Asparagus Mornay

Nothing cries out 'Spring is here!' more than a big bundle of fresh asparagus.  Lovey and I were recipients recently of a huge bundle of freshly picked asparagus from our neighbor's garden.  I guess I should clarify that we did not nick the asparagus from our neighbor's garden.
It was enough to enjoy for two nights.  With half of our bounty I made Garlic Asparagus, which is our go-to twice a month way to eat our favorite green vegetable.

I treat fresh asparagus the same way I would a bouquet of flowers.  I cut a thin slice, on the bias, off the bottom of each stalk and place them in a size-appropriate container that has about an inch of water in it.  You can use a pretty vase or a jar, and if you're really classy like me you can put them in this plastic margarita mug that was purchased at a 2005 Summer Mummer's performance; it's the perfect size.  Store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.

To use the rest of the asparagus I looked through my daunting box of recipe clippings and found a recipe from the May 1997 issue of Southern Living.  The recipe was submitted by Ellie Wells from Lakeland, Florida.

When you are ready to prepare the asparagus hold the tip in one hand and the base in the other.  With the hand that is holding the base, gently push the spear away from you and it will snap naturally where the spear begins to get tough.  Spears that are nice and thin really don't need this treatment.  You can also, at your discretion, peel the fat spears 3/4  of the way up the spear.

Get the ingredients for the mornay sauce ready to go.  You have butter, flour, half-and-half, ground nutmeg, salt, bouillon, and Swiss cheese

Now for the asparagus.  Ellie prefers to boil her asparagus covered in water for about 8 to 10 minutes.  I prefer to steam mine and it doesn't take that much time for it to reach the crisp-tender that you will want for this recipe.

When the asparagus is crisp-tender, place it in a lightly greased 11" x 7" pan.

Begin your sauce, as so many sauces are, by melting the butter and adding the flour to make a roux.

Whisk until smooth and continue whisking as the roux cooks for about a minute.  This will alleviate a floury taste.

Slowly add the bouillon, half-and-half, nutmeg and salt.  Continue cooking this over medium heat whisking constantly, until thickened and bubbly.

Remove your saucepan from the heat and stir in the cheese until melted.

Pour the mornay sauce over the asparagus and top with the cracker crumbs.

Place under the broiler until lightly browned. 

Okay, here's the deal.  I have been wrestling whether to show you the finished product or not.  My first inclination was, "No way".  I'm so embarrassed to show you how stupid I was.  On the other hand I'm only human and we all screw up in the kitchen don't we?  It wasn't like I was making this for company.

While the asparagus was under the broiler I made the mistake of going over to the sink to work on cleaning up this mess.

Before I knew it, this is what my beautiful dish looked like.

Heaven knows this is why I would never want to be a contestant on 'The Next Food Network Star'.  I would be brow beaten and brought to my knees in tears.

Believe it or not, the over-browning did not hurt the flavor of this dish whatsoever.  I'm still in denial - it's b-u-r-n-t, okay?  A little advice... stand in front of your oven and keep an eye on food that is being broiled.

I was really pleased with this recipe and it will grace our table again.

Asparagus Mornay
Yield:  4 servings

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds fresh asparagus
1/2 tsp chicken bouillon granules
2 Tbsp hot water
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup half-and-half
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
2 round buttery crackers

Mise en Place

• Snap off touch ends of asparagus and rinse the asparagus in cold water.
• dissolve chicken bouillon granules in the hot water
• measure out butter, flour, half-and-half, nutmeg and salt
• shred cheese
• crumble up crackers in small baggie

Method:
Lightly grease and 11" x 7" casserole and set aside.  Steam asparagus until crisp-tender (about 5 - 8 minutes).  Drain and pat dry with paper towels.  Arrange the asparagus in the bottom of the prepared casserole.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat.  Whisk in flour until smooth.  cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute.  Gradually whisk in the bouillon, half-and-half, nutmeg, and salt; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and bubbly.  Remove from heat; stir in cheese until melted.  Pour mixture over asparagus; sprinkle with cracker crumbs.

Broil 6 inches from heat for 3 - 5 minutes or until lightly browned.

Source:  Southern Living ~ May 1997

The Hand-Me-Down Casserole

An article in the November 2005 issue of Guideposts caught my attention for a couple of reasons.  I saved the whole article because I thought it a sweet story about how this recipe had been passed down and around and became a staple for Doralee Forsythe Simko's family at Thanksgiving and how so many people had adopted it as their "go-to" recipe for church suppers. 

Mrs. Voight, a neighbor whom she babysat for during her teens, taught her how to make her Asparagus Almond Casserole.  Doralee took it home to her mother, who began making it for special family occasions and church suppers.  Friends and relatives alike were asking her for the recipe.  The recipe took on the name of whomever was cooking it; Mrs. Forsythe's Asparagus Casserole, Janet McKinney's Asparagus Casserole, Mom's Asparagus Casserole, and so on.

The recipe itself intrigued me and at the same time made me make the face that my mother always called 'smelling your upper lip'.  The reason for the scrunched up face was this.

When I was young, we would have canned asparagus at home and I liked it; I think more so for the texture than taste.  The spears were so soft they were creamy.  But, that was before I had ever tasted fresh asparagus.  Once I experienced asparagus plucked out of the ground the canned variety became a whole different vegetable; and one that never graced my table again. 

A comment that Doralee made about this recipe was that she made it her own by adding her own little touches.  A photo showed her with the ingredients and she's actually using fresh asparagus.

The combination of ingredients and the addition of mayonnaise to the white sauce piqued my curiosity so I thought I would see for myself what it was about this recipe that made it so beloved within the circles it was passed around in.  So, I chose to stay true with the original ingredients.  The only thing I did differently was toast the slivered almonds first.  

Once your eggs are boiled and the white sauce made it's a matter of assembly.

In a greased baking dish, layer one half of the asparagus spears, half of the egg slices, half of the almonds and top with half of the sauce.

Repeat the layering with the second half of the ingredients then top with some crumbled saltines.  Bake for 30 minutes.

I believe what people must love so much about this casserole has to be the creamy, creamy texture with the snap of the crisp almonds.  It also reminded me of creamed eggs (hard boiled then baked in a white sauce).  I admit I found myself eating helping after helping trying to figure out why I was enjoying it so much!  If you can't handle the canned asparagus or hard boiled eggs you will not care for this recipe at all.  I haven't decided if I would make this again using fresh asparagus.  Maybe it should be left as it is and enjoyed for what it is.

Asparagus Almond Casserole
Serves 8

Ingredients:
5 Tbsp butter
5 Tbsp flour
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup juice from canned asparagus
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 - 15 ounce cans asparagus
5 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
3/4 cup blanched slivered almonds
3/4 cup cracker crumbs

Mise en Place:

• Boil eggs, cool, peel, and slice
• Toast the almonds until golden brown & cool on pan
• Open up asparagus cans, draining very well and reserving 3/4 cup of the liquid
• Crush a handful of saltine crackers in a baggie
• Measure out milk
• Measure out flour
• Measure out mayonnaise

Method:
In a saucepan, melt butter.  Add flour and blend making a roux, cooking for about 1 minute.  Add the milk and asparagus liquid to the roux and whisk until smooth.  Cook over low heat until thick.  Add the mayonnaise and mix well until sauce is formed.

In the bottom of a 2 quart baking dish arrange half of the asparagus, half the eggs, and half the almonds.  Pour half of the sauce over the top.  Repeat the layering and top the casserole with cracker crumbs.  Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.