Rib Eye and Chicken Wrapped Asparagus

I love practical solutions to everyday kitchen problems, don’t you?

This week I had the pleasure of spending a few hours in the RHR kitchen with a bona fide chef, Jessica, testing out some new Asian themed recipes. From veggie pancakes to chicken mushroom lettuce wraps, to this recipe for Rib Eye and Chicken Wrapped Asparagus and mini lemon tarts…I’m really excited to share these new recipes with you.

As we worked together, Chef Jessica was a wealth of quick-and-dirty kitchen tricks that make food prep even easier. Luckily I had my yellow-lined notepad with me, and took notes the whole time. Here’s the top 5 tricks she shared…

5 Quick-And-Dirty Kitchen Tricks

1)    Peel fresh ginger root with a spoon by simply scraping down the sides. No need for a sharp knife, which causes you to lose much of the good stuff.

2)    Wrap a head of garlic in a dishtowel, twist the ends and beat it against the counter top for a minute. Open up the towel and you’ll see that the cloves have separated and the garlic skins have been peeled! Talk about saving time!

3)    Do you hate how chopping onions make your eye tear up? Simple solution: place the onion in the freezer for just 10 minutes beforehand, and your eyes will not tear.

4)    Here’s how to properly chop an onion, without it falling apart in the process…Cut the onion in half, root to tip. Cut the tip off and remove the outer skin. Leave the root intact. Cut the onion into segments from the tip to just in front of the root. Then slice the onion horizontally once, being careful to leave the root intact. Now hold the onion, with fingers tucked, near the root and chop from the tip to the root. The root holds everything in place as you chop!

5)    How do you know if those mushroom stems should be added or discarded? Squeeze the stem with your fingers, if it breaks apart then the stems can be added in, they will cook to a nice consistency. If the stems are tough and do not break apart then discard them.

Good stuff, right? I simply love learning how to do things more efficiently!

One of Jessica’s recipes was for Beef Negimaki — which was thinly sliced rib eye wrapped around large green onions. I loved the concept of using thinly sliced rib eye. Jessica pointed out that Asian supermarkets sell rib eye and chicken pre-sliced, which is ultra convenient. She also mentioned that that Asian supermarkets have a plethora produce that is not available in regular markets, such as many variations of fresh mushrooms and root veggies.

Going off of the recipe for Beef Negimaki, I decided to use both Rib Eye and Chicken, and to wrap them both around blanched and seasoned asparagus. The result was seriously delicious. B says this recipe is in his top 2 favorite dinners I’ve ever made, so you know that it is good!

Feel free to use all rib eye or all chicken, depending on what you like best, or do both for a nice variety. Find these thinly sliced meats at your local Asian supermarket. Enjoy!