Asparagus Vichyssoise Recipes

ASPARAGUS VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add leeks, celery and onion. Reduce heat and cover. DO NOT ALLOW THE VEGETABLES TO COLOR. Sweat the vegetables until they are translucent. Add the potatoes and the stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and continue to simmer lightly until the potatoes are very soft. Add the asparagus and cook only until the asparagus is tender. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Using a blender, puree until smooth. Chill.
• Before serving remove from the refrigerator and stir in cream. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Garnish with reserved cooked asparagus tips.

ASPARAGUS VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Put butter or oil in a large, deep saucepan and turn heat to medium. When butter melts or oil is hot, add vegetables. If you like, set aside 12 or 16 of the nicest pieces of asparagus; parboil in salted water for about 2 minutes and use as a garnish for the soup. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add stock and cook until vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes. You may prepare soup in advance up to this point. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
• Purée soup in batches until very smooth. Chill. (Though vichyssoise is served cool, this soup could also be served warm.) Stir in cream