Cream of Asparagus Soup

I got this basic recipe from a Williams-Sonoma Soup & Stew recipe book that was given to me by one of my sisters on the occasion of my retirement in 2006. The authors said it can be used to make a variety of “Cream of …” soups (i.e., carrots, broccoli).

When I watched Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, Anne Burrelle pureed all the vegetables in her food blender. So that’s what I did instead of cooking the veggies in the pot. Result? It cooked faster.

Then, I watched Sunny Anderson in her show, Cooking for Real. Instead of crème fraiche, she just added a cup of sour cream to the finished soup.

I compromised between the Williams-Sonoma recipe below, Anne Burrelle’s technique, and Sunny Anderson’s alteration – did all my fine dicing and chopping in the food processor, and added in my own version of sour cream whisked well into whipping cream.

Ingredients

• BUTTER, 1 tablespoon
• OLIVE OIL, 2 tablespoons
• LEEKS, 2, white and light-green parts cleaned and finely chopped*
• ASPARAGUS, 1 pound, trimmed, peeled, cut into 2-inch strips; reserve the tips*
• RUSSET POTATO, 1, peeled, cut into 2-inch chunks*
• CHICKEN STOCK, 4 cups
• SALT
• WHITE PEPPER, freshly ground
• LEMON, juice of ½ lemon
• CRÈME FRAÎCHE*, 3 tablespoons

Directions

1. Melt the butter in the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat.
2. Saute the leeks until softened (about 5 minutes).
3. Add the asparagus and potato, sauté until nicely coated and beginning to soften (about 3 minutes longer).
4. Add the stock and flavor with salt and white pepper to taste.
5. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, reduce to simmer, covered partially, until veggies are very tender (about 15 minutes).
6. In a separate saucepan, boil some water, then add in the lemon juice and the asparagus tips. Boil until crisp-tender and still bright green (about 3 minutes). Drain, set aside.
7. When the leek/asparagus/potatoes are tender, take the soup off the heat and puree with an immersion or regular blender, or with a food processor.
8. Adjust the seasoning.
9. Garnish in the soup bowl with a dollop of crème fraiche* and the asparagus tips.

* My Changes:

Instead of sautéing the leeks, asparagus and potato chunks until tender, I finely minced them in my food processor: First the leeks, which I then sautéed in the butter and olive oil; then the asparagus and potatoes together, which I added to the leeks and cooked for a few minutes before adding the chicken broth.

And, of course, I live in Hawaii, where I can never find any crème fraiche, so I made a substitute, adding 2 tablespoons of sour cream to ½ cup whipping cream and blending until smooth. Just wait a little bit and the cream will clot nicely.