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Asparagus & Pea Soup With Herb Crackers

Asparagus Soup & Herbed Crackers


With the temperatures well into the 90s already, it’s crazy to feel that Spring almost feels like a distant memory. But it is. Almost. I know how short the seasons can be for fruits and vegetables when I am able to find asparagus at the farmers market one week and hardly the next. I love seeing the display of these vibrant green or sometimes purple stalks.

Asparagus season always brings about fond memories of Sunday dinners back home in France. My heart strongly swayed in favor of freshly steamed artichokes but my mother had a knack for making steamed asparagus so perfectly well that my palate was all out of sorts when it came to pick a favorite. My favorite way to eat them was when she’d serve them with a light vinaigrette. Just like I liked artichokes in vinaigrette or leeks in vinaigrette. Clearly, I have a thing for vinaigrette!

Herbed Crackers


However, there are enough salads and vinaigrette in my Southern warm life to want to change things up. One of our other staples for dinners is often a big bowl of soup and a poached egg on top. We are big fans and big believers of the "life is better with poached egg on top". Makes leftovers take on a brand new life, brings a simple dish of sauteed kale and garlic to new and wonderful heights and well, just makes us weak in the knees to see that yellow yokey goodness from a farm fresh egg …

I disgress…Soup! Yes! Soup holds a special place in our meals. When I was growing up, my mom would start every dinner with a small cup or bowl of soup. Just veggies, pureed smooth, no starch. Piping hot with a little swirl of creme fraiche. It was her ritual to ensure we’d get our veggies in. I created a whole game around it to try and name as many veggies she included as possible. I think it played a major role in developing my palate over the years.

Asparagus


When I was planning my move to the US in the late 90s, there was no doubt in my mind that I would keep this tradition of having soup at dinner. Then I moved to the South. The hot and humid climate of the region turned me away from steamy soup for a while. I went all out on gazpacho, Vichyssoise, cold cucumber and dill, etc… Slowly, over the years, I went back to warm, sometimes piping hot soup, no matter the weather. Not just vegetable soups like I had eaten all my life. I was onto lentil soup, chowders, single vegetable based soups, etc…

One day last week that I was making dinner for my parents(they are visiting us here), it felt as if I had turned their world upside down when I said I was going to make Asparagus and Pea Soup as a starter for dinner. We never had a soup with just two veggies when I was growing up! I knew this one would win them over just the way it had won B. over a couple of weeks before.

Pea Blossoms


Some really tasty meals can come out of throwing a bit of this and a little of that together in a pot. It happened with this soup. One I could make time and time over and eat just about as much. It tastes a bit different every time. It wraps the house with the softest smell of Spring.

I guess you can make it all year long and still enjoy some of the lovely flavors. You can have anything pretty much all year long the way supermarkets are set up these days. But I encourage you to take advantage of the ingredients in season where you are. Their taste is so intense that it will often surprise your tastebuds with this "I had forgotten an eggplant had this much flavor!"

Herbed Crackers


It happened with this soup when I combined the first asparagus of the season with a few handful of pea blossoms I picked up at the market. I knew the season would be short and I had waited long enough for each ingredient! That’s also why I love seasonal cooking. The wait and anticipation of the first raspberries, squash blossoms. Then the explosion of flavors in our mouths sending signals of goodness all through our souls.

This soup fits the bill perfectly. Simple. Satisfying. I bet it would be even better with a poached egg on top but the herb crackers I made to go along were a great complement and a nice change to croutons. Worth waiting another Spring for!

Asparagus Soup



Asparagus And Pea Soup with Herb Crackers:

Serves 6 to 8 as an appetizer and 4 as meal

Ingredients:
1 bunch asparagus (about one pound)
1 to 2 cups pea blossoms, pea shoots or peas (fresh or frozen)
2 gloves garlic, skin removed
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Snap the ends of the asparagus. Bring a large pot filled with water to a boil over high heat. Throw in the asparagus and cook them for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and remove the asparagus from the water with a slotted spoon and place them in a blender or food processor (or deep bowl if using an immersion blender). Do not discard the cooking water. Bring back to a boil, throw in the pea blossoms, pea shoots or peas and cook for about 3 minutes if using pea shoots/blossoms, and 5 if using fresh or frozen peas. Add the garlic at the same time you add the peas. Remove from the heat and remove the pea shoots/blossoms/peas and garlic with a slotted spoon. Reserve the cooking liquid. Place in the blender with the asparagus and puree until smooth. You might need to add some of the cooking liquid to reach the consistency that you like. Season with salt and pepper and serve either hot or room temperatures.

