Asparagus

20121201:
So I've begin to notice a pattern with many of the activities I enjoy: a certain degree of freedom and/or improvisation. Of course, in order to obtain more degrees of freedom and/or improvisation, one needs to learn and build more and more basics.


As applied specifically to this dish, it was important I learned a little bit about asparagus before ultimately doing whatever I wanted. Having done the research for the terminology after cooking the asparagus, I'm not sure there was a specific term for what I did.

Steps I Took:
I put some olive oil in a pan and let it heat up. Meanwhile, I chopped up two cloves of garlic and gathered what trace amounts of onion I had left lying around. I also sliced the bottoms of the asparagus off at a diagonal (aiming for a degree of 45 degrees or more from the width for a longer diagonal). For the spears that were extra long, I cut another diagonal about halfway down the spear. I threw the garlic, onion, and asparagus in the pan and set a timer for four minutes. Then, I poured some teriyaki sauce over the asparagus, at which point, the sugars began blackening.

At this point, I poured some liquid from the sausage dish into the pan. This was from my experience that the liquid would steam off and facilitate the cooking, but I was also hoping the liquid would slow down the burning. At four minutes I took the asparagus off the heat and achieved asparagus which were still crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside.

The resulting sauce was thick and sugary. As such, I enjoyed eating the asparagus. I only ate a couple of spears for dinner, but before going to sleep, I made sure to eat what remained of the asparagus. After I finished the last of the asparagus, I poured the remaining sauce into the sausage dish.

[20121202][20161114 Edit]

Relevant Links:
Asparagus Tips (About.com)
: Page 1 gives an introduction on asparagus: why eat them, how to choose and store them, and what to do with them.
: Page 2 gives several options on how to cook asparagus. The page describes how to steam, boil, blanch, microwave, stir-fry, roast, and grill asparagus.
Stir frying (Wikipedia.org)
Sauteing (Wikipedia.org)
Pan frying (Wikipedia.org)
My Sausage, Asparagus, and Mashed Potatoes post

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