Recipe Instructions:
Salt
1 head young garlic (with a few inches of stem), or 2 garlic scapes
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and washed
2 teaspoons freshly grated horseradish root
1 tablespoon olive oil
Half a lemon
Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. While it heats, trim the root end of the garlic; if it has a stem, cut it 4 inches from the bulb, then slice the bulb and stem in half lengthwise. Remove any tough outer skin. Lay each half cut-side-down and slice as thinly as possible (if using garlic scapes, also slice as thinly as possible). Gather up the garlic in a bowl, season with coarse salt and work the salt into the sliced garlic using your fingers. Your fingers will smell of garlic -- yes! -- and it's a nice spring-like aroma. Let sit for at least 10 minutes.
When the water boils, add the asparagus and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and plunge into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and dry the asparagus spears, then cut thinly (1/4-inch) on the bias. Arrange the asparagus on a platter (or individual plates). Sprinkle the garlic over the asparagus. Drizzle some oil over the asparagus -- it's ok if it pools a little, especially if it's good oil. Using a vegetable peeler, scrape away about 1 inch of the horseradish skin from the end of the root; give it a rinse. Grate the white root over the asparagus -- about 2 teaspoons of horseradish. Season with more salt, if needed, and serve with lemon wedges.
