Spring Potatoes & Asparagus
Introduction
Serves: 4
Ingredients
Salt
50g (1-2 oz) butter
1 Tbsp creamy Dijonnaise mustard
½ cup finely chopped shallots
Freshly ground black pepper
500g (1 lb 1 oz) asparagus
A few Tbsp chopped of parsley, mint, chervil, chives, whatever you have
Freshly grated parmesan
Method
1 Wash potatoes and either steam or cook gently in salted water until tender.
2 While the potatoes are cooking, put butter, mustard and shallots in a medium-sized frying pan (skillet) and cook gently for 5-7 minutes, until the shallot is tender and just starting to colour. Turn off the heat. When the potatoes are tender, drain and cover with paper towels and leave them for a few minutes to absorb moisture. Add potatoes to the pan and crush with a fork. Season with salt and pepper and turn them around in the shallot butter.
3 Trim asparagus and cut on the diagonal into short lengths. Either steam asparagus, or cook briefly in gently boiling, salted water for 3-5 minutes. Keep them crunchy, but not raw. Drain and drape with paper towels briefly.
4 Reheat potatoes until piping hot. Slide potatoes onto a warmed serving platter leaving a little shallot and butter in the pan. Return pan to the heat and add asparagus. Roll them around to coat in the buttery leftovers and season with a pinch of salt. Tip asparagus on top of potatoes, scraping in all the bits and bobs in the pan. Scatter with a handful of chopped herbs and a little grated parmesan. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
You can make a meal of this with a poached egg or two. Or team it up with hot-smoked salmon or a roast chicken and salad. Glorious stuff. And, of course, you can sizzle the potatoes until golden before adding the asparagus.
The parmesan cheese is optional … but in my book, everything tastes better with parmesan (well, perhaps not chocolate cake!).