last week's Resolution Recipe
May. 11th, 2005 08:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerWhich, for various and sundry reasons, didn't get done until last night. I may do another this week to catch up - it's already planned - but much will depend on how icky I feel, and how ambitious. I may just stick to comfort food.
Asparagus Soup
2 lbs asparagus
olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cups water
1 cup chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup cream
salt & pepper
Heat oil, add onion and saute until soft. Trim asparagus spear tips, cutting 2" diagonals and set aside. Cut the stalks into 1" pieces. Add stalks, water, stock, and bay leaf. Simmer for 45-60 minutes, until the asparagus is soft. Keep the asparagus submerged during the simmer process.
Blanch asparagus tips in salted water, cooking for about 3 minutes. Plunge into ice water to maintain color and drain.
Discard bay leaf. Fish out asparagus and puree with some of the liquid as needed. Strain and add back into the liquid. Reheat, finishing off with cream and salt & pepper to taste.
Serve with crostini:
8 baguette slices
2 tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove
2 Tbsp grated parmesan
Brush baguette slices with oil, rub with the garlic clove. Toast at 375 for 5 minutes. Sprinkle parmesan over and cook for another 2 minutes.
Ladle soup into bowls, garnish with blanched asparagus tips, and serve with the warm crostini.
What worked: This was quite tasty if you like asparagus, which we do. I have a head cold so I didn't notice the asparagus after-effects this morning.
What didn't: We weren't able to get the lovely thin stalks from the farmers' market this week; we got decent-quality asparagus at a gourmet grocery store, but they were quite thick and the tips didn't really "garnish" so much as they "sunk". I mistakenly got a seeded baguette, which didn't not work but next time I'll stick to the plain kind.
This would make a lovely first course. As a main entree it was a bit non-substantial.
Oh, and a kitchen tip: when pureeing, don't stop the blender and re-start it once things have liquified. It causes near-boiling liquid to spurt all over the place. Sigh.
Will I make it again? I don't see why not, especially for that mythical dinner party.
Asparagus Soup
2 lbs asparagus
olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cups water
1 cup chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup cream
salt & pepper
Heat oil, add onion and saute until soft. Trim asparagus spear tips, cutting 2" diagonals and set aside. Cut the stalks into 1" pieces. Add stalks, water, stock, and bay leaf. Simmer for 45-60 minutes, until the asparagus is soft. Keep the asparagus submerged during the simmer process.
Blanch asparagus tips in salted water, cooking for about 3 minutes. Plunge into ice water to maintain color and drain.
Discard bay leaf. Fish out asparagus and puree with some of the liquid as needed. Strain and add back into the liquid. Reheat, finishing off with cream and salt & pepper to taste.
Serve with crostini:
8 baguette slices
2 tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove
2 Tbsp grated parmesan
Brush baguette slices with oil, rub with the garlic clove. Toast at 375 for 5 minutes. Sprinkle parmesan over and cook for another 2 minutes.
Ladle soup into bowls, garnish with blanched asparagus tips, and serve with the warm crostini.
What worked: This was quite tasty if you like asparagus, which we do. I have a head cold so I didn't notice the asparagus after-effects this morning.
What didn't: We weren't able to get the lovely thin stalks from the farmers' market this week; we got decent-quality asparagus at a gourmet grocery store, but they were quite thick and the tips didn't really "garnish" so much as they "sunk". I mistakenly got a seeded baguette, which didn't not work but next time I'll stick to the plain kind.
This would make a lovely first course. As a main entree it was a bit non-substantial.
Oh, and a kitchen tip: when pureeing, don't stop the blender and re-start it once things have liquified. It causes near-boiling liquid to spurt all over the place. Sigh.
Will I make it again? I don't see why not, especially for that mythical dinner party.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
We just had this a week or so ago..
Date: 2005-05-11 06:45 pm (UTC)