Springtime Creamy Asparagus Soup

As you may have read recently, I somehow ended up with 5 massive bunches of asparagus this past week. I roasted some to have with fried eggs for breakfast, I laid a bunch out on pastry dough with potatoes and cheese for a lunchtime tart, I threw a handful into my Chicken Tetrazzini and still I had barely made a dent in the massive pile of tall green stalks. On my food challenge quest for inspiration a few folks suggested making a soup which I thought about and then promptly forgot. Then by the chances of fate when I flipped on the TV the other day, Anne Burrell was in fact making a chilled asparagus soup! So I figured the universe was trying to tell me something so I trudged into the kitchen to get started. I used Anne’s recipe as a base and then added a few touches here and there. All in all for my first stab at asparagus soup, not bad. Hell, it was actually rather fabulous! The potatoes give it texture and creaminess without needing to add any actual cream, though I did because I had some in the frige, but only a touch and honestly it doesn’t need it. A pinch of red pepper for some heat because I like a little spice but you could easily not include it. You might also make it completely vegetarian by using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. I froze half so when husband defrosts it while I am away, will let you know how that experiment goes. All in all, will definitely be making this one again.

A Food Challenge

I had an unanticipated random food challenge this week. By the devilish wiles of chance and fate I ended up with nearly two pounds of red bliss potatoes, 1 large onion, 2 leeks, 5 bunches of asparagus, one head of iceberg lettuce, the remains of a bunch of celery, a bag of baby greens, 3 pints of dying strawberries, 2 avocados, a handful of radishes and 4 defrosted skinless chicken breast. Luckily there was no partridge or pear tree to be had. To add to this dilemma was the fact that I only had two days to get this food cooked, eaten and leftovers frozen as the husband and I were heading out of town for the weekend and the following week marked the beginning of my two week trip across country for work, leaving husband to fend for himself in the kitchen! So I did what any other person would, I stood shivering in front of my open refrigerator scratching my head…. er, I mean, “assessing the situation.”

Once that proved fruitless I took to the web, facebooking, food blogging and emailing friends for inspiration. Lots of fun things came out of this exercise and I have certainly now added a ton to my “plan to cook at some point in the future” list. I already had my heart set on cooking a chicken casserole dish this week (see post next week) so with that in mind it became an asparagus battle. I mean what does one do with 5 large bunches of asparagus (never mind pounds of potatoes)? It is a rather daunting task. Particularly when one’s husband only kind of likes asparagus leaving ONE to really eat all 5 bunches of asparagus largely on one’s own!! And while I simply adore bacon wrapped, deep fried and other tastily fat filled asparagus delights, I do have a wedding to go to this weekend in a sunny local where a bathing suit may also be adorned (GASP!). As such, these types of delectable recipes will have to hold for another time.

But then I was thinking (a dangerous thing in fact)…..a little fat isn’t too terrible right? And some cheese? I mean, if you’re cooking, cheese really must to be involved. Everyone knows that. And hmm, don’t I just love bread. I do really love bread. It’s so flaky and crusty and chewy…..and…..uh oh, an idea was percolating. Frozen puff pastry dough, check. Onions for caramelizing, check. Extra Gruyere from said planned chicken casserole, check. Potatoes and asparagus, double check. I smell a tart coming on!

And so my little adventure resulted in a delightful tart (which further inspired a lovely salad) that would be supplemented by the creamy chicken tetrazzini being made later in the week. My food challenge response: Potato, Asparagus and Caramelized Onion Tart with a side spring salad. I didn't end up using every potato or aspargus spear so who knows, maybe I'll whip up a soup before we head out of town tomorrow, but this tart was definitely one hell of a tastey experiment!

Reinvention of a Dusty American Meal

Old school American food is in my mind epitomized in the tuna noodle casserole. This dish has many variations but the version served to me at a very young age was largely based on a cream of mushroom soup foundation. A dish that was easy on the wallet but went a long way to feed a (picky) crowd. I don’t think I’ve eaten this American standard fare in over two decades, so while feeling a little nostalgic and a lot homey this week, I decided it was time to dust off this old recipe and bring it into the 21st century.

Bon Appetite magazine’s March 2010 issue took a stab at reinventing old school classic dishes, one of which being the tuna noodle casserole. Now I’m sure their original recipe is just fabulous, but being me, I’ve take some liberties in adjusting their recipe to my tastes. Here I’ve added things like sliced mushrooms, peas and some fun spices. The end result – utter love on a plate. The crushed potato chip topping (Bon Appetite’s idea, not mine, but brilliant!) gave the dish a fantastic, salty crunch while the leek and mushroom cream sauce wraps your food sole in a creamy, homey hug with bursts of freshness from the peas. This recipe has a long list of ingredient but most of them are things you are likely to have around and others not too hard to find.

Sno Caps in Austin

A Girl and Her Kitchen is expanding! Welcome to the first installment of my guest blog series….A Girl’s Friend and Their Kitchen! This first entry comes from Ms. Elle Boogie in Austin, Texas. She and the hubs go way back. Boogie just relocated to Austin from LA to go to culinary school, which only makes this entry even more fun! We hope she comes back again with all the fun facts and recipes she learns in class!

It's pouring rain here in Austin and I have the day off work, so I thought why not put my (budding) culinary skills to work, pastry style. Well actually, cookie style. Now, I've never baked cookies before, but I've eaten plenty and think I know what it takes to make one oh so delicious. And as I perused the isles of Dollar Tree (more like HOLLER Tree; that place is awesome!!), I came across my inspiration. SNO CAPS!! It's hard to outdo semi-sweet chocolate drops covered in crunchy little candy sprinkles, but I was out to try. So I grabbed a couple of boxes and headed to the market for all the necessary ingredients for creating my little masterpieces. Since I've always been a huge fan of those Entenmann's Toffee cookies, once I saw the bags of Heath toffee bits I knew I had to have them! Finally made it home and began working my cookie making magic. The result was yummy, sticky, gooey deliciousness! Prep and cooking takes less than 30 minutes and well worth the mess!! Happy baking, y'all!

Homemade Biscuits Make Brunch a Major Hit

It seems like every time company comes to visit it’s a food whirlwind, trucking from one delicious eating opportunity to another. Maybe it’s related to my general life obsession with food and eating but no matter the reason it’s always an adventure. My folks were in town visiting recently and so Sunday brunch with my in-laws was a big item on the to-do list. We had been out to eat a ton so I figured we should do brunch at my house where people could relax and avoid the hassle that can be a restaurant brunch. However, I didn’t want to spend my entire morning in the kitchen so I had to do some research.

I found these spectacularly easy but delightfully delicious buttermilk chive biscuits while trolling smittenkitchen. Now I have never in my life made biscuits from scratch before, but armed with my new found obsession with bread making (and the pastry blender I picked up recently) I figured, what the heck.

And OH MY!!!! Easy to make especially with my little pastry cutter but you could certainly use your fingers to break the butter into the flour. The texture was sinful, flaky, buttery, light but rich in flavor. I could not stop eating these little guys! The best part --- after shaping the biscuits and placing them onto cookie sheets, I wrapped the whole thing in tinfoil and plopped it in the freezer the night before (and I am sure you could make them days in advance) and baked the biscuits up in no time flat straight from the freezer before we sat down to brunch. A major homemade touch that took maybe 10 minutes to mix the dough and form the biscuits and 15 minutes to cook. Easy as pie and a major winner on the brunch table. I will be making these again and again. Maybe next time I’ll add bacon pieces too!