Herbed Crackers:

Makes about 24 small ones

Ingredients:
1 stick butter at room temperature
2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon finely chopped oregano
1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme
1 cup millet flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 cup milk (optional)

Directions:
In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter and egg yolks together on medium speed until creamy looking. Add salt and pepper and the herbs and whip for 10 seconds just to mix them in at low speed. Add the millet and sweet rice flour with the mixer still on low speed. If the mixture feels too crumbly add a little bit of milk to obtain a smooth but not too wet dough. Start with one tablespoon at a time.
Gather the dough into a bowl and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
When ready to bake, turn the oven to 350F and position a rack in the middle.
Roll the dough in between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll to about 1/4 to 1/8-inch thick. Cut cookies out in the dough and place them on a parchment lined baing sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
Serve with the soup.

Chilled Lemon Cucumber & Fresh Pea Soup

Chilled Cucumber & Pea Soup


BlogHer Food has been such a whirlwind that I need to think on it for a couple of days before I can post some about it (and get my derriere to post process all the shots I took). It went by fast that’s for sure which is why I am so happy I extended my stay by a couple of days and stayed with my close friend Anita and her husband and got to hang out with some more of my favorite people which I will pimp out in future post, eheh.. They are truly my home away from home.

All Squared On Pea Shoots


Like most of us attending BlogHer Food, I met Anita online when I started leaving comment on her blog everytime she posted a new cocktail. Not that I drink that much but I do love the mixology part of the cocktail, the technique and craft very closely related to food. We exchanged emails, we sent cards then little gifts. We just clicked. And they got two adorable pups…all about that! It was nice to spend a couple of days relaxing and exploring San Francisco aside from the conference. So hard to get any time off these day.

Lemon Cucumbers


Chris and Tami, my roommates at the conference hotel, joked that we have to meet on the other side of the country to catch up when we only live a few hours from each other. And catch up we did. It was pretty much Comedy Central from the moment we’d get up until bedtime when we’d literally crash on our pillows. Love those two. Gracious definitely comes to mind when I think about them. They are gracious of their time, advice, energy, faults and strength. Tami sees the world with a brutal honesty I admire and seek while Chris is one of the most nurturing woman I know.

Chilled Cucumber & Pea Soup


I’ll go back more on BlogHer Food in a later post but there were moment that made me want to get all these people on a plane and ship them back with me to Charleston. They would love it here, they would love my friends her and they would love them back. I know that. In those moments I start thinking of the gatherings we would have around our dinner table and the belly laughs that would soon follow. I begin picking the menu in my head according to what I think I’d find at the market. Right now, we would undeniably start dinner with this Lemon Cucumber and Pea Soup I made the other day.

Pomegranate


It’s not Fall here quite yet so we are still enjoying tons of salads, cold soups, light entrees. After making gazpacho and Vichyssoise a lot this summer, I took opportunity of another trip to the market and loaded up on tiny lemon cucumbers for a cold soup. They owe their name to their shape rather than their taste but they are distinctively mellower than regular cucumbers. The ones I have been getting also seem to have more flesh to seed ratio but feel free to use what you have available.

Fresh Local Peas


This soup is nothing but easy to make, easy to eat and easy to crave some more. It makes a refreshing starter a great little chaser during a long multi course meal.

I almost forgot to announce the winner of the Scharffen-Berger giveaway…..! And the box full of chocolate goodies goes to: Emily from Five And Spice! Congratulations! Please get in touch with me (mytartelette @ gmail . com) so we can get this box shipped out to you!

Chilled Cucumber & Pea Soup



Lemon Cucumber and Fresh Pea Soup:

Serves 4 as an appetizer

Notes: we like to top ours with some pomegranate seeds for a bit of a crunch and a little tartness to a mellow soup but you could skip this step entirely or use polenta croutons, toasted nuts, pumpkin seeds, root chips, etc…
If you can find pea shoots, they make a lovely topping but a few leaves of arugula would work also to add to the soup.

1 cup fresh peas, shelled(can use frozen of needed but not canned)
4 lemon cucumebers or one regular cucumber
water of vegetable stock
salt and pepper
pomegranate seeds and pea shoots optional but very tasty…

In a large pot of boiling water, blanch the fresh peas until fork tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and immediately dump the peas in a bowl of ice cold water to cool and stop the cooking process. Once they are cold, drain completely.
In the meantime, peel and seed the cucumbers. Seeding is not mandatory but I would definitely do it if I were to use regular cucumbers from the store.
Place the peas and cucumbers in a food processor and start pureeing them. Depending on the amount of water originally in the cucumbers, you might need to add water or vegetable stock to reach the consistency you desire, anywhere from a few tablespoons to 1/3 cup. Salt and pepper to taste.
Keep refrigerated until ready to eat.

