Asparagus Velouté Recipes

ASPARAGUS VELOUTE (VELVET SOUP, HOT OR COLD)

Steps:

• 1. Sort out 12 most attractive spears, cut off the tips to use for garnish. Roughly chop the rest and set aside.
• 2. Heat olive oil and 1/2 the butter in a large pot and add the chopped onion, chopped celery, and a seasoning of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently with wooden spoon, till vegetables begin to soften, 4-6 min. Add the chopped asparagus and the thyme, and nutmeg, and stir over high heat until asparagus is tender but stillvibrant green, 3-4 min. Pour in just enough stock (chicken or vegetable) to cover and simmer for 2 min. Remove from heat.
• 3. Blend soup while it is still hot. Place 1/2 the vegetables in a food processor or blender using a slotted spoon, add 1 or 2 ladles of hot stock, and puree well, pour through a strainer or seive and repeat till all is complete. Discard pulp....Stir in remaining stock stirring in till well blended you will have a creamy consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, add a little lemon juice if you like, do not over season, especially if you are serving cold...
• 4. When ready to serve add the cream, as not to scortch, just to a simmer. Meanwhile, saute the asparagus tips in the remaining butter with someseasoning in a hot frying pan or saute pan. Add a splash of water, cover the pan, and let the asparagus steam until just tender, 2-3 min.
• 5. Pour soup into warm bowls garnish with asparagus tips. Drizzle with a little olive oil over the top and serve immediately.

NAGE OYSTERS AND ASPARAGUS IN PERNOD VELOUTE

Steps:

• Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a small saucepan. In a heavy -bottomed pot, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the leeks and saute, stirring for 2 minutes. Turn heat down to medium and sprinkle the flour over the leeks. Saute, stirring for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add the boiling chicken stock all at once. Beat vigorously with a whisk to incorporate the flour into the stock. Return to boil and add the celery. Reduce to a bare simmer, and cook for 30 minutes.
• When ready to serve, divide the raw oysters and the cooked asparagus tips among 6 wide, shallow soup bowls. If you find the soup too thick, add some oyster liquor to thin it. Strain the soup, bring it to a boil, add the Pernod, and turn off heat. Swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter with a whisk. Season to taste and pour immediately over the oysters and asparagus in the soup bowls, keeping the oysters just above the surface of the veloute. Garnish with fresh tarragon leaves, if available.
• As an appetizer: The best way to use this recipe, we feel. A great start to a late-winter/early-spring dinner that leads, perhaps, into a roast leg of lamb. A wonderful way to serve it is to place the bowls before your guests, with the oysters and asparagus already set in them. Then, bring a tureen to the table and ladle the veloute over all.
• As a main course: If you simply increase the amount of oysters and asparagus-say 8 per person rather than 4-you'll have a light but filling main-course soup. Serve warmed French bread with it, and a light frilly salad tossed with fresh goat cheese.

VELOUTE

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute (the flour should not take on any color).
• Pour in stock, whisking to incorporate fully, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, whisking fairly often, to cook out raw flour taste and thicken the liquid (it should reach the consistency of heavy cream).

CHICKEN CREPES WITH ASPARAGUS AND MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Make filling:
• Heat 5 tablespoons butter in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until foam subsides. Whisk in flour and cook roux, whisking, until pale golden, about 2 minutes. Gradually add milk and broth, whisking, and bring to a boil, whisking. Reduce heat and simmer gently, whisking frequently, until velouté sauce is silky and thick, about 25 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup sauce for topping.
• Cook shallot in remaining tablespoon butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Stir into velouté sauce along with chicken and Sherry.
• Cut tips from asparagus and set aside. Cut enough stalks into 1/4-inch pieces to measure 1 cup, reserving remainder for another use. Cook tips in a saucepan of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of ice and cold water with a slotted spoon. Scoop out tips and drain on paper towels, then reserve for topping. Cook and drain chopped asparagus in same manner and stir into velouté sauce with salt and pepper to taste.
• Make crêpes:
• Sift together flour, salt, nutmeg, and pepper to taste into a bowl. Whisk together milk, whole egg, and yolk in a small bowl, then gradually whisk into flour mixture. Force batter through a fine sieve into a bowl.
• Heat a dry 7- to 8-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot, then brush very lightly with some melted butter. Spoon about 2 tablespoons batter into skillet, tilting to coat bottom. (If batter sets before skillet is coated, reduce heat slightly for next crêpe.) Cook until underside is lightly browned, 6 to 10 seconds, then loosen crêpe with a spatula and flip. Cook until just cooked through, about 20 seconds, and transfer to a plate. Make 15 more crêpes in same manner, brushing skillet with melted butter as needed and stacking crêpes on plate.
• Assemble and bake crêpes:
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Spread 1/4 cup filling across center of 1 crêpe and roll into a cylinder. Transfer, seam side down, to buttered baking dish, then assemble more crêpes in same manner, fitting them snugly. Bake in middle of oven 15 minutes.
• Make topping while crêpes bake:
• Stir together yolk, 2 tablespoons cream, and reserved 1/2 cup sauce until smooth. Beat remaining 3 tablespoons cream with a whisk until it holds soft peaks, then fold into yolk mixture.
• Spoon topping over crêpes and broil 5 to 6 inches from heat until lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
• Heat butter in skillet, then add reserved asparagus tips and toss until warm.
• Put 2 crêpes on each of 8 plates and top with asparagus tips.