Broccoli, Chicken, and Almond Sauté

One of the things I love about cooking is how some ingredients, tossed together on a whim, can turn out unexpectedly well. Like two people meeting for the first time, instantly recognizing they will be friends forever (has that ever happened to you?) Dear broccoli, meet toasted almond, and her friends grilled chicken, sesame oil, and red chili flakes. You are all going to get along swimmingly.

This was one of those what-can-we-put-together-for-dinner-with-what-we-have-on-hand meals that was a surprising success. We almost always have broccoli in the fridge, because it keeps well, and I could eat it practically every day without tiring of it. Toasted almonds are another well-loved pantry item—great for snacking, and good for you too. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are usually not my favorite (give me bone-in, skin-on thighs any day), but they are wonderfully convenient when you want a quick meal. No fuss.
The big "ah hah" with this dish? Broccoli and toasted almonds are meant for each other. With a little sesame oil and chili flakes, you don't even need the chicken, so feel free to skip it if you want to go meatless with this one. But, it's great with the chicken too.

Broccoli, Chicken, and Almond Sauté Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 20 minutes

The amounts are estimates, adjust to your taste.

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb to 3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Kosher salt
• Olive oil
• Your favorite spice rub for grilling (optional)
• 1 lb broccoli florets
• 1/4 teaspoon chile flakes (more to taste)
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup toasted almonds, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1 Put a 2 quart pot of salted water (about 1 Tbsp of salt) on to boil. While the water is heating, start the chicken cooking in the next step.
2 Place the chicken breasts in a bowl and sprinkle seasoning on all sides. Use at a minimum some salt. Or if you have a favorite spice rub, you can use that too. Heat a grill pan, or prepare a grill, for high, direct heat. (If you don't have a grill pan or grill, use a cast iron skillet, and only season the chicken with salt.) Rub some olive oil all over the chicken breasts. Grill the breasts for a few minutes on each side to get some nice char marks, then lower the temperature to low and leave on the grill until the breasts are just almost cooked through. They'll cook a little longer in the sauté pan, so they can still be a little pink in the middle at this point. Remove from pan or grill, set aside for a minute, then thinly slice.
3 Once the chicken has cooked and the water is boiling, add the broccoli florets to the salted boiling water. Allow the water to come back to a boil, and once boiling again, let cook for about 1 minute. Drain.
4 Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large sauté pan on high heat. Add the red chili flakes. Once the red chili flakes are sizzling, add the broccoli florets, sliced grilled chicken, and toasted almonds. Drizzle dark sesame oil over the broccoli and chicken, sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Toss and cook until all of the chicken pieces are no longer at all pink in the center, a minute or two.
Serve immediately.
Yield: Serves 4.

Asparagus Salad with Shrimp

Even though the weather has been rather dreary and cold the last week or so, spring is officially here, which means it's time for asparagus. This is a quick and easy salad, made with fresh asparagus spears that have been blanched for a few minutes, thinly sliced on the diagonal, and tossed with shrimp in an olive oil, garlic, parsley, lemon juice dressing. So good!

Asparagus Salad with Shrimp Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 10 minutes

We like using little salad shrimp for this recipe because they are sustainably caught in North America, but you could use any shrimp.

Ingredients

• 1 pound asparagus, woody stem ends removed
• 1/2 pound pink salad shrimp, cooked, shelled
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced (1/2 teaspoon to 1 1/2 teaspoons, depending on how much you like fresh garlic)
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice (more to taste)
• 1 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

1 Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and salt it well. Add the asparagus to the boiling water and boil for 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the asparagus to a bowl to cool. Add the shrimp to the pot of boiling water. If they are pre-cooked, remove after 30 seconds—this is just to warm them. If the shrimp are uncooked, boil them for 2-3 minutes, until cooked through. Remove the shrimp and add them to a large bowl.
2 Slice the asparagus spears thinly on the diagonal until you get close to the tip. Cut the asparagus tips off in one piece. (They look prettier that way.) Put the asparagus in the bowl with the shrimp. Add the remaining ingredients and toss to combine. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Add more lemon juice if desired, to taste.
Yield: Serves 4.

