through.
24) Let stand for about ten minutes prior to servin'.
and the best of intentions for whoever wants to try 'em,
but if somethin' goes wrong, don't blame the varmint.*
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