ASPARAG-SOUP-1(SPV)      USENET Cookbook      ASPARAG-SOUP-1(SPV)
SUMMER ASPARAGUS SOUP
     ASPARAG-SOUP-1 - A light and simple asparagus soup
     Every summer, it seems, the grocery stores are 
glutted with
     cheap asparagus. Most of the classical recipes 
for asparagus
     soup produce a hearty winter-style soup.  Here's 
a simple
     recipe for a delicious, light, thin soup that is 
more in
     keeping with the time of the year that the glut 
occurs. You
     can leave out the chicken broth to make it a meatless 
soup,
     but it does require egg yolks.
INGREDIENTS (Serves 4-6)
     2 Tbsp    butter
     1         onion, chopped
     1 1/2 lbs fresh asparagus
     2 Tbsp    flour
     6 cups    boiling water
     2 tsp     salt
     1/4 cup   rich chicken broth (optional)
     2         egg yolks
     1/2 cup   milk
PROCEDURE
          (1)  Melt the butter in a pan big enough to 
cook the
               soup. Sauté the onions for a few 
minutes, until
               transparent but not brown.
          (2)  Meanwhile, slice the asparagus into thin 
slices.
               Now add the sliced asparagus pieces to 
the onions
               and continue to sauté (over medium 
to medium-high
               heat) for 15 minutes, until most of the 
moisture
               has steamed out of the asparagus and 
the mixture
               has just barely started to brown.
          (3)  Add the flour to the onion/asparagus 
mixture and
               stir well to coat each piece with some 
flour. Cook
               for 2 or 3 more minutes over medium-high 
heat.
          (4)  Dump the boiling water into the asparagus 
mixture.
               Add the (optional) chicken broth and 
the salt.
               Simmer for 1 hour.
          (5)  Strain out the cooked asparagus, leaving 
behind a
               thin yellow-green soup.
          (6)  Thicken the soup with the 2 egg yolks. 
 Add the
               milk and reheat the soup to serving temperature.
               Add salt and fresh-ground white pepper 
to taste.
               Serve immediately.
NOTES
     The slicing disk on a food processor does an excellent 
job
     of slicing the asparagus for this recipe. You can 
use a food
     mill, a china cap, or an ordinary sieve to strain 
the cooked
     asparagus out of the broth.
     Don't try to make this soup as a low-salt soup 
by leaving
     out the salt.  It will taste like dishwater if 
you cook the
     asparagus for an hour without salt. Don't try to 
skimp on
     time by leaving the cooked asparagus in the broth
     unstrained. It will ruin the texture.
RATING
     Difficulty: easy to moderate (thickening soup with 
egg yolks
     is not a beginner's skill).  Time: 10 minutes preparation, 
1
     hour simmering, 5 minutes finishing.  Precision: 
Approximate
     measurement OK.
CONTRIBUTOR
     Brian Reid
     DEC Western Research Laboratory, Palo Alto, California, 
USA
     reid@decwrl.dec.com {decvax,sun,ucbvax,cbosgd,pyramid}!decwrl!reid
     Path: decwrl!recipes
     From: nlm@attunix.uucp (Nancy Mintz)
     Newsgroups: mod.recipes
     Subject: RECIPE: Fruit Cornish hens
     Message-ID: <8317@decwrl.DEC.COM>
     Date: 27 Feb 87 08:48:24 GMT
     Sender: recipes@decwrl.DEC.COM
     Organization: Unix System Dev., ATT-IS, Summit, 
New Jersey, USA
     Lines: 68
     Approved: reid@decwrl.UUCP
                Copyright (C) 1987 USENET Community 
Trust
     Permission to copy without fee all or part of this 
material is granted
     provided that the copies are not made or distributed 
for direct commercial
     advantage, the USENET copyright notice and the 
title of the newsgroup and
     its date appear, and notice is given that copying 
is by permission of
     the USENET Community Trust or the original contributor.