Wednesday: Mashed potatoes, roasted alliums, sauteed asparagus

We stocked up on alliums at this weekend's farmers market with the intention of doing roasted alliums at some point this week. Last night was the night.

I roasted scallions, leeks, shallots, yellow and red onions, and garlic and topped them with the chive oil suggested in FStoS. As a starch, I made a batch of mashed potatoes with mustard and vermouth (also from FStoS). Ooo boy was that a great combo.

On Tuesday, I saw a recipe in a cookbook from Greens for asparagus sauteed with crispy ginger that sounded really good, so last night I did something similar:

ginger, smallest julienne you can get
butter
thick asparagus, bottom part of the stalks peeled, cut into 2" pieces on the bias

Heat some butter over medium-high heat until it froths. Add the ginger and cook, stirring gently, until the ginger starts to crisp up.
Add the asparagus and a pinch of salt and stir gently. Cook for a couple of minutes, until the asparagus color deepens.
Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pan, and cook until the asparagus is just about done.
Remove the cover, crank the heat to high, and cook until any moisture has been driven off.
Serve immediately.

This is *good*. I've been amazed all week about the sweetness in this asparagus, and this recipe really brings it out. Now I'm really tempted to try the slow-baked asparagus from Wolfert's The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen, but since that takes two hours it'll have to wait for a weekend.