Crawfish With Asparagus And Morels Recipes

CRAWFISH WITH ASPARAGUS AND MORELS

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet. Add shallots and saute until soft, about 3 minutes. Add morels and asparagus tips and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add crawfish and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, salt and pepper.
• Steam asparagus spears until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Lay 2 spears on each of 4 plates a few inches apart, parallel to each other. Lay 2 more stalks down, perpendicular to the first. Continue building in this manner until you have used 8 stalks per plate. Spoon the crawfish mixture in and around the asparagus. Serve immediately.

SAUTé OF WHITE ASPARAGUS, MORELS, AND RAMPS OVER POLENTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
• Snap off the ends of the asparagus (they will break naturally where their toughness begins), and peel the stalks.
• Clean the ramps and prepare the ramps according to the method described on page 33.
• Blanch the asparagus in heavily salted boiling water about 5 minutes, until tender. To test for doneness, take a spear out of the water, cut a small piece off the end, and taste it. (Remember, the spears will continue to cook a little as they cool.) Carefully remove the asparagus to a baking sheet to cool.
• If the morels are large, cut them in half.
• Heat a large sauté pan over high heat for 2 minutes. (If you don't have a pan that's large enough to hold all of the vegetables, heat two pans and divide ingredients accordingly.) Add 4 tablespoons butter to the pan, and when it foams, scatter the morels into the pan, being careful not to overcrowd them. Sauté the mushrooms 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often. Turn down the heat to medium, and add the thyme, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Let the mushrooms cook another 6 to 8 minutes. They should be crispy on the outside, yet still tender. (The amount of cooking time really depends on the mushrooms; sometimes they give off water, which will require a longer cooking time, to allow the water to evaporate and the morels to crisp.)
• Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the mushrooms, and place the blanched asparagus carefully in the pan. Toss to coat the asparagus in all the mushroomy brown butter, and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the ramps to the pan, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook another 2 minutes, tossing often so all the flavors meld and everything is coated in the butter. Taste for seasoning.
• Spoon the polenta onto a large warm platter. Using tongs, arrange the asparagus and ramps, randomly overlapping them over the polenta. Spoon the morels and all the butter over the top, and scatter the parsley over everything.
• In a heavy-bottomed pot, bring 5 1/2 cups water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil over high heat. Add the polenta slowly, whisking continuously. Turn the heat down to low, and continue cooking for another 20 minutes, whisking often. Add another 1/2 cup water and cook 1 more hour, whisking often and adding 1/2 cup water as needed, about every 20 minutes. The flame should be low, so that the polenta is barely simmering. As you whisk, make sure that you reach the bottom of the pan to prevent the polenta from scorching. I like to use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot.
• Whisk in the butter, and taste for seasoning. Even when the polenta is finished, you might sense it thickening up a little. If so, add a little more water and whisk to get the right consistency. If you're not serving right away, cover the pan with plastic wrap to keep the polenta from thickening or losing moisture. If necessary, rewarm over low heat before serving.
• You can blanch the asparagus and ramps a few hours ahead.

PRETTY CRAWFISH PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add farfalle pasta, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain. Place a separate pan of water on to boil. Add asparagus, and cook until tender and bright green, about 3 minutes depending on thickness. Drain, and place into ice water to stop the cooking process.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper; cook and stir for about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and crawfish tails; cook and stir for another 10 minutes. Add the asparagus and grape tomatoes to the pan, and cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a large serving bowl.
• Mix pasta into the serving bowl along with the vinaigrette dressing. Serve immediately, or refrigerate and serve chilled.

CHICKEN, MOREL MUSHROOM & ASPARAGUS ONE-PAN PIE

Steps:

• If you are using dried mushrooms, heat the stock and soak them for 10 mins, then remove them, strain the liquid and set it aside. If you're using fresh mushrooms, clean them thoroughly before using. Set a couple of the nicest-looking morels aside to decorate the top of the pie, and halve the rest.
• Heat half the butter in a skillet and fry the halved morels for 3-4 mins or until wilted. Scoop them onto a plate and set aside. Heat the remaining butter and gently cook the shallots in the pan with the thyme and bay. Once softened, stir in the flour and cook for 1 min or until you have a sandy paste.
• Pour in the sherry and sizzle, then carefully stir in the strained soaking liquid (or 200ml chicken stock if you've used fresh morels), followed by the crème fraîche. Season well and bring the sauce to a gentle simmer. Add the chicken and poach in the sauce for 10 mins or until the chicken is just cooked through. Remove the bay, stir through the asparagus, tarragon and fried morels, then remove from the heat.
• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 8. The pastry needs to sit on top of the ingredients, so if your pan is too deep, use a pie dish instead. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to the thickness of a £1 coin, then cut the pastry to fit the pan or dish, and drape it over the pie mixture using a rolling pin to help you. Liberally brush with egg, season the pastry with flaky sea salt, and pop your reserved morels on the top. Bake for 20 mins or until the pastry has puffed and is a deep golden brown. Leave tor rest for 5 mins before serving straight from the pan.

EASY CREAMY CRAB AND ASPARAGUS SOUP

Steps:

• Cook and stir the bacon and onion in a saucepan over medium-high heat until the onion is translucent, 7 to 10 minutes.
• Stir the garlic and yellow bell pepper into the bacon mixture; cook and stir together another 2 minutes.
• Mix the diced potato, asparagus, crabmeat, skim milk, half-and-half, salt, and black pepper into the bacon mixture; bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the potatoes are tender, 20 to 30 minutes.

SPA CUISINE - ASPARAGUS SOUP WITH ROASTED SHALLOTS AND MORELS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine the onion, garlic and 2 tablespoons of the oil and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes.
• Add the asparagus and cook for 5 minutes, stirring.
• Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat to moderately low and cook until the asparagus are very tender, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350°.
• In a bowl, soak the morels in the hot water until softened, about 20 minutes.
• Swirl to dislodge any grit; drain and chop.
• In a pie plate, toss the morels, shallots, remaining 1/2 tablespoon of oil and a pinch each of salt and pepper.
• Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the shallots are softened and lightly browned.
• Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender.
• Return the soup to the saucepan and season with salt and pepper.
• Ladle into soup plates, garnish with the mushroom mixture and serve.
• NOTE: If you'd like to garnish the soup with asparagus tips, set aside 16 two-inch tips before cutting up the stalks. Blanch or sauté the tips separately.
• NOTE: The soup and morel garnish can be made ahead and refrigerated separately overnight. Rewarm before serving.