Shirley Corriher is a world-renowned food scientist who happens to live in Atlanta, Georgia. Everyone from the elves at the cookie company to the late Julia Child has called her to ask, “why?” Her detailed explanations help cooks understand why certain things happen in the kitchen, which liberates the cook from the recipe (to a certain extent). Shirley shows in this recipe how green vegetables remain bright green if not overcooked (see page 196). She also demonstrates how lemon zest will give a fresh lemon taste without the acidity of the lemon juice, which will turn cooked green vegetables, as she says, “yucky army drab.”

　　

Ingredients

serves 4 to 6

　　1 pound thin asparagus, ends trimmed

　　2 tablespoons canola oil

　　Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

　　Grated zest of 1 lemon

　　

Step 1

Preheat the broiler. Spread out the asparagus spears in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and shake the pan to evenly coat the spears. Season with salt and pepper.

　　

Step 2

Broil until the spears are just tender, 4 minutes for thin and up to 10 minutes for thick asparagus.

　　

Step 3

Add the lemon zest and toss to coat. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper.

　　From Bon Appétit, Y’all: Recipes and Stories From Three Generations of Southern Cooking, © 2008 by Virginia Willis. Reprinted by permission of Ten Speed Press. Buy the full book from Amazon or Abe Books.