Music and Cats

In how many wonderful ways can you finish this sentence?

I can think of a few:
When life gives you asparagus, you know it’s spring.
When life gives you asparagus, it’s an ‘eat with your hands’ day.
When life gives you asparagus, you must’ve done something good.

It is spring, and I must’ve done something good. The local asparagus harvest is in full swing, and at the produce stand in Ballard, they’re almost giving it away. This is the sort of $.99 (per pound!) menu that does a body - and its taste buds - good. After eating my fill (for at least a day or two) of simply steamed spears, I began thinking of other preparations.

When I have at hand some beautiful, locally-grown, seasonal produce, I turn to the man who introduced me to eating seasonally and regionally in the Pacific Northwest: Jerry Traunfeld. Paul and I have had two of the best meals of our lives at the Herbfarm, where Traunfeld prepares exquisite 9-course feasts using the finest, freshest raw ingredients available in Cascadia. I save Traunfeld’s first cookbook for weekend cooking extravaganzas; when I’m looking for something to cook for a weeknight dinner, I turn to Traunfeld’s new cookbook. Under asapargus in the index, I find two recipes: asparagus with frothy tarragon sauce (a variation on hollandaise) and asparagus and lemon thyme soup.

I love asparagus soup. Most, if not all, of the asparagus soups that I’ve eaten or cooked have been enriched with some combination of high-butterfat dairy products. Jerry Traunfeld’s asparagus soup recipe has only a small amount of butter, in which leeks are sweated until soft. There is no other dairy in this soup - no cream, no milk, no yogurt, nada. The soup is thickened with a small amount of rice and the pureed asparagus and leek. I had no lemon thyme, but I had a nice thin-skinned organic lemon.

Asparagus and Lemon Thyme Soup
serves 4

1-2 large leeks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons white rice
4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds asparagus
Juice and zest of one lemon (if you have lemon thyme, use 2 tablespoons instead of lemon juice)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Finely chop white and light green parts of leeks; you should have about 2 cups. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Saute the leeks until softened, but do not brown. Add the rice and chicken broth; cover the pan and simmer until the rice is very soft, 15-20 minutes.

While the soup simmers, snap tough ends off the asparagus. Chop into small pieces (1/2″ max.); you want the asparagus to cook quickly.

When the rice is done, add the asparagus and simmer until tender, 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in lemon juice and zest (or finely chopped lemon thyme).

If you want a perfectly smooth soup, use a blender to puree the soup one cup at a time. If you’re OK with a little more texture, you can use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

This soup is the essence of spring: light, fresh, and green in color and flavor. While I don’t know what I’m missing by not having used lemon thyme, I can say that the lemon zest and juice that I substituted complement the other flavors in the soup beautifully. And while the soup is delicious on its own, you could do worse than to stir in a dollop of greek yogurt, as I did last night.

Sasha came to watch the photography. (Really, he just wanted me to put down the flashing black box and play with him.)

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