Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

"Sure, nearly anything tastes better with butter and parm, but I assure you it isn't the dairy products that shine forth in this preparation—it's the deepened, intense flavor of the asparagus themselves that steals the show."

When I read this, I was incredulous, but I tried the recipe anyway, and found that my incredulity was justified -- it tasted great, but by no means did the "deepened, intense flavor of the asparagus" steal the show. The awesome taste of butter and cheese stole the show, with the asparagus in a supporting role. I prefer simple high heat roasting (without the boiling or the butter/parm) if you really want to taste the asparagus.

These were fantastic - I'll be making these every year and probably year round...the dough is lovely and it doubles nicely too. Thanks, Gina.

I substituted the rum for kahlua and added pecans instead of pistachios! So yummy!! Wonderful post - can't wait for more!

These look great, and yes, it's wonderful to see you back, Gina :)

My grandmother used the "X system" for marking the best recipes...triple X meant it was the best, and it's sure funny to see on otherwise innocent, pure recipes ;)

You guys sound like a bunch a kids that got their toys taken away on the playground. The Bake Off Rules simply state - bring a recipe to the table and bake it! Your baked goods will be judged and the prize awarded. It doesn't say you have to "FORK & TINES” or that you can not use "premade shortcuts" or any of the other horrible things you guys have said. Shame on all of you!

I bake cookies with the kids across the street all of the time. When you are bake with 4 to 6 kids under the age of 7 they don't want to "FORK & TINES" they just want QUICK cookies and into the oven. Of course they want them to taste yummy at the end. As for the person that said "My only problem is the recipe didn't specify salted or unsalted peanuts; I made them with salt and the sweet/salty" maybe you should enter it next year who knows you might win. The gal or guy who wrote ... Off the top of my head I got: Listerine strips, Junior Mints, Sour patch kids, Andes mints (the free ones at Luby's), MSG, Flintstone vitamins, Grape Dimetapp, the same dough that you're wrapping it in, sunflower seeds, granola bar, assorted starbursts, maybe an air cookie, Rolos, sweet and sour duck sauce, and a tryptophan cookie...well that is just sick. I guess you think all of that was funny, but the funny was the "hiding a ball of peanut butter in a peanut butter cookie" But it DID WIN!

Where has our joy for the winner gone - the celebration of the ideas of the cooks? Regardless of how simple they might be. If you don't like the "hiding a ball of peanut butter in a peanut butter cookie" enter something yourself. Frankly for me - I'm to busy having fun baking cookies with the neighbors kids. Why not send a note simply saying have fun spending your $1,000,000.

I just had to tell all of you that I was very disappointed in your comments!

Remember all of us cooks have to stick together isn’t that what it is all about?

A recipe, according to Webster's, is a set of instructions for making something from various ingredients. That makes this and other recipes calling for the use of convenience food ingredients "real." The contest is clearly designed to generate recipes using specific brand-name products. If that's not your thing, look elsewhere for your recipes.

oh geez, I was expecting a real recipe. =(

@ptrap - congratulations on making it to the finals! I used to enter the State Fair of Texas contests before moving to Arizona and there were a couple SFT ladies in the finals, too. One, Gwen Beauchamp, won the fan's favorite recipe (or whatever it was called).

I just came back from the bake-off as a contestant. And I read lots of blogs where people complain that its just using pre-made or pre-packaged stuff. Yes, I cringed a little when Sandra Lee told us all that we were all "semi-homemade chefs". But that's kind of the point of the contest. To enter, you are given two lists of assorted Pillsbury and other sponsor related products. Your recipe has to include at least one item from each list. That really limits what you can make. And that's why you see some really weird combos pop up in this contest. For me, it was just the fun of entering and the very remote chance of winning $1 million; I wasn't trying to create the next great American recipe. I will enter again next year; it was fun!