Asparagus & Mushrooms Soup

I love to eat. & I love delicious food.  I also like to fit into my favorite pair of jeans.  So I decided to explore how I can exploit all the yummy goodness of nutritional food.  Both family & friends, I am finding more & more people eating healthier.  I'm also finding myself leaning more to the vegetables of our local farms & markets. There isn't much produce being grown in these arctic like temperatures of winter in NY, but there are still plenty of fresh veggies at the market.

So let's start with first course, Asparagus & Mushroom Soup.  I love this recipe because it really isn't a recipe at all.  It is more like painting with an open palette.  This soup could have easily been a broccoli floret & New York State Extra Sharp Cheddar... mmmmm, maybe next.  It all starts with a good stock.  When I'm cooking for a lot of people I try to make my own stocks because I have a lot of extra tips & ends that can create depth in a homemade stock.  But, when I'm cooking for myself it's a whole lot easier to buy a good organic veggie stock.  To enhance the flavor of the stock I add all the woody ends of the asparagus to it, they are still loaded with flavor. Since we're at it, toss in all the stems of those fresh mushrooms.  Basically we're making our own personalized broth.  The goal is to transform the generic stock into  liquid spoonfuls of asparagus & mushroom.

Ok, so what's our shopping list:

• A quart or 2 of organic veggie  stock
• A bunch of asparagus
• A bunch of yummy fresh mushrooms
• A few pretty mushrooms to float on top
• Olive oil as needed
• A bunch of shallots maybe 4
• A leek or 2 depending on their size
• A clove or 2 of garlic adjust in the likelihood of vampires
• A dollop of Greek yogurt? tangier than a glugg of heavy cream
• A flaky salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

to garnish:

• Grated Parmesan cheese
• Truffle Salt or Truffle Oil
• A touch of Greek yogurt 
• Fresh chopped herbs basil, thyme, rosemary...

so many options!

To enjoy the most out of cooking I like to have everything prepped before I start, besides the fact that I like to use every dish in the house, I also like to see everything that makes up the dish in front of me.  I can look at the ingredients & know where I am going.  I also believe there will be a day when someone will assemble my mise en place for me, so why not get use to the workflow now?  :)

We trim the asparagus.  The woody part of the stems are cutoff & tossed in the simmering stock, same with those mushroom stems & any essences we want our broth to possess.  Continue by trimming off the tender top most tip.  We're going to save these until the end. What's left of this luscious  stalk can get chopped into bite size pieces & put in a different bowl.  The mushrooms are sliced, some for a sautéed garnish others to be sautéed for the body of the soup.  The shallots & leeks will get chopped into small pieces that will be transformed into a tender & sweet undertone for our soup.  Garlic is minced & yogurt is available.

Our broth is going to simmer along for about a ½ an hour.  If you walk away & it has reduced too far, no worries we have an extra quart.  After the stems have given us all they have, remove then from the broth & turn up the heat to bring to a boil.  Prepare an ice-bath because when the broth reaches a boil, we are going to toss in our tender tips of asparagus for just a few seconds to allow them to turn a bright green with an al dente bite, then plunge them into the icy water to stop them cooking at that perfect point.  If we hadn't done our miss en place, things can get over cooked quickly. Return broth to a simmer & add the remaining bites of asparagus.

While the broth is simmering.  Take a separate pan (I told you I like to use every pan in the kitchen) heat up some olive oil.  Start by sautéing your pretty mushrooms for garnish, when they are perfect, set them aside for later.  Add shallots & leeks to the pan, adjusting olive oil accordingly.  When the mixture starts to turn translucent & juicy, add in the garlic & the mushrooms and continue cooking down until the mushrooms, shallots & leeks give up their juices & cling to each other.  When that marriage happens we can add the broth with the asparagus into the mix.  Allow our flavors to blend.  Depending on the consistency you want for your soup will delegate whether you use a immersion blender or a blender blender... use either method wisely my friend & a bit at a time.  Now it's just a matter of letting the soup cook down to your desired thickness. Before serving, blend in a spoonful of greek yogurt to taste, or leave it out for a completely vegan meal or replace with cream for a more decadent (read caloric) version.

When you serve the soup, add back in a few of the prize cooked asparagus (either room temperature or warmed) along with a few pretty mushrooms.  I've been enjoying a different garnish each time I have this soup.  I loved the added surprise that came with sprinkled truffle salts.  The snarkiness of the parmesan was a perfect blend.  I also liked a simple dab of extra yogurt with the hot & cold thing going on.  I'm interested to taste many different variations.