Asparagus season is coming to an end.
I haven’t seen the lovely purple asparagus in two weeks and this week the green asparagus wasn’t available.
There were piles and piles of white asparagus, however, so we’re still okay for another week or too.
Whew!
One of the things that happens as we get to the end of the season is that I am allowed more flexibility in recipes.
Yes, mon mari gets to dictate asparagus cooking and it’s almost always lightly steamed with butter, salt and pepper.
Trust me…. I have my own areas of supreme authority.
We’ve been eating it 6 nights out of 7 for almost 2 months….. It really is time for something new.
*To roll-cut asparagus (or any round vegetable) cut it at an angle, give it a 1/4 turn and cut at the same angle. Repeat for the length of the vegetable. This gives an interesting shape with lots of surface for picking up sauces. It’s a Chinese method and great for stir-fries.
Skillet Pork and Asparagus
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 10oz (300gr) pork, cut into bite-size pieces
- 4 green garlic, thickly sliced, including tender part of green tops
- 12 – 16 asparagus spears, roll cut* into 1 1/2″ lengths
- 1 rib celery, sliced
- 1 tomato, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1/3 cup green olives, sliced
- 1/2 cup feta, crumbled
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) chicken stock
- 2 tbs cornstarch (Maizena, corn flour) dissolved in 3 tbs water
- 1/2 cup (3.3oz, 95gr) Basmati brown rice
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) chicken stock
Instructions:
- Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat.
- Add rice and sauté briefly.
- Add stock and cook rice for length of time on package (usually about 16 minutes)
- Heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add green garlic, celery, asparagus to skillet and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
- Add pork and stir-fry for 5 minutes.
- Add tomatoes, chicken stock, and heat to simmering.
- Cover and simmer 5 minutes..
- Add cornstarch mixture to pan and stir until thickened.
- Stir in olives, feta and serve over brown Basmati Rice.
This has been one of ‘those’ weeks.
First – it was a double holiday week: Tues, May 8 was V.E. (Victory in Europe) Day and Thurs, was Ascension Thursday (Catholic holy day).
That means of course that most businesses are closed…. Which means that if one has a lot of errands they have to be consolidated into 1 or 2 days. Monday never counts because some businesses are closed Mon. if they are open on Sat. – like banks.
Wed. I had to go to the doc…. nothing serious, just to get my Epi-Pen renewal, which I do every 18 months.
I rarely go to the doc for anything else, so he was a bit cross with me. I hadn’t had any blood tests done for, well, 18 months. They’re supposed to be done annually.
After the doc I went to the bank to pay the driving tickets (see last post), then the pharmacy to order the Epi-pen, and on to the lab (in a different town) to schedule the blood draw.
By that time it was noon and everything closes for lunch.
In the afternoon I had my book club and afterwards I went back to the pharmacy to get the Epi-pen, followed by the garden store for rabbit repellent.
Today I had the blood draw bright and early this morning. I went home for breakfast, then out to do the weekly shopping which involved going to 3 different stores.
This afternoon both dogs had to go to the vet. Our vet is only available from 1:30 – 4:30. Mornings and late afternoons he takes care of farm animals.
Bonnie, with her lovely, long floppy ears, is dealing with her usual spring ear infection.
Guapa stepped in a rabbit hole and sprained her shoulder.
Neither the vet or the doc. work by appointment.
While I was doing all this mon mari was working on the pool:
One side of the main support is done…. After it finally dried up enough for him to get back to work.
It may not seem like a major week’s work but remember – the first side includes the learning curve….
As inefficient as so many things are in this country…. I already have the results of my blood tests (all fine). I was given a code to access them online. In the past we had to wait a whole day for them to come in the post.
I feared the asparagus would be over by the time we get back to home base. We will have to buy some in Kent to eat on our return journey. I am determined that next Spring we will plant our own because There are still a couple of plants in our orchard yielding a few spears. They were definitely planted well over 2o years ago.
I have been amazed at how well the medical set up works in France. I have had a blood test early in the morning and the results by email, during the course of the afternoon! Hopefully the new car registration system will work as well once it has been sorted out.
There’s still white – and what we had last night was wonderful!. Efficiency is so hit or miss…. The blood test results the same day but the next doc has no record of you being a patient. Our doc still has all paper files – nothing online at all.As to the cars…. shudder!