Stockton’s annual Asparagus Festival draws locals and outsiders alike, and while the location may vary some things stay the same — namely the asparagus treats.
This year, the 40th Asparagus Festival was held from April 24 to 26 o at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds. There was live music, pageant, drinks, small business vendors, food, carnival rides, games and asparagus, of course.
Three asparagus dishes stood out this year, with constant lines throughout the day showcasing their unique and flavorful impact: asparagus Korean corndog, fried asparagus ravioli, and the infamous asparagus ice cream.
Stockton local Angelita Fuentes, 23, was at the Asparagus Festival for the first time and tried all three of the asparagus dishes at the event.
“I tried all three of those asparagus foods, the ravioli, ice cream, and corndog and they were all really good. I like asparagus but I thought those food combos were a bit intimidating to try but I did anyway and I ended up really liking them,” said Fuentes. “My favorite was the ice cream. It was sweet and you got the taste of the asparagus, but it wasn’t too overpowering of a flavor, I’ll probably get more before I go home.”
Fuentes was pleasantly surprised by how much she enjoyed the asparagus flavored items at the festival, and said she would be coming back next year to get them again.
“This was my first time at the Asparagus Festival,” said Fuentes. “I had always wanted to come but never did so I’m glad I did and was able to try these new things and all shop from the vendors and try new things. My brother hates asparagus and he even tried the ice cream and really liked it because it had subtle flavoring, the ravioli and corndog were not his favorite, it’s not for everyone but if you like asparagus you have to try these foods.”
Fuentes stated how she would like to be able to make these items at home all year round and not only have them at the festival.
“I honestly would make this at home if I had a quick and easy recipe that wasn’t too complicated. I like cooking and I do eat asparagus at home but these foods at the festival are different so for fun it would be interesting to make these things especially the ice cream since my family really liked it. “said Fuentes.
Melissa Campos, 23, Stockton local and former Delta College student who has attended many Asparagus Festivals in the past and has attempted to replicate some of the recipes at home.
“I really like deep fried asparagus so I thought it was really interesting when I saw they had the deep fried asparagus ravioli and I had never had that before. I liked it alot but my favorite asparagus food they had was the asparagus corndog with the cheese inside. They were really big and filling to eat, so I had to share one with my friend,” said Campos.“ I have made the trending Korean corndogs at home before and they came out pretty good, so I don’t think adding asparagus would be much harder. But It would be cool to learn and I could make it for my friends and I if it came out good.”
While these dishes are not common all year round there are some recipes to enjoy these dishes at home or if you’re unable to attend the festival but want to give it a try. There are some modifications to the dishes.
Asparagus Ice Cream (1 pint) Asparagus Ice Cream Recipe | Jose Garces | Food Network
Ingredients:
-2 pounds asparagus
-Kosher salt
-6 large egg yolks
-¼ to ½ cup sugar
– 1 ⅓ cups whole milk
¼ cup heavy cream
Steps:
- Cut the top 2 to 3 inches from each asparagus stalk; reserve the bottoms for another use.
- Fill a large bowl with ice water. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the asparagus tops and cook until bright green, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and plunge into the ice water, then drain well and transfer to a blender; set aside.
- Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl. Heat the milk and cream in a saucepan over medium heat until it just boils. Remove from the heat and gradually add the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Return the pan to the heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to coat the spoon and a thermometer registers 170 degrees F, about 10 minutes (do not let the custard boil).
- Transfer the custard to the blender with the asparagus and puree until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Cool completely, then strain through a fine-mesh strainer.
- Freeze the asparagus custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Use two spoons to shape the ice cream into quenelles (oval-shaped scoops).
Deep fried Asparagus Ravioli (5-6 servings) Asparagus Ravioli with Lemon Beurre Blanc – Hangry In Love plus deep frying recipe from Fried Ravioli Recipe | Giada De Laurentiis | Food Network
Ingredients:
-2 bunches asparagus, ends trimmed
-1 cup fresh basil
-1 cup ricotta cheese
-1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
-1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese + more for garnish
-1 lemon, zested
-1 Tbsp garlic powder
-Salt, to taste
-Pepper, to taste
-4 large eggs (room temperature)
-1.25 cups “00” or “double 0” flour also known as finely milled Italian Flour
-1.25 cups AP flour
-Semolina flour, for dusting
-1 Tbsp olive oil
-1 tsp salt
For deep frying:
– olive oil for frying
-1 cup buttermilk
-2 cups Italian-style bread crumbs
-1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Steps:
Asparagus Ravioli
- Bring a pan of salted water to boil. Blanch asparagus for 3 mins total. During the last 30 seconds, add basil to boiling water. Remove asparagus and basil from water and transfer to ice bath. Let chill at least 1-2 mins to stop cooking. Set aside 1/4 of total asparagus for garnish. Transfer remaining asparagus and basil to food processor and process until smooth.
