"maxine in ri" > wrote in message
...
> Got some asparagus for $1 at the reduced rack couple days ago. Trimmed
> off the bottom inch, put em in a container with water and they stood
> up straight by the next day.
>
> Though I had lopped off enough of the bottoms, so rinsed them, tossed
> them with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice, and
> roasted them for 20 minutes, til they started to look a little brown.
>
> Hadn't cut off enough of the bottom. They were half tough and
> stringy.
>
> How do you pick good asparagus (I'm not going to waste my money again
> on the iffy stuff)? How much of the bottom do you break off? How do
> you know _where_ to break it off?


If you bend the asparagus, the stalk will normally break at the beginning of
the tough part.

Hold the stalk with 2 hands between your thumb & index finger and leaving
about 2 to 3 inches between your fingers and bend . If you do this with 1
stalk then use that stalk as the length guide for trimming the rest.

Dimitri