I am so so so excited that Spring is in the air! I am ready for sunny trips to the farmers market, Sunday night BBQ’s in Malibu and picnics on the beach. As a personal chef, Spring brings lots of fun parties and I always try to take advantage of the great markets we have here in L.A. It doesn’t get much better than cooking a fabulous backyard dinner party with freshly squeezed juices in cocktails, farm fresh produce on the table and happy clients! Oh yea, I’m totally ready for Spring!
This year I am beyond excited and honored to be part of Spring Fling!
Spring Fling 2011 is a five-week celebration of all things Spring with Margaret from A Way to Garden, Jaden of Steamy Kitchen, and Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple, Shauna and Danny of Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef, Nicole from Pinch My Salt, some fantastic people from Food Network and Cooking Channel and myself!
Here’s what the 2011 Spring Fling Schedule looks like:
Weds April 20th: Asparagus
Weds May 4th: Rhubarb
Weds May 18th: Artichokes
Weds June 1st: Strawberries (Bring on the strawberry cocktails – this one’s taking place on my 25th birthday!!)
Weds June 15th: Peas
And the best part about this is everyone gets to join in, click around and share your tips and recipes for the fabulous spring produce we are featuring!
So here’s how it works:
Go ahead and leave your tips/recipes/and favorite links in the comments below my Spring Fling post! Then click around to the other collaborators and do the same. Share your love for the recipe everywhere that way everyone gets to see it and join in on the conversation!!
Doesn’t that sound fun! So go ahead and join on in! I, for one, can’t wait to hear all your fantastic ideas about all the topics and turn this Spring Fling into a big fabulous party all about food!
**************************
This week is all about Asparagus! I personally love the tiny little skinny asparagus bunches that are showing up at all my local farmers markets. They cook up in almost no time and pack a lot of flavor! Plus they have such a thin skin that you don’t have to peel them before cooking!
To kick things off I made not one, not two, but five of these Asparagus, Gruyere and Parmesan Tarts for my personal chef clients this week. They made for an excellent appetizer before a dinner party and everyone devoured them! I’ll be making more of these this weekend too since they will be a perfect addition to my Easter Brunch menu!
| Asparagus, Gruyere and Parmesan Tart |
Here are some fabulous tips and recipes from my fellow contributors!
Food Network Healthy Eats Asparagus 5 Ways
A Way to Garden 12 Don’t for Growing, Cooking and Preserving Asparagus
Food Network Dish Spring Fling: Asparagus
Cooking Channel Asparagus Frittata, Your Easter Brunch Centerpiece
Pinch My Salt Asparagus Gratin
What’s Gaby Cooking Skinny Asparagus and Gruyere Tart
Food2 Seasonal Spotlight: Asparagus
Steamy Kitchen Asparagus Gratin
Tags: Appetizer, Asparagus, farmers market, Gruyere, Parmesan, Roasted Asparagus, Savory Tart, Side Dish, Summer, Tart
Pingback: Spring Fling: Asparagus Gratin — Pinch My Salt
Pingback: Spring Fling: Asparagus | The FN Dish – Food Network Blog
I would totally eat this… gruyere… yes please!
I love fresh asparagus.
Can’t wait to see all these new ideas.
Love this Gaby…both your recipe, photo, and the whole concept.
Unfortunately, cooking artichokes and rhubarb is NOT my forte so I have no tips to offer but will be reading along to see what everyone mentions in upcoming weeks.
Wow! Spring fling sounds like a super fun event. Your savory tart looks wonderful
I’ll take mine with extra asparagus and extra cheese please!
This looks fabulous! And I think I have all the ingredients on hand. Quick question – how did you serve it? Small squares?
Kathy – I cut each tart into 4 square to serve!!
This looks delicious and so easy. Love the elegant presentation, too!
This tart looks awesome. I love Gruyere too, so I’m seriously salivating right now
Some of my favorite ingredients – serves 4 people but with a salad it will be just right for dinner one night for my husband and myself – thanks Gaby
I agre with Heather….extra asparagus and cheese for me! Your Spring Fling schedule looks delish. Can’t wait for these recipes!!
This is one of my favorite dishes! Looks delicious!
I am so happy about Spring also! Yay BBQs!
Pingback: Asparagus 5 Ways | 2Well
Thank you for the luscious recipe; aspargus is a favorite for me. Here is a quick and simple creamy asparagus soup for Spring Fling http://www.dejavucook.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/cr….
Love me some asparagus! http://www.savoringthethyme.com/2011/04/asparagus-and-green-beans-with-citrus-garlic-oil/
Our truck garden in the Hudson Valley has asparagus all along the back, 100 running feet more or less, planted almost 20 years ago. Sixteen or so years of plentiful harvests = lots of opportunities to experiment and fodder for the – so glad you’re starting early! – recipe swap. At least in the case of asparagus, how could I resist?
Preliminaries on storage, preparation and selection at the store, for those who must buy, are at http://leslieland.com/2010/04/asparagus-tips-–-for-choosing-storing-preparing-and-growing. A meatless recipe for Frugal Asparagus Soup, made from the otherwise discarded tough ends (along, I must confess, with rather a lot about peonies is here: http://leslieland.com/2007/05/asparagus-soup-and-a-peony-revealed
We *heart* asparagus over at Wicked Good Dinner. Here’s one of our favorite spring recipes with asparagus:
http://wickedgooddinner.blogspot.com/2010/04/lemon-pepper-orzo-with-asparagus-and.html
Looking forward to participating in Spring Fling {and summer, too!!}
This looks fabulous and so easy!
I wonder if this would be good topped with a poached egg?
This looks picture perfect! Bet it tasted divine
Pingback: Baby Artichokes with Pancetta and Garlic
wow – this looks so elegant and simple! i haven’t yet cooked with gruyere yet so am looking fwd to give this a go soon! great presentation!
Pingback: Web Deliciousness: Asparagus! | The Pioneer Woman Cooks | Ree Drummond
Thank you so much for this recipe. I had been using another one for this dish and yours is so much better! Thanks Gaby. This is a such an easy dish and looks so elegant that your guest will think this is a gourmet dish.
Pingback: Boozy Strawberry Limeade
That tart looks yummy! I have puff pastry in the freezer just asking for asparagus. I am a little late to the party but I love this recipe for shaved asparagus pizza, http://www.examiner.com/easy-meals-in-san-francisco/shaved-asparagus-pizza-is-another-reason-to-cheer-asparagus-season.
Pingback: Fresh Pea Risotto
Pingback: beet pizza dough « here is hoping.
Pingback: a pizza dough dwight schrute would approve of. « here is hoping.
I made this as part of my “adult food” for my son’s birthday party. I used white asparagus (because that’s all that was available), and I probably used a little extra cheese (I very rarely measure when grating fresh). It was delicious. Although one word of advice would be to make it fresh for your event. I made mine the night before, and it fell a little and tasted a little soggy in the middle because I let it sit. I didn’t realize that it would be SO quick that I would’ve been able to do it that morning.
Pingback: 7 Gorgeous Food Blogs That Will Motivate You to Eat Healthier — carrie actually
Pingback: asparagus appetizer | is there any more pie?
Pingback: Fresh Produce Tuesday- Week #1: Asparagus | 2 Sisters 2 Cities
Pingback: Earth-friendly Eats | Luvocracy Stories
Pingback: In Season at the Market: Skinny Asparagus and Gruyere Tart | LA City Farm