Crab and Asparagus Puffs
Who Nose?
It's odd to find that you've gone your entire life without knowing something that it seems should be common knowledge -- and, in fact, is for many, just not you. My most recent revelation was that eating beets causes some people's urine to turn red. I've eaten beets my entire life and I'm quite fond of them but their effect on my urine is zilch. Apparently, though, the effect is quite noticeable in some and can lead to a degree of consternation in some circumstances.
Imagine going to the bathroom and discovering your urine is red -- and having no idea why. Imagine a young mother discovering her child's urine is red. Would you imagine the cause was a vegetable
I learned just a few years ago that asparagus also has an effect on some people's urine. As with beets, I'm unaffected, but many people are. In the case of asparagus the effect olfactory rather than visual, and apparently not only the effect is selective, but the ability to detect it is as well. In other words, not everyone can smell the effects.
So having learned about beets and asparagus, I now wonder what other things there may be that some take for granted and others don't even know exist. Is there, perhaps, a color no one has thought to mention to me?
*You typically flambé something for presentation purposes but in this case I flame the brandy to cook off the alcohol quickly with minimal loss of the body of the brandy to evaporation as it would be if simply cooked down. Also, the flaming slightly roasts the shrimp shells.
It's odd to find that you've gone your entire life without knowing something that it seems should be common knowledge -- and, in fact, is for many, just not you. My most recent revelation was that eating beets causes some people's urine to turn red. I've eaten beets my entire life and I'm quite fond of them but their effect on my urine is zilch. Apparently, though, the effect is quite noticeable in some and can lead to a degree of consternation in some circumstances.
Imagine going to the bathroom and discovering your urine is red -- and having no idea why. Imagine a young mother discovering her child's urine is red. Would you imagine the cause was a vegetable
Are you casting asparagus on my cooking? ~ Curly Howard
you'd never had before and had first eaten several hours ago? Not me, I'd be checking myself into the emergency room. Hopefully most emergency room physicians are at least cognizant of beeturia.I learned just a few years ago that asparagus also has an effect on some people's urine. As with beets, I'm unaffected, but many people are. In the case of asparagus the effect olfactory rather than visual, and apparently not only the effect is selective, but the ability to detect it is as well. In other words, not everyone can smell the effects.
So having learned about beets and asparagus, I now wonder what other things there may be that some take for granted and others don't even know exist. Is there, perhaps, a color no one has thought to mention to me?
Crab and Asparagus in Puff Pastry
1 c cooked crab -- picked over
3 spears asparagus -- woody ends trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
2 ea puff pastry shells
2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 c shrimp shells
1 ea small shallot -- sliced
1/4 c white wine
2 tbsp brandy
1/2 c heavy cream
salt to taste
pinch of cayenne
Cook pastry shells according to package directions.
Cook asparagus pieces until tender. Shock in cold water to stop cooking.
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add shrimp shells and cook, stirring occasionally, until shells turn pink and opaque. Add shallots and cook another minute. Add wine and heat until it begins to bubble. Remove from heat, add brandy, and flambé*. Cook, swirling, until flames die out. Add cream, salt, and cayenne and reduce by half. Strain sauce through a sieve and return to heat. Add crab and asparagus and heat thoroughly.
Spoon into shells and serve. Serves 2.
*You typically flambé something for presentation purposes but in this case I flame the brandy to cook off the alcohol quickly with minimal loss of the body of the brandy to evaporation as it would be if simply cooked down. Also, the flaming slightly roasts the shrimp shells.
20 Comments:
Wait, you don't have the asparagus thing with your weewee? Wow.
I'm so sensitive I can smell wheat flour in my weewee. I mean, if I've been eating wheat flour.
And by the way, if you're wondering whether there's an asparagus odor in *your* weewee... thanks, but I'm not for hire.
I am one of those "red urine" people. I had beets in large quantities for the first time last year (in the past I've just eaten them grated on salads) and at the same time was going through all kinds of testing for digestive problems (turns out it's IBS) and I called my doctor that night at 10 p.m. freaking out. "There's blood in my pee! There's blood!"
Turns out it was just the beets.
I felt pretty stupid.
Oh, I get the stinky pee when I eat asparagus too.
CC,
You can smell wheat in your urine? That's amazing.
Jenna,
Would have freaked me out -- big time.
Jenna Again,
Some people are just born lucky.{g}
The beets dying your urine is actually only if you're iron deficient. The body has a mechanism to grab whole hemoglobin out of your food if you're on the verge of an anemia, and the pigment in beets is very similar to hemoglobin so it's absorbed by the intestine... however, it can't be used in erythrocyte production, so it's filtered out in the kidneys. I sometimes use beets to make sure I've been eating enough iron in my diet... it's tasty and informative.
Turnips can actually cause bloody urine in some species, but I'm not sure if it happens in people.
Anon,
"The beets dying your urine is actually only if you're iron deficient."
According to this article (http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/cgi/content/full/29/4/539) such a connection is by no means proven.
TMI --- WAY WAY TMI!
Alanna,
We're just trying to prevent panic-stricken trips to the emergency room. Imagine eating beets and asparagus for the first time at the same time and producing red and stinky urine. You'd be glad of this information then, wouldn't you.
I don't like beets, so have never consumed enough to experience any odd side-effects.
As far as the aspargus thing is concerned, I don't seem to have a problem with any olfactory distress. Thank goodness.
Hooray for puffy crabs!
S'kat,
You've really elevated this conversation. Now we've gone from stinky urine to puffy crabs. I won't think my blog will ever be the same.{sigh}
i learned about this a few years ago watching oprah. i think it was her chef that was on the show. at any rate, they were talking beets, and oprah revealed this urine effect and how she was soooo scared when it happened to her. but yeah, could be classified as TMI, LOL. before i read the whole post i skimmed it and wondered how you went from crab and asparagus puffs to red urine.
Stef,
"wondered how you went from crab and asparagus puffs to red urine"
All it takes is a good sense of direction -- and a bit of blarney.
My dear mother (who adores asparagus) thought that there was something wrong with her sewer line until someone explained the asparagus thing.
I don't think the article disproves what I said. I said that a mechanism in the gut exists to grab whole hemoglobin out of the blood in the meat that you ate. The fact that some excreted very little (i.e. had no pigmenturia) and some excreted a lot, and it varied between and within individuals and was inhibited by ferric iron. I was by no means discussing something as severe as pernicious anemia, and people are shitty at extracting iron even with good diets... I know many people who can't keep iron in their system with high level supplementation.
One more for the special effects list is bastourma, a dry cured and air dried Middle Eastern meat. I don't know the spice blend, but it lingers in your sweat for days after, kinda like a John McEnroe armpit.
Marianne,
Welcome back! How was the vacation?
Tank,
Bastourma sounds like a form of cancer -- perhaps caused by too much ligering John McEnroe sweat.
you are a classic. I only have heard bout the beet thing recently but have known about the asparagus issue for a while :wink
Okay enough about pee color I have a serious question. What are SHRIMP SHELLS?
Jasre,
The shell around the shrimp, it's exoskeleton. The peel. I don't know what else to call it.
Kevin - well that was too easy. The reason for my confusion was that in this recipe for crab/asparagus you also sauteed some shrimp shells - OF COURSE it was for flavor....duh - I missd the 'strain sauce' step!
Thanks.
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