Fresh Pea, Cheese and Herb Salad

Pea Salad Ingredients


Everytime I look at the picture above, I think what a perfect metaphor it is for life. At least mine. It’s got shadows. It’s got color. Texture. Spice. Flavor. It’s got old parts and it’s got new ones. It’s got roundness and it’s got angles. It’s good in so many different ways. Everyday we put things in a pot and try to make them work. Sometimes the pot gets too full and tilts over. Most times, my attempts at making things right result in pretty good things. Literally. This Fresh Pea Salad being one of them.

I got these gorgeous peas during the early days of the farmers market, shelled them and froze them. I was still undecided as to what their fate would be but I could not pass on this much freshness in a pod. It’s been a month now that I have taken a still life of them for the French Word A Week feature but I just did not want to post a shot of a peas in bowl and run off the page.

Like a bunch of petit pois running off my plate.(click on word to hear the pronunciation)

Fresh Peas & Goat Cheese Salad


I think that I like saying "petit pois" as much as I like pomme de terre or pamplemousse. The word just jumps on your tongue before jumping on your plate. I told you. Little things make me insanely happy. The muffled sound of beer being poured in a glass, the shattering of the sugar crust on a creme caramel. The pop that little peas make between my teeth.

Forget what the calendar reads, it’s Summer here already. With this heat, there isn’t a day without a salad. A big bowl with fresh ingredients from the farmers market thrown in together. They don’t have to match. They just have to play well with one another.

This salad is perfect as a side dish whether you use fresh or frozen peas, and lends itself to enough variations it can make your head spin. It’s best served lukewarm with its sauteed onion and garlic and you can skip the cheese on top of need be. The first batch we had was actually just peas, salt and pepper and plenty of fresh herbs from the garden. It made a refreshing, light and easy side to a grilled piece of salmon on a warm and humid evening.

Fresh Local Peas


We also turned it into lunch by adding fresh cheese I made the day I did faisselle, a poached egg and a piece of bread. I thought B. would ask where was the meat but it turned out to be satisfying just as it was on yet another scorching day. I used a basic recipe for paneer to make the fresh cheese but you can substitute any soft variety that you like or pick a harder cheese like parmesan (or skip it altogether). We like ours with a chiffonade of basil and oregano but the choice is yours. The possibilities are only limited by what’s not around pretty much.

I am really tempted to morph it into something similar to what Sean posted the other day: a snap pea, radish and mint salad. Hmmm….

One more thing before you ump on to the recipe:
Congratulations to Katie G. – lucky winner of the Evo 10 conference pass. See you in Utah!

Fresh Peas & Goat Cheese Salad



Fresh Pea, Herb and Cheese Salad:

Serves 4 as a side dish

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups water
2 cups freshly shelled peas (use frozen if you have to)
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup fresh cheese (I used this recipe for paneer)
salt and pepper to taste
freshly chopped basil and oregano (or whatever you like instead)
splash of balsamic vinegar and oil (roughly 2 teaspoons each)

In a large saucepan set over medium heat, heat the oil and sautee the onion and garlic until translucent. Set aside.
Bring the water to a boil in large stock pot and cook the peas until tender (about 5 minutes). Drain them from the water, rinse under cold water and drain well.
In a large bowl, combine the peas, onion, garlic, fresh cheese, salt, pepper and the herbs. Mix until combined and add a few splashes of vinegar and olive oil. You’re set!

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Le P’tit Coin Francais:

Salade de petit pois et fromage frais:

1/2 oignon, coupe en des
2-3 gousses d’ail, emincees
120gr-150gr de fromage frais (recette ici)
1 litre d’eau
500gr de petit pois (sans ecosses)
sel et poivre
basilic et origan (ou autre)
1 cc huile
1 cc vinaigre balsamique

Dans une grande poele, faire revenir l’oignon et l’ail jusqu’a ce qu’ils soit translucide. Mettre de cote.
Dans une grande casserole, porter l’eau a ebullition et faire y cuire les petits pois pendant 5 minutes. Les passer sous l’eau froide et laisser bien egoutter.
Dans un grand saladier, melanger l’oignon, l’ail, les petits pois, le fromage frais, sel, poivre et ajouter un peu d’huile et vinaigre. C’est pret!