Mussels in White Wine Sauce

My friend Guy (that's pronounced "Gee" with a hard "g") grew up in Southern France, in Provence, near the sea. And like so many people from Provence, Guy has a passion for all things seafood, especially mussels, or as the French call them, "moules". Mussels steamed in white wine and served in a sauce made from the cooking liquid with butter and shallots is a classic French preparation of mussels, moules mariniere. This is Guy's method for moules mariniere, the way he grew up making it in France, and one of the easiest and loveliest ways of preparing mussels. It is wonderful for an appetizer or a light lunch, and excellent with a glass of white wine and some crusty bread.

Mussels in White Wine Sauce Recipe

• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 15 minutes

When purchasing mussels be sure they smell like the ocean, not fishy. Don't buy any whose shells are cracked or open or any that refuse to close their shells when you handle or tap them, those are likely dying or dead. Try to cook the mussels immediately (unwrap them as soon as you get home), but if you have to wait place them in a bowl and cover them with a damp towel so they can breathe.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds mussels, scrubbed clean under running water
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup minced shallots
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons flour (optional, omit for gluten-free version)
• 1/4 cup minced parsley

Method

1 Put the mussels in a bowl of salted water (1 Tbsp salt per quart of water) for 10-15 minutes. Throw out any that are wide open or refuse to close when you handle them as these ones are likely dead. Looking over the closed mussels, see if any still have their beards (long hairy byssal threads which help anchor the mussel to surfaces) and pull them out, pulling slowly and strongly towards the hinge of the shell.

2 Put 1/2 cup of dry white wine in the bottom of a large pot (at least 4-quart). Add the mussels to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. As the mussels cook, they will release their highly flavored water into the pot. Cook until shells have opened, and the mussels are just cooked, looking steamed and soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Take care not to overcook, or the mussels will be rubbery and hard. Once the mussels are cooked, carefully remove them from the pot to a bowl, one-by-one using tongs, including those that have broken loose from their shells. Do not discard the water in the pot!
3 Let the water in the pot settle for a minute. Any grit will settle to the bottom. Gently pour out the cooking water into a measuring cup, leaving the grit in the pot to discard of later. If the water you've measured out is still a little gritty, filter out the grit using a sieve.


4 Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the shallots and cook a couple minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. If you want your sauce to be a little thick, add a teaspoon or two of flour to the pan, stir to combine. (Otherwise skip the flour.) Slowly add about a cup of the filtered mussel cooking water to the saucepan, stirring to create a smooth sauce. Add the minced parsley to the sauce.
5 Place mussels in serving bowls. Pour some sauce over each bowl of mussels.
Serve immediately. Serve with crusty bread for dipping in the sauce.
Yield: Serves 2 as a meal, 4 as an appetizer or side dish.

Matzo Brei

Please welcome Hank Shaw as he shares a Passover treat with us. Hank made the savory version of matzo brei for my parents and me the other day, we loved it! ~Elise
I grew up in a New Jersey town with lots of Jewish people, so I received an early education in things like the Seder, or Purim or Hannukah. I remember this dish as a quick meal my friends' mothers would make when I came over during Passover. I remember it as "maht-zuh-brai," with the "brai" rhyming with "try." I only later learned that it's spelled matzo brei.
Matzo brei is a Jewish version of a universal breakfast: A bready thing with eggs. It's sorta like huevos rancheros, or leftover dumplings and eggs. It is ridiculously simple, with as many incarnations as there are cooks.

Some like their matzo, which is an unleavened flatbread, heavily soaked in water or milk. Some don't soak their matzo at all. A typical ratio of matzo to egg is 1:1, which is what we use here, but I've seen two matzo sheets to one egg as well as the reverse.

One sheet of matzo
Then there is the question: Savory or sweet?
Savory matzo brei is really best cooked in schmaltz, rendered chicken fat. No other cooking fat comes close to being as good, except maybe duck fat. But vegetable oil is commonly used, as is butter — so long as the butter is kosher if you are keeping kosher.
Butter is the best fat for sweet matzo brei, which is most often served with powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, apple sauce or jam or preserves. I added a bit of orange flower water to the recipe for a bit of extra oomph, but you could skip it if you want.
Ever eaten matzo brei? If so, how is yours different from ours?

Matzo Brei

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 5 minutes

Traditional matzo is what we use here, but you could also use whole wheat, or even gluten-free matzo, and this will still work. Do not use egg matzo, as it is too soft. And some places sell a thicker type of handmade matzo, often from a special flour called shmura. It's fine to use, but you will need to soak it longer.

