Cooking the Land of Cotton: Asparagus Casserole

Now that I'm the proud owner of a copy of the Land of Cotton cookbook, courtesy of the finest southern gentleman I know, Bryan Marcus, I've been eager to bring some of the recipes to life.

Behold, the progress of the asparagus casserole, from page 170. The original recipe called for canned asparagus, which I decided to substitute with fresh asparagus delivered by my good friends at peapod.com. It also called for layering with slices of hard-boiled egg, but having neglected to boil said eggs in advance, I left them out.

What is left is a can of cream of mushroom soup (the gold standard of casserole bases), one bundle of asparagus, a jar of diced pimentos, a cup of shredded white cheddar cheese, and a generous topping of bread crumbs, all drizzled with a half cup of melted butter. After 45 minutes at 300 degrees, it was ready.

The buttery breadcrumbs created a tasty crust on top of the asparagus, which was tender and delicious. That left plenty of liquified ingredients pooling at the bottom of the dish to spoon over the top. Let's just say the leftovers didn't take up much room in the refrigerator.