Asparagus Soup!

Well, in the end, my previous soup experiment had plenty of flavor, just not the right kind. :-} Daikon turns out to have a rather distinct and strong flavor which neither M nor I were too fond of, at least in this preparation. Without the daikon, the soup was just ok. M didn't really care for it either way. So.....chalk that one up to a vote in the "No" column.

But fear not!!!! I am back at it, this time following recipes again. :-) This time, partially inspired by an excellent lunch at Boudin Bakery in Santa Ana on Sunday, I decided to try making asparagus soup using a recipe from M's new cookbook. It's really very simple, and I admit I was a little dubious for a while. You chop up asparagus (1 lbs) and onion (1/2 c) and heat them in a pan with some chicken broth (1 c). Then, once the asparagus is tender, you puree at least part of the asparagus/onion mixture. With that on hold, you make a roux (2 T butter + 2 T flour) in a sauce pan and add more chicken broth (1 c), salt (2 t) and pepper (dash), stirring constantly until it just begins to boil (that's about the time it starts getting thick). Then, the asparagus puree and whatever asparagus you had not pureed, plus some milk (1 c), some sour cream or yoghurt, (1/2 c - I used sour cream) and some lemon juice (2 t). Voila! Both the prep time and the cooking time are pretty short, and the soup is good! In the end, I think I put a little too much sour cream in, and a few pieces of asparagus were a tad bit crunchy (I prefer it to be completely soft). Next time I might try the yoghurt substitute for sour cream, just because.

It doesn't make the biggest quantity of soup out there, but the whole thing probably cost less than $2.50, with enough for three or maybe four bowls. And did I mention it tastes really good?