Ingredients

Savory Matzo Brei

• 4 Tbsp chicken fat or vegetable oil, divided
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• Pinch of sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 4 sheets of matzo
• Salt and black pepper
• Chives or parsley for garnish
Sweet Matzo Brei
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup milk, plus 2 Tbsp
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon orange flower water (optional)
• 4 sheets matzo
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• Cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar or apple sauce for garnish

Method

Savory Matzo Brei

1 For the savory matzo brei, you will need to caramelize the onions first. Heat 2 tablespoons of the chicken fat or oil in a saute pan and gently cook the onions until soft and caramelized. Let them cook at medium heat for a few minutes, then sprinkle a little salt and a little sugar over them. Cover the pan and turn the heat to low. Stir occasionally. This should take 15-20 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel.


2 Beat the eggs with a little salt and black pepper in a large bowl. Soften the matzo a little by running them under cold water for a minute or so. The longer you wet them down, the softer they will be; it's your choice. Break the matzo up into pieces of about 1/2 to 1 inch into the bowl with the eggs. Stir in the caramelized onions and mix well.

3 Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of chicken fat in the saute pan over medium-high heat. Let this heat up for a minute or two, then pour in the matzo-egg mixture. Cook this, moving it around constantly, until the eggs are just barely set — you want them to be a little bit runny. This should take about 90 seconds or so. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley or chives.
Sweet Matzo Brei
1 Beat the eggs, 2 tablespoons milk, the salt, sugar and orange flower water (if using) in a large bowl.
2 In another bowl, crush the matzo into 1/2 to 1inch pieces. Add the cup of milk and mix well. Let this stand at least 30 seconds — the longer the matzo sits in the milk, the softer it will become. I like to let it stand 2 minutes. When you're ready, move the soaked matzo from the milk bowl into the bowl with the eggs. Mix well to combine.
3 Heat the butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Let it heat up for a minute or two before adding the matzo-egg mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the eggs are just barely set, about 90 seconds. Serve garnished with cinnamon sugar, apple sauce or something else sweet; jams and preserves are a good choice.
Yield: Serves 4.

Spinach Gratin with Hard Boiled Eggs

My father recently celebrated his 82nd birthday. In our family, we aren't big on presents or cards, instead we honor the occasion with a dinner and family gathering. For dad's birthday, we prepared a wonderful Provencal fish soup (recipe to come later) and this spinach gratin with hard boiled eggs dotting the surface. Certain foods I associate with my dad, beets for example, or sauerkraut, and then of course spinach. When we were kids, we always had cans in the pantry (Popeye!). Later, he turned to fresh spinach from the farmers market. Because of my father, we are a family of spinach lovers. This gratin is a popular side dish served in the south of France. I would never have thought to add hard boiled eggs to spinach, but it's a fabulous combination. The gratin is made with lots of spinach, either fresh and blanched or frozen and drained, mixed in with a simple white béchamel sauce seasoned with nutmeg and black pepper. Halves of hard boiled eggs dot the surface, and the whole thing is sprinkled with grated gruyere cheese and seasoned breadcrumbs. This gratin would make an excellent side for an Easter dinner, and you can easily make it a day ahead and heat before serving. Enjoy!

Spinach Gratin with Hard Boiled Eggs Recipe

• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour

If you want, you can also sauté some chopped onion, and/or a persillade of minced garlic and parsley to mix in with the cooked spinach and béchamel. Either way. Without these aromatics, a cleaner flavor of the spinach comes through.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds of fresh spinach, cleaned (or 24 ounces of frozen spinach, thawed and drained)
• 2 cups of milk
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or 3/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg if you aren't starting with a whole nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or more to taste
• 1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese (about 1 ounce)
• 6 hard boiled eggs*
• 3 to 4 Tbsp seasoned bread crumbs**
• Olive oil

*To hard boil eggs, place eggs in a 2-quart saucepan and cover with at least an inch of cold water. Bring the water to a boil, remove the pan from heat, and cover. Let sit for 10-12 minutes, covered. Then run under cold water to keep from overcooking. Crack the shells while the eggs are still under water and let sit for a while to cool before peeling.
**To make your own bread crumbs, take a few slices of day old bread and toast either in a toaster or in the oven until browned, then pulse in a food processor or blender until you have crumbs. Stir in a little herbes de Provence or Italian seasoning and a little salt to taste.

