Cooking Lessons with Bob Carlson: The Initiation

This week, Good Food host and chef Evan Kleiman begins a series of cooking lessons with producer Bob Carlson. His first task is to make asparagus with fried eggs and parmesan.

Asparagus with Fried Egg and Parmesan

• Asparagus

• Olive oil

• Salt and pepper

• Egg

• Grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 500°.

Get some good thick asparagus from a farmers’ market or good grocery store. If you can't find thick asparagus, don't worry, buy thinner ones. Trim each stalk by breaking off each stem at the point the woody part gives and is pliable, or just cut slice them off about two inches from the bottom. Give the asparagus a rinse and quick shake to remove the excess water.

Lay the asparagus in one layer on a cookie sheet. Drizzle good olive oil over them and add salt and pepper to taste. Place in the hot oven for 10 minutes.

When they are cooked, turn the oven off. Leave the asparagus in the oven so they stay warm while you make the egg.

Fry one egg per person in butter over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the egg.

When the egg is cooked but the yolk still runny, mound a few asparagus on each eater's plate. Top the mound with a fried egg, and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. EAT! I like to take an asparagus spear with my fingers and dip it into the egg yolk. YUM!

Music break: Can't Get you out of my Head by Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra