Salad Weather!
It's no secret that I love the snow. Multiple back-to-back snowfalls is my idea of winter heaven. But if I had to choose warm or cold, warm would win every time. If I'm going to live where it snows in the winter, I want to see LOTS of snow in the winter. But then I want it to get warm. Like today. And then I want to stop eating soups and stews and casseroles and start eating salads. Like today.
There may still be snow on the ground, but I was craving a salad today. Mixed greens, micro greens, avocado, tomato, cucumber, hard-cooked eggs, and sauteed beef and mushrroms with a red wine vinaigrette that Victor whipped up. I cleaned my plate!
And for some strange reason, I had a hankerin' for something I haven't made in years - microwave caramel corn!
I really don't know the last time I made this - we may have still been living in San Francisco. It's been a long time.
It may be one of the eassiest and most fun things to do!
Microwave Caramel Corn
- 4 qts popped corn
- 1 stick butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking soda
Pop corn and place in brown paper grocery bag.
Place butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla in a glass bowl and bring to a boil in microwave. Remove from microwave and carefully stir in baking soda. Mixture will thicken and lighten in color.
Pour over popcorn in bag, roll closed, and shake very well to mix.
Place bag in microwave and heat for 90 seconds. Shake very well to mix and return to microwave and cook for another 90 seconds.
Shake, again, rip open bag, and enjoy!
Warning: It's addictive.
Chipotle Chicken Sandwich
I feel like such a slacker. I didn't bake the bread or hand-cut the french fries tonight. Sometimes ya just gotta go with the flow.
I had taken chicken out of the freezer this morning with no clear idea of what I was going to do with it. This is a perfect example of why I don't plan or shop for meals in advance. I just don't know on Monday what I'm going to want on Friday - or any other day of the week. I keep plenty of ingredients in the house and let my taste buds take me where they want to go. I would much rather open the 'fridge and see something and think "Gee, I need to use this - let me think of something" rather than opening the 'fridge and seeing the ingredients for chicken pot pie - and it's an unexpected 70° outside! It may be pure delusion on my part, but it seems like I have more creative control this way.
So... I had chicken and no clear idea of what I was going to do.
At some point this afternoon, I started thinking crepes, which lead to tortillas which lead to melted cheese and Mexican which lead to tonight's Mexican spiced chicken with chipotle mayonnaise sandwich on a baguette. See how linear that thought process was?!? From crepe to sandwich in mere seconds!
I sliced the chicken breasts into medallions and seasoned them with cumin, chili powder, garlic, salt, and pepper. I fried them in a splash of olive oil.
I made chipotle mayonnaise by adding a heaping teaspoon of adobo sauce (from a can of chipotles in adobo) to 1/4 cup of mayo.
I generously slathered the mayo on the baguette, added pequillo peppers, sliced avocado, the chicken, and jack and cheddar cheeses. Under the broiler it went to melt the cheese, and dinner was served.
The fries were frozen bagged fries. They were pretty good. No nasty ingredients.
I know dinner was good because halfway through the meal, I had to get up and wash my hands - the napkins just weren't enough.
It was worth it.
Beef Stew and Biscuits
I didn't bake bread today. I made biscuits, instead!
It seems as if winter is actually starting to leave. The snow is melting, we can see patches of lawn (and fence repairs that need to be made) and it's actually been above freezing. It's almost time to trade in the stews for salads. Almost.
I took the easy way out tonight. I made a simple beef stew and topped it with cheesy baking mix biscuits. I semi-follow the recipe on the box except I don't measure, I add an egg, and I splash in the milk a little at a time until it looks right. Tonight, I also added some shredded provolone cheese.
The secret to light - and fully-cooked - drop biscuits in a stew is to start with really hot stew.
Get your stew to boiling, and drop small amounts of biscuit dough onto the hot surface. I use a small ice cream scoop. Leave enough room for them to expand. Then put it into a 425° oven for about 45 minutes.
The hot stew steams the biscuit from the inside while the hot oven cooks it from the outside.
Guaranteed perfect every time!
Chicken, Figs, and Rice Cakes
Tonight was a wild combination of flavors and textures. Creamy, cheesy rice cakes with a crunchy exterior, sweet figs atop corn meal and floured chicken, and buttery caramelized brussels sprouts. And another loaf of fresh-baked bread. Yep. this was a fun one!
The rice patties were something I was thinking of for a couple of days. Last night I had Victor save the leftover black rice because I had an idea for tonight. (Just so y'all know, we have an equal distribution of work in our home. If I cook, Victor cleans up. If Victor cooks, Victor cleans up. It's a great system!) But I digress...
Breaded Rice Cakes
- 1 cup cooked whole grain rice (brown, black, whatever)
- 1/2 cup uncooked white rice
- 1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups broth
- 4 oz creamy cheese
- bread crumbs
- salt and pepper
Cook onion in a pat of butter or olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and quickly saute. Add rices and 2 cups broth. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add remaining cup of broth, return to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, if desired.
Use a 1/4-cup ice cream scoop and scoop out portions and drop into bread crumbs. Form into cake, place on plate and repeat.
Brown in a hot pan with a splash of olive oil.
I used a Saint Vernier cheese that really was out of this world good.
The chicken was really simple. I mixed a bit of flour and corn meal together and coated the chicken and then browned it on both sides. Into the oven it went at 450° for about 10 minutes. (The oven was already hot from the bread.)
I happened upon some fresh figs last week, and although I have a general rule about buying fruit out of season, I picked up a few, anyway. What's a rule if you can't break it now and again?!? I made really simple caramelized figs.
Caramelized Figs
- 8 fresh figs
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- pinch cinnamon
- pinch cloves
Stem the figs and place them upright in a pot. Add sugar, vinegar, and spices and let sit over night. Next day, simmer over very low heat for about 4 hours, shaking pot now and again. This is where a burner diffuser really comes in handy. (Thank you, Ann and Julie!!!)
Place in a container and pour sauce over.
The brussels sprouts were just sliced in half and quickly steamed, and then sauteed with a splash of olive oil, salt, and pepper.
And we had more fresh bread.
Steaks on the Barbie
It's been quite a while since I fired up the grill.
Back in our propane days, I'd pop outside regardless of the weather and throw something on the fire. The switch to charcoal has slowed me down a bit. It's just not as convenient. Better tasting, but not as convenient.
Regardless, I'm going to stay with better tasting for a while.
A while back I bought a couple of full tenderloins, cut them into steaks and roasts, vacuum-packed them, and put them in the freezer. I've been staring at one particular package for a while now. This morning I took action and pulled it out to thaw.
I seasoned them with salt and pepper and got fancy-schmancy - I wrapped them in bacon. After grilling them to a perfect rare, I added a slice of Boursin cheese.
The potatoes were Boursin-mashed potatoes. Potatoes, salt, pepper, a splash of milk, and a slab of Boursin. Mash and eat.
Steamed broccoli and cauliflower finished off the plate.
And... I baked another loaf of bread!
I forgot to take a picture, but it came out better than yesterdays. A bit easier to handle. 40 minutes to rise and 25 minutes in the oven.
With time like this, we could have fresh bread every night with dinner!
Loafing, Again
I did it. I finally baked a loaf of No-Knead Bread.
I've heard aboiut this stuff for a long time. Everybody's doing it - Jim Lehey is doing it. Peter Reinhart is doing it. Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois are doing it in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. And Luigi Pomi is doing it. And got me to do it, too.
I've been baking bread for a really long time. 38 or so years ago I was baking bread on an aircraft carrier. Thousands and thousands of loaves of bread.
Sometimes I just slept on top of the bags of flour and sugar. And yes, once upon a time I was skinny. But I digress.
I've made lots of bread.
I've pretty much resisted making no-knead bread because ANYTHING that says "whatever in 5 minutes a day" is evil in my book. One of the biggest problems with society today - in my not so humble opinion - is NOT taking the time to do something. Especially cooking.
So it was with more than just a bit of trepidation that I decided to do this. Luigi hasn't steered me wrong, yet.
The recipe comes from a blog called The Italian Dish. The recipe is verbatim from the blog:
No Knead Artisan Bread
adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
makes four 1 pound loaves.
3 cups lukewarm water
1-1/2 tablespoons granulated fast acting yeast (2 packets)
1-1/2 tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt
6-1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached all purpose white flourMixing and Storing the Dough
1. Warm the water slightly. It should feel just a little warmer than body temperature, about 100 degrees F. Warm water will rise the dough to the right point for storage in about 2 hours.
2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5 quart bowl or a plastic container with a lid.
3. Mix in the flour - kneading is unnecessary. Add all of the flour at once, measuring the flour by scooping it and leveling it off with a knife. Mix with a wooden spoon - do not knead. You're finished when everything is uniformly moist, without dry patches. This step is done in a matter of minutes. The dough should be wet and loose.
4. Allow to rise. Cover with a lid (not airtight). Lidded plastic buckets designed for dough storage can be purchased many places. (I used a plastic square food storage container at my local grocery store. I just make sure that the lid is not snapped on completely). You want the gases to be able to escape a little. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flattens on top), about two hours. Longer rising times will not hurt your dough. You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Fully refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and is easier to work with than dough at room temperature. So, the first time you try this method, it's best to refrigerate the dough overnight (or at least 3 hours) before shaping a loaf.
Baking
5. Shape your loaf. Place a piece of baking parchment paper on a pizza peel (don't have a pizza peel - use an unrimmed baking sheet or turn a rimmed baking sheet upside down). Sprinkle the surface of your dough in the container with flour. Pull up and cut off about a 1-pound piece of dough (about the size of a grapefruit), using scissors or a serrated knife. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball as you go. Dust your hands with flour if you need to. This is just to prevent sticking - you don't want to incorporate the flour into the dough. The top of the dough should be smooth - the object here is to create a "gluten cloak" or "surface tension". It doesn't matter what the bottom looks like, but you need to have a smooth, tight top. This whole step should take about 30 seconds! Place the dough onto your parchment paper.
6. Let the loaf rise for about 40 minutes (it does not need to be covered). If it doesn't look like it has risen much, don't worry - it will in the oven. This is called "oven spring".
7. Preheat a baking stone on the middle rack in the oven for at least 20 minutes at 450 degrees F. Place an empty rimmed baking pan or broiler pan on a rack below the baking stone. This pan is for holding water for steam in the baking step. (If you don't have a baking stone, you can use a baking sheet, but you will not get the crisp crust on the bottom. You will still have a great loaf of bread. Baking stones are cheap and easy to find - Target carries them - and are a must for making pizzas, so go out and get one as soon as you can.)
8. Dust the loaf with a little flour and slash the top with a knife. This slashing is necessary to release some of the trapped gas, which can deform your bread. It also makes the top of your bread look pretty - you can slash the bread in a tic tac toe pattern, a cross, or just parallel slashes. You need a very sharp knife or a razor blade - you don't want the blade to drag across the dough and pull it. As the bread bakes, this area opens and is known as "the bloom". Remember to score the loaves right before baking.
9. Bake. Set a cup of water next to your oven. Slide the bread (including the parchment paper) right onto the hot baking stone. Quickly pour the water right into the pan underneath the baking stone and close the oven door. This creates the necessary steam to make a nice crisp crust on the bread. Bake at 450 F for about 25 - 30 minutes. When you remove the loaf from the oven, you will hear it crackle for a while. In baking terms, this is called "sing" and it is exactly what you want.
10. Cool. Allow the bread to cool for the best flavor and texture. It's tempting to eat it when it's warm, and that's fine, but the texture is better after the bread has cooled.
11. Store the remaining dough in the refrigerator in your lidded (not airtight) container and use for up to 14 days. Every day your bread will improve in flavor. Cut off and shape more loaves as you need them. When your dough is gone, don't clean the container. Go ahead and mix another batch - the remaining bits of dough will contribute flavor to the next batch, much like a sourdough starter does!
tip: If you are using King Arthur All Purpose Flour, I would use slightly less water (about 1/4 cup) than the recipe calls for. King Arthur AP Flour is higher protein flour than regular AP Flour, like Gold Medal or Pillsbury.
The dough is reminiscent of an Italian Biga - a starter. Same wet texture, although a biga is added for flavor and texture to more flour and liquid - and kneadedkneadedkneaded.
The bread came out pretty good. The hardest part for me was forming a proper loaf. I've made plenty of loose-dough breads before, but this one is a bit different. Very sticky. My hands aren't used to it. It doesn't feel right. But although it wasn't the most perfect loaf I've ever made, it was good.
The crust, in fact, is excellent. It's that nice, shiny, crackly crust ya get by spritzing and steaming a traditional loaf. The crumb was good but it's going to take just a bit of getting used to for me. It's very chewy. Not exactly but almost a bit gummy. Not a bad chewy or gummy, but just a bit different than what I've been baking recently.
The flavor is really good, though, and I can only imagine how much better it will become as it sours a bit in the fridge.
I don't know about the 5 minutes a day, stuff, but I can have a loaf baked in an hour.
It's not going to replace my other bread baking, but I have a feeling we'll have even more fresh bread on the table than we do now - and we have a lot now!
Stuffed Pork Loin and Roasted Cauliflower
I had an idea that I wanted a pork loin for dinner. I wasn't sure what I wanted, but knew that two of the ingredients really needed to be cauliflower and arugula. This time of year, "fresh" produce can either last indefinitely (which makes me suspicious) or can go off overnight - which makes me suspicious. I decided I needed to use these before I started getting suspicious.
I made a pretty simple bread and arugula stuffing with ingredients already in the house.
Arugula and Bread Stuffing with Bacon
- 3 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 6oz arugula
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Fry bacon until almost crisp. Add onion and cook until wilted. Add garlic and continue cooking.
Add arugula and cook down until wilted. Remove from heat.
Add bread crumbs, thyme, salt, pepper, and egg and mix well.
To assemble:
With sharp knife, slice pork loin open and flat. Spread stuffing and roll. Tie with butcher twine.
Roast at 350° about an hour or until desired doneness.
The potatoes were simply boiled and tossed with butter and parsley, salt and pepper.
The cauliflower was oven-roasted, caramelized goodness.
Roasted Cauliflower
- Cauliflower
- olive oil
- garlic powder
- salt and pepper
- Romano or parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 500°.
Mix cauliflower with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Arrange on baking sheet in one layer.
Roast in hot oven about 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and top with grated cheese.
Cut cauliflower into small florettes.
Cooking in a Winter Wonderland
I was a serious cookin' machine today! Beautiful snow falling (but not really sticking) put me in the mood to bake.
In-between baking projects, though, I did cook dinner,as well. Victor saw a recipe in Parade Magazine of all places that looked intriguing. Chicken and Peppers in a balsamic vinegar sauce. We've done a lot of balsamic reductions, but this one sounded just different enough to give it a try. This one comes from Bobby Flay.
Chicken and Peppers in Vinegar Sauce
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 8 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
- 1 large yellow bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp clover honey
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock or broth
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1. Heat oil in a medium Dutch oven over high heat until it shimmers. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels; season with salt and pepper. Place chicken in the pan, in batches, top-side-down. Cook until golden brown, 4 minutes. Turn over, continue cooking 3 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate.
2. Add peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the vinegar and cook until reduced by half. Add honey and broth, season with salt and pepper, cook for 5 minutes. Return the chicken and accumulated juices to the pot. Reduce heat to medium, cover the pot, and cook until the chicken is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the chicken to a platter. Cook sauce until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley and pour sauce over the chicken.
I served it with a whole grain mahogany rice blend. I made it with chunks of chicken breast because I didn't have any thighs in the freezer. It came out pretty good. I think I like Lidia's Pork Chops and Apples, better, though...
One thing I was definitely going to make today was an apple pie. And yes, I make my own pie crusts. They're just not that difficult to make and I can't find a decent pre-made crust that will fit a standard 10" deep-dish pie plate.
Food Processor Pie Crust
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 cup butter, cubed (I freeze it)
- pinch salt
- pinch sugar (if for sweet pie)
- 1/4 cup ice-cold water
Put flour, salt and sugar (if using) in food processor bowl. Pulse a second to blend.
Add cold or frozen butter pieces and pulse until well mixed.
Add water while mahine is running and pulse a few times to mix.
Dough will look very crumbly. Pinch together a small amount to see if it holds together. if it doies, you're set.
Form into two disks - one larger than the other - and let rest about 10 minutes.
Roll out on well-floured board.
It really is easy to do!
Apple Pie filling
- 5 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp allspice
- pinch salt
- 1/4 cup apricot brandy
Place all filling ingredients in large bowl and mix well.
Place filling into pastry-lined pie plate. Top with crust and crimp edges.
Bake at 400° about an hour.
It came out really good. It didn't even need ice cream!
The other thing I was obsessing about a bit today was Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread. I almost bought a loaf and then decided I could make one just as easy.
Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread
- 3 cups flour, more or less, divided
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 envelope active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons softened butter
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
In a large mixing bowl combine 1 cup flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Beating at low speed, add the water and butter. Continue beating at high speed for 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup flour and beat 4 minutes longer. Stir in 1 1/2 cups flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic, adding a little more flour as necessary.
Place dough in a large buttered bowl, turning to butter top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise for about 1 hour in a warm place, free of drafts.
Punch dough down; knead until smooth. Roll into a 12x9-inch rectangle.
Brsh with melted butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and then spread raisins evenly.
Starting with the narrow edge, roll up, turning ends under to make loaves to fit pans. Place rolls seam side down in greased loaf pans, 9x5x3-inches.
Cover pans with clean towel and let rise in warm place until double, about 45 minutes.
Bake loaves at 400° for 25 to 30 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped with fingers. Remove from pans to racks; brush with butter.
This was supposed to be for breakfast tomorrow. Needless to say, we didn't wait.
I could eat this every day.
As for the snow storm that was supposed to droip another 18" of snow? It hasn't quite hit yet.
Debbie's Chicken
Many moons ago, my sister-in-law Debbie made a great chicken dish. I don't recall where the original recipe came from, but it's a dish that was in our regular rotation for years. She even submitted the recipe for a Family Reunion Cook Book.
As I said, we made it often. And then, for whatever reason, it faded away.
Until tonight.
I've been thinking about it recently and, as luck would have it, we just happened to have all the right ingredients in the house!
It was every bit as good as I remembered it!
Chicken Zucchini Parmesan
- 1/4 C dried breadcrumbs
- 1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese
- 4 chicken breasts, boned and skinned
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1-15 oz, can or jar marinara sauce
- 2 tbsp parsley
- 1/2 tsp garlic
- 1 lb. zucchini, sliced
- 8 oz. Monterey jack cheese, grated
Mix 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese with dried breadcrumbs. Dip chicken in egg, then into breadcrumbs and cheese. Heat oil; add chicken and brown on both sides. Set aside.
Place 1/2 of the marinara sauce in a pan. Top with zucchini, then chicken. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the jack cheese and 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese. Top with remaining sauce. Cover and bring to boil. Simmer 25 minutes until chicken and zucchini are tender.
Sprinkle with remaining jack cheese and Parmesan. Cover and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.
My only changes were that I used homemade sauce, used mozzarella and provolone cheeses, and after putting it all together, put it into a 375° oven for about 30 minutes.
Thanks, Deb. It's back in the rotation!
Sunday Dinner
Sunday Dinner. The perfect excuse to eat a big meal early in the day. I picked up an on-sale-buck-a-pound ham yesterday and called Victor's brother as soon as I got home to invite them over for dinner. A 9-pound ham needs more than two people. A lot more. We ended up with seven. (Well, six. One is a vegetarian.)
I was actually a good boy. I didn't go crazy like I usually do. One appetizer. A simple bruschetta for starters. One. I amazed myself. I resisted. And won.
Besides the ham, we had sweet potatoes, broccoli, a big salad and dinner rolls. I made some croutons from a loaf of old bread... Cubed the bread and drizzled it with olive oil, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Baked about 20 minutes at 350°.
The sweets were good. I steamed them a bit and then put them in a covered casserole with a splash of maple syrup, a splash of sherry, and a bit of salt and pepper. Baked about 40 minutes. Steamed broccoli with a bit of butter. Simple and basic. And really good.
Marie made dessert. A Rum Cake that really was good. We snagged a hunk for a second dessert later on tonight while watching the Olympics. After ham sandwiches, of course.
My stomach is smiling.
Creamy Chicken and Mashed Potatoes
My Winter Variety Cooking Quotient is just about maxed. I seem to be continually drifting back to a creamed chicken something. Fortunately, I really like creamed chicken somethings - and tonight's version had the added bonus of emptying out the freezer of three different partial-bags of frozen vegetables. For the first time in months, I can see into every shelf-bin in there. Monday will be a fun shopping day.
It's still winter here outside of Valley Forge. There's still lots of snow on the ground. That means it's still creamed-chicken-something - or saucy-something - or baked-noodle-something - or fresh-baked-bread-and-soup-something time. I'm thinking how nice it would be to fire up the grill. A thick, juicy steak and tomatoes fresh from the garden. I'm ready to expand the repertoire again. Fresh vegetables grown locally - not grown 8,000 miles away and picked rock-hard and unripe. I'm ready.
In the meantime, tonight's creamy-chicken-something was similar to a pot pie filling topped with mashed potatoes, and baked in a 400° oven for about 20 minutes. Perfect comfort food and perfect for the weather.
The weather.
I think I need to pick up a bag of charcoal on Monday.....
Vellutata di asparagi
Over time I have let just about all of my cooking magazines lapse. The same dozen recipes kept coming back month after month with little variation. And more and more recipes seem to be relying on processed, packaged or boxed ingredients. We all know how much I love that stuff. Riiiiiiight.......
A noticeable exception has been La Cucina Italiana. It's a fun read, and although I don't make a lot of the recipes, they always inspire me and get me thinking outside the box. Like the April issue that just arrived.
Thumbing through the magazine - actually, sitting on the couch getting rid of the blow-in cards - I saw a picture of a soup. An Asparagus Soup. With a fried egg floating in the center. It was so unexpected. It looked wonderful. I kept going back to it. I knew I was immediately going to make it. Or, at least a variation of it. I was truly mesmerized.
The magazine arrived yesterday. Tonight I did my variation.
2 things about the magazine recipe; the soup itself seemed just a bit bland, and I thought a poached egg would work better than a fried egg. As I said - they inspire me, I don't necessarily make things the way they do.
So here's what I did:
Asparagus Soup with Poached Eggs
- 1 large leek, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into uniform pieces (reserve a few tips for garnish)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups nonfat milk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup creme fraiche
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 eggs, poached
Saute leek and garlic in butter until soft. Add asparagus, then broth, water, and nonfat milk. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer until asparagus is tender.
Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. (Soup will probably look like it is curdling. Don't worry. It's okay!)
Use an immersion blender and puree soup. If you don't have an immersion blender - go buy one - they're cheap. Or, puree in a blender - but do be careful. Hot liquids and blenders cause explosions.
Mix in creme fraiche and check for seasoning. Keep warm while poaching eggs.
Ladle soup into bowls and add poached egg. Garnish with a few reserved asparagus spears, if desired.
This was just a totally unexpected treat. I didn't add any other herbs or spices because I wanted the asparagus flavor to come through.
I also made especially runny eggs because I figured they would continue cooking in the hot soup. It was a good call. Had I cooked them to a more normal doneness, they really would have been overcooked by the time we sat down. I wanted the yolk to still be runny - not a golf ball.
It really worked well and I can see this with a lot of different soups. More experimenting to come!