Method

1 If working with fresh spinach, blanche the spinach in boiling water for 1 minute, drain and run cool water over it to cool it down. Press as much water as you can out of the spinach. (A good way to do this is to put the drained spinach in the center of a large, clean tea towel, wrap it with the towel, and wring the moisture out by wringing the towel.) Chop the spinach. Place in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt and set aside while you make the béchamel.


2 Heat milk in a medium saucepan until steamy, set aside. In a separate saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter on medium heat. Sprinkle in the flour, whisking the mixture until smooth, about a minute or two. Remove from heat. Slowly pour in the hot milk, whisking the whole time so that the mixture is not lumpy. Continue to whisk until there are no lumps. Return the pan to heat and let heat to a simmer, continuing to whisk to keep the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan. The béchamel sauce will thicken as it cooks. Sprinkle in the ground nutmeg and black pepper.

3 Stir the thickened béchamel sauce into the bowl of spinach.


4 Grease the inside of a 2-quart gratin pan or casserole all around with a little butter. Pour the spinach béchamel mixture into a gratin pan, and even out the surface. Sprinkle the surface with the grated Gruyere cheese. Slice the hard boiled eggs in half, and arrange, cut side up, on the surface of the spinach mixture. Press into the spinach mixture so that the cut side of the eggs are level with the spinach. Sprinkle with 3 to 4 tablespoons of seasoned bread crumbs. Drizzle the top with a tablespoon or so of olive oil. At this point you can make the gratin a day ahead and chill until ready to cook to serve.
5 Bake, uncovered, in a 375°F oven for 25-30 minutes, until nicely browned.
Yield: Serves 6 to 8.

Green Gumbo

Another hearty stew from Hank Shaw. Enjoy! ~Elise
Green gumbo, or gumbo z'herbes, is a Lenten tradition in Louisiana. Ironically, it is not always vegetarian, as this hearty stew is often served on Holy Thursday to fortify the faithful for the Good Friday fast. Our version includes a ham hock and smoked andouille sausages, but you can leave them out to make a vegetarian gumbo.
The tradition for gumbo z'herbes is to include many different kinds of greens in the gumbo—and to always include an odd number. Why? Apparently for every different green you add, you will find a new friend in the coming year. Why and odd number? Not really sure, although I bet it has to do with old West African or French folklore. Gumbo zav, which is how its pronounced in Louisiana, appears to be related to the French potage aux herbes, or the West Indian callaloo, which in turn has its origins in West African cooking.

Which greens? Any you'd like. I used collards, turnip greens, lacinato kale, curly kale and dandelion greens. Other good options would be chard, spinach, parsley, mustard greens, arugula, the tops of radishes or carrots... you get the idea.
A word on the roux: Try to use peanut oil if you can find it, as it lends a particularly excellent Cajun flavor to the gumbo. Lard, while not vegetarian, would be my second choice. But regular vegetable oil will work, too.
The recipe below includes a Cajun spice blend that makes more than you need for this gumbo. You can save it for later, or serve it at the table with the file powder. If you've never heard of file (fee-lay) powder, it is the dried, ground leaves of sassafras. It adds a sweet flavor to the gumbo and will thicken it a bit, too. Only add the file at the end of cooking, though, or it will turn into nasty, goopy strings.

Green Gumbo Recipe

• Prep time: 30 minutes
• Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients

• 1 cup peanut oil, lard or other vegetable oil
• 1 cup flour
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning (see below)
• 1 ham hock (optional)
• 10 cups water
• 3 pounds assorted greens (i.e. kale, collards, mustard greens, turnip greens, spinach, chard, parsley, dandelion greens, beet greens), chopped (about 14 cups)
• Salt
• 1 pound smoked andouille sausage (optional)
• File powder to taste (optional)

Cajun Spice Blend

• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 2 Tbsp sweet paprika

Method

1 Start the gumbo by making a roux, which will add a lot of flavor and thicken the gumbo. Heat the cup of peanut oil or lard (both are traditional roux ingredients) over medium heat for a minute or two and then stir in the flour. Mix so there are no lumps. Cook the roux over medium-low heat until it is the color of chocolate. It is your choice how dark you let your roux go: The darker it is, the better, but once the roux gets dark it can burn easily, so you must stir constantly and keep and eye on it.

2 While the roux is cooking, bring the 10 cups of water to a simmer. When the roux is dark enough, mix in the chopped onions, celery and green pepper and turn the heat to medium. Let this cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften. Add the garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes.


