What's Cooking

I made a new dish for dinner on Tuesday night. I feel like it wouldn't be quite fair to say it was something I created because I have a vague notion that I've seen something similar on a cooking show or in a magazine or somewhere. Still, the idea just kind of evolved for me once I got to the grocery store. I had told Amy I would cook us dinner without having planned it out at all. I went to the store with a vague notion that I might make a quiche. That sounded too breakfast-y so I started doing a little free association in my head. The broccoli for the quiche became asparagus, and from there it morphed to the final recipe.

I bought asparagus, shaved, brown sugar ham, gruyere, sharp cheddar, scallions, and crescent rolls. The asparagus were steamed. I fried up the thin ham just enough to add a bit of char to each side. I wrapped the ham around the asparagus and threw in a few finely sliced scallions, some thinly sliced gruyere, and a little bit of shredded sharp cheddar. Then I wrapped all of that in two crescent rolls. The rolls come in triangles, and I kept pairs together so that I could wrap in rectangles. I threw just a touch more cheese in between the ham and the dough. Then I baked the whole bit until the roll portion was golden brown. I topped the wraps with hollandaise sauce (not from scratch, just a packet that needed butter and milk) and served it along side a salad with a simple Beaujolais. It turned out fabulously.

When I make it again, I will make a few minor modifications. I will steam the asparagus more briefly. It's always a challenge to get asparagus just right. It varies so greatly in thickness, and the timing changes based on boiling, steaming, or broiling. When you steam and then bake, it only complicates matters. I'll also use a few more scallions next time. I was a bit too conservative (as is wise with any onion) and the flavor didn't come all the way through. I will also use a rolling pin on the crescent dough. Using the preformed triangles was fine, but with a touch more effort, the plated food would have had a slightly nicer look. I almost went with cream of mushroom soup as a topping instead of the hollandaise, but I wouldn't change that part. I might add a side of couscous if I were cooking for a larger audience as well.

Everything else about it was really spot on. I'm not exactly an emotional fellow, but when I cook it's not difficult to discern whether or not I am happy about my food. We are always our own most stringent critics. I was quite proud of this effort, however. As I recently commented elsewhere, I think some of the most basic keys to good cooking are good ingredients (like tasty, perfectly sliced brown sugar ham), classic combinations (ham+cheese, asparagus+hollandaise), and simple combinations (asparagus, ham, cheese, onion, bread, sauce = only 6 simple parts)

Jonathan 10/11/2007 06:39:00 PM