Asparagus season is short and unforgiving. For a few weeks each spring you can buy spears that snap cleanly and taste sweet, and then it is gone for another year. Cooking them on a flat steel plate over coals is the least fussy way to do it justice.
No sauce to reduce, no oven to babysit, and the only thing you need to wash afterwards is the plate itself and one knife.
What you need
Ingredients
- 4 pork cutlets, bone-in, about 200g each
- 2 bunches spring asparagus, woody ends snapped off
- 2 lemons, halved
- 4 garlic cloves, bruised with the flat of a knife
- 40g butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
- Salt and black pepper
- Crusty bread, to serve
Gear
- Flat steel hotplate or a cast-iron flat plate that fits over your fire ring
- Long-handled tongs and a spatula
- A lid or a folded piece of foil to cover the cutlets
- Heatproof gloves and a sturdy trivet or flat rock for the hot plate
How to make it
- Light the fire 40 minutes before you plan to eat. You want a bed of coals, not flames. Grey ash on top, dull orange glow underneath, is the signal to start.
- Pat the cutlets dry and rub them with olive oil, the crushed fennel seeds, salt and plenty of pepper. Do this at the car before you walk over, so the seasoning has a few minutes to sit.
- Set the hotplate over the coals and let it come up to heat for 5 minutes. Test it with a drop of water, which should sizzle and skitter across the surface rather than sit there.
- Lay the cutlets on and leave them alone. Four to five minutes on the first side, until the edges are browned and the meat releases cleanly from the plate.
- Flip once, add the butter and garlic to the plate, and cook another 4 minutes, spooning the foaming butter over the meat. Cutlets this thickness are done when the juices run clear and the meat gives slightly when pressed.
- Move the cutlets to a plate and cover them with a lid or foil. They will finish cooking in their own heat while you deal with the asparagus.
- Lay the asparagus across the hot plate in a single layer. Roll it in the butter and cook 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until the spears are bright green and just starting to blister.
- Press the lemon halves cut side down onto the plate for 2 minutes, until the cut face is caramelised and smells sweet rather than sharp.
- Pile the asparagus beside the cutlets, squeeze the hot lemon over everything, and serve straight off the board with torn bread to mop the butter.
Camp tips
- Snap the woody ends at home rather than at camp. They break at the natural point, and you can bag the spears ready to go.
- No fire allowed? The same plate works on a two-burner gas stove, just give it longer to heat and cook in two batches.
- Pork loin steaks or thick boneless chops are a fine swap and cook a couple of minutes faster.
- Leftover asparagus is excellent chopped cold into a roll the next day with a lick of mayonnaise.
- If the coals are running hot, raise the plate on two bricks rather than chasing the fire with the food.
Keeping it cold before it hits the plate
The one thing that will ruin this meal faster than a bad fire is warm pork. Cutlets and asparagus both want to be kept properly cold until the moment they go on, which is why a reliable 12V fridge earns its space on a long trip. Our 12V accessories range covers the bits that keep a fridge running properly in the back of a ute or van.
This is a twenty-minute meal built for the end of a driving day, when you want something sharp and green rather than another bowl of mince. Get the coals right, keep the plate hot, and let the lemon do the rest.