3 Add the bay leaves, the Cajun spice and slowly stir in the hot water. The roux will seize up at first, but keep stirring and it will all come together in a silky broth. Add the ham hock and all the greens. Taste for salt, but remember the ham hock will be salty, so let the broth be a little undersalted for now. If you want to add more Cajun spice, do so now. Cover the pot and simmer gently for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
4 Check the ham hock. If the meat is falling off the bone, remove it, discard the bones, chop the meat and return it to the pot. If the hock is not ready, keep simmering the gumbo; ham hocks don't always cook at the same rate. Once the hock is ready, add the andouille sausage and cook for another 15 minutes. Serve with file powder at the table.
Yield: Serves 10-12.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

I'm on vacation for a couple of weeks and away from our kitchen. So I will be posting a few recipes from the archives, like this lemon poppyseed muffin recipe, originally posted in 2007. Hope everyone is having a fabulous Easter! ~Elise
I love lemon poppy seed muffins. This recipe is based on the same Cook's Illustrated master muffin recipe on which I based our blueberry and lemon ginger muffins. The balance of flour, leavening, eggs and yogurt results in a light and fluffy muffin. The important things to remember with making these muffins is to make sure your baking powder is no older than 6 months (it may not work if older), and to not over-mix the batter.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder (make sure your baking powder is no older than 6 months)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tbsp poppy seeds

• 10 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/4 stick), softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 Tbsp lemon zest

Glaze

• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)

Method

1 Adjust the oven rack to the middle-lower part of the oven. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2 Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, poppy seeds, and salt and set aside.
3 In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together, beating until fluffy (about 2 minutes with an electric mixer). Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one. Beat in the lemon zest.
4 Beat in one third of the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Beat in one third of the yogurt. Beat in a third more of the dry ingredients. Beat in a second third of the yogurt. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients and then the remaining yogurt. Again be careful to beat until just incorporated. Do not over beat.
5 Use a standard 12-muffin muffin pan. Coat each muffin cup lightly with olive oil, grapeseed oil, or a little melted butter using a pastry brush. Distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick (we use a thin bamboo skewer) to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set muffin pan on wire rack to cool. After 5 minutes, remove muffins from pan.
6 While the muffins are cooling, in a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice for the glaze. Add more lemon juice if necessary. While the muffins are still a bit warm, use a pastry brush to brush the glaze over each muffin. The muffins will absorb some of the glaze, so you add more glaze to each muffin if you like.
Best eaten fresh and warm.
Yield: Makes 12 muffins.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Here's another recipe from the archives while I'm on vacation. Enjoy! ~Elise
Spring here means strawberries and rhubarb, sweet peas and asparagus, and dreams of the summer bounty to come. Asparagus are everywhere, big, fat, and fresh. And yes, although we can get them all year round, I'm especially happy to eat them in Spring. Not only are they likely to have been grown in the same Hemisphere, and could even be local, their very abundance signals the renewal of the season and a good-bye to Winter. Here is a fresh and easy asparagus soup recipe, a perfect excuse to buy more than one bunch.

Creamy Asparagus Soup Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 lbs asparagus, trimmed of woody stem bottoms
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped (1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped)
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup water
• Leaves of 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 Tbsp dry vermouth
• A squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• Salt and pepper

Method

1 Cut tips from the asparagus 1 1/2 inches from top and halve tips lengthwise if thick. Reserve for garnish. Chop the remaining asparagus stalks into 1/4-inch rounds.

2 Melt the butter in a 4 to 5 quart pot on medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped asparagus (not the spear tips) to the onions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cook another 5 minutes.

3 Add the broth, water, and thyme to the pot. Increase the heat to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer, covered, until the asparagus are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. At the end of cooking, stir in the chopped parsley.
4 While the soup is cooking, blanche the asparagus tips in a small pot of boiling, salted water (about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt per quart of water), until the tips are just tender, about 2-4 minutes, depending on the size of the asparagus. Drain. Rinse with cool water to stop the cooking. Set aside.

5 Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until smooth. (If you use an upright blender, work in small batches, fill no more than a third the blender bowl at a time, and hold down the lid while blending.) For a creamy texture, if you want, press the puréed soup through a sieve or food mill. Stir in the cream. Stir in the vermouth and a squeeze of lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish with asparagus tips.

Yield: Serves 4-6.