In Season Now: Asparagus with Chef Mike Davis of Terra

April 18, 2013

Chef Mike Davis owns Terra, a frequent occupier of the #1 spot in the Midlands fine dining pantheon. Invited to cook at the James Beard House, a supporter of small, sustainable farms in SC, and a board member at Slow Food Columbia, Davis is all about what’s seasonal.

Once the cold of winter is gone and it starts to warm up, we get excited in the kitchen at Terra–we know we are about to see green on plates again. Once new growth starts, the season’s first green vegetables start to hit the market.  

Peas, spring onions, fava beans and asparagus are the things we look for around this time, and of those, my favorite is asparagus. At Terra we like to use asparagus that grows well in the Ridge Spring/Monetta area of South Carolina. You can find our local stalks at Rosewood Market, and probably Whole Foods. Unfortunately, it is a short, six-week season when the weather is cool enough for this prized plant to prosper.

In those six weeks you can expect to see asparagus all over our menu. It is a pretty versatile vegetable and can be prepared in a number of different ways. We always ask our purveyor for the largest stalks they have, about the size of your thumb, as these are our favorite. Look for them to have tight tips and a dark green, almost blue/purple color. We cut off part of the stem where it is woodiest, and peel with a vegetable peeler the area around where it was cut to expose the sweet flesh near the base. Then the asparagus is blanched in sea-like salty water, and shocked in ice water after is has been cooked until just tender.  

At this point you can do so much with it. Pair it with other spring vegetables or glorify it on its own. A chef I trained under liked to make it the focal point by heating the asparagus up with some country ham and butter, and placing a fried egg on top. It’s a simple, rustic country dish that always makes me smile.  

At Terra we often make a vegetable risotto. Prepare the rice as you would, and then when the rice is right, add some chopped asparagus, fava beans, and some asparagus puree, which will turn the rice green. At the end we make an indention on top of the rice and place a raw farm egg yolk, which the guest gets to stir into the rice for added richness. Asparagus also plays well with others, we use it as an accompaniment to meats and fish. I like to pair it with spring peas, small spring onion bulbs, and a little mint and serve it with a flaky white fish like flounder. Add a little lemon beurre blanc and you have a simple dish that is a pure expression of Spring.

Once it is warm I love to fire up the grill, throw on a few ribeyes, then add blanched asparagus and serve with maitre d’hotel butter with some fingerling potatoes, or yummy spoon bread.

One last note: when preparing raw asparagus, after cutting off the woody end of the stalk, do not throw this away. You can utilize these pieces by cooking them down with some chicken stock and making soup or a puree like we use in the risotto dish. As you cook it you will lose the green color, so when you puree it add some raw spinach to get that dark green color back. Whatever you choose to do with it, enjoy it and share with your friends, as in the end, that is what the table is for. 

This weekly food column is curated by Tracie Broom, who serves on the board at Slow Food Columbia, publishes The Yum Diary, and is a founding partner at Flock and Rally: Events + Communications for a Brave New South.

Photo of Mike Davis provided courtesy of Jeff Amberg Photography

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