- In large bowl, combine asparagus mixture with ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, lemon zest, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. Mix until well-integrated. Cover and refrigerate until ready for use.
- In a food processor, add eggs, flour, olive oil, and 1 tsp salt. Pulse until crumbs begin to form and mixture is able to pressed into a dough.
- Remove dough from processor and form into a ball. Wrap with plastic wrap and let rest in fridge for 20 mins.
- Flour a workspace. Remove dough from fridge, discard plastic wrap, then divide dough into quarters. Using your hands, flatten each quarter out.
- Using a pasta maker and working one dough quarter at a time, run dough through widest setting first, then gradually get thinner with each new pass through the pasta maker. On our Kitchen Aid, the last pass will be setting 4.
- Once all 4 dough quarters have been made into sheets, cut each sheet into a grid of ravioli squares that are your desired size. If you have a ravioli cutter use that. Filling mixture should be ~1 Tbsp in each ravioli.
- Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Working in batches, boil ravioli for 2-3 mins or until floating and tender. Remove from water and drain. Repeat with remaining ravioli.
For frying:
- Pour enough olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 325 degrees F.
- While the oil is heating, put the buttermilk and the bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Working in batches, dip ravioli in buttermilk to coat completely. Allow the excess buttermilk to drip back into the bowl. Dredge ravioli in the bread crumbs. Place the ravioli on a baking sheet, and continue with the remaining ravioli.
- When the oil is hot, fry the ravioli in batches, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried ravioli to paper towels to drain.
Asparagus Korean Corndogs (8 corndogs ) Korean French Fry Corn Dog | Two Plaid Aprons
Ingredients: (To make asparagus korean corndogs to replace the potato with asparagus or add both to recipe but keep steps the same)
For the batter:
- -1 cup warm water , around 95°F (or 237mL)
- -1 teaspoon active dry yeast (or 3g)
- -1½ cup all-purpose flour (or 180g)
- -3 Tablespoon granulated sugar (or 36g)
- -½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the french fry corn dog:
- -2 russet potato ( or asparagus) , peeled and cut into ¼-½ inch cubes (roughly 12oz/ 240g)
- -6 ounce mozzarella block (or 170g)
- -4 hotdogs , cut in half
- -2 cup panko (or 125g)
- -Oil , for frying
Steps:
For the batter:
- Sprinkle the active dry yeast over the warm water. Give the mixture a stir and set it aside for a few minutes to let the yeast dissolve.
- In a shallow pan (or something like a pie dish or Pyrex container), mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Once the yeast has completely dissolved into the water, pour the mixture into the flour mix. Stir the batter together until no more dry flour is visible. Cover the pan with plastic wrap or a lid and let the dough proof in a warm area for about 45 minutes or until doubled.
For the potato ( or asparagus):
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the potatoes and boil for about 3 to 7 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. The potatoes need to be cooked about ¾ of the way. After the potatoes are par cooked, drain them and let them dry in one layer on some paper towel or clean towel. Set aside until needed.
- *You can also salt the water to season the potato if you’d like. Just add enough salt to make the water tasty “seasoned” (roughly 1 cup water to ¼ to ⅛ teaspoon salt)*
For the french fry corn dog:
- Cut the mozzarella block into 8 pieces, each around 2½ inches long and around the same widths as the hotdogs. Assemble the hotdog and mozzarella cheese onto skewers or disposable chopsticks. The hotdog should be the bottom half while the cheese is on the top half.
- *Feel free to assemble your skewers ahead of time and keep it refrigerated until needed. We highly recommend keeping the cheese cold for easy battering and frying. You could also make this corn dog with only the hotdogs and omit the cheese.*
- In another pot large enough to accommodate an entire corn dog, add about 2 ½ inches of oil and preheat the oil to 350°F. *You can also use a fryer if you’d like. Also preheat the fryer to 350°F.*
- While the oil is heating up, batter the corn dogs. Dip the tip of the skewered cheese and corn dog into the batter and start turning the skewer in one direction until the entire skewer is evenly covered with the dough. Make sure it is not too thick of a layer.
- *Tip: Use a pair of scissors to help pull the dough around the skewer and snip off excess.
- Immediately, roll the battered cheese corn dog in the par boiled potato then right into the panko. Gently pack the panko around the corn dog with your hands to cover all the still exposed dough that the potatoes did not cover. Carefully place the corn dog into the hot oil and fry it for about 5 minutes, or until it turns a nice golden brown color.
- *We recommend battering and frying only one or two corn dog at a time until you get comfortable with the process. If you batter all of the corn dogs at one time, it is very likely that the batter will fall off the corn dog or become very thick on one side and thin on the other.*
- Immediately, roll the battered cheese corn dog in the par boiled potato then right into the panko. Gently pack the panko around the corn dog with your hands to cover all the still exposed dough that the potatoes did not cover. Carefully place the corn dog into the hot oil and fry it for about 5 minutes, or until it turns a nice golden brown color.
