This weather is for the ducks

So after my morning walk, I'm back inside, warm and dry, making asaparagus soup.

This recipe is from my current favourite cookbook. It uses earthy, simple ingredients which, married together, transform themslves into a soup that's elegant, velvety and luscious. Definitely not for the dairy-shy, it calls for healthy amounts of butter and cream. And it can be served hot or cold, so enjoy it in the early spring as soon as asparagus comes into season, and through the summer months. Bon appetit.

ASPARAGUS SOUP
Adapted from Roast Chicken and Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson
Serves four.

1/2 cup butter
white parts of 4 small leeks, sliced
3 cups water
1 large potato, peeled and diced
1 lb fresh asparagus
1 cup heavy cream

In a large pot, melt the butter. When it stops sizzling, add the leeks, season with salt and pepper, and cook until soft.

Add the water and potatoes and season again with salt and pepper. Keep the heat at medium-high and cook for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the asparagus. Snap off or peel the woody ends and roughly chop up the spears. When the potatoes are soft, add the asparagus, crank the heat up to high, and cook at a rolling boil for 5 minutes.

Use an immersion blender to blend thoroughly. Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if desired. Stir in the cream, or serve it on the side.

Garnish with minced flat-leaf parsley (optional). 


This weather is for the ducks




Roast Chicken and Other Stories

If a cookbook author could be a soulmate, then I think Simon Hopkinson is mine. His Roast Chicken and Other Stories practically floated off the library bookshelf into my hands - who could resist such a beguiling title?

As I started reading, I marvelled at how many things we have in common: his penchant for eggplants and for salty things (a whole chapter dedicated to anchovies!); his firm insistence that butter and olive oil are most certainly not interchangeable ("If a dish needs butter, it gets butter; if it needs olive oil, it gets olive oil"); his tendency to be mesmerized by the sight of a chicken slowly turning golden brown in the oven; his unshakeable devotion to cream.

"I do believe," he writes, "against all the odds, that cream will be with us for a long time yet, despite its well-known high-cholesterol content. After all, who in their heart of hearts would want to be without crème brûlée, the best vanilla ice cream, or clotted cream on a scone with strawberry jam?"

Sigh. Who, indeed?  Definitely not me.

Best of all is his light-hearted attitude towards food. He manages to walk the fine line between loving it and not taking it too seriously. "It is far better to cook food for your friends that you enjoy eating yourself....Carefully prepared and simple dishes are an asset to a good lunch or dinner party. The food should not dominate the proceedings. Rather, it should enchance and liven the occasion."

I'm so glad I found you, Simon. I'm looking forward to cooking with you.




Roast Chicken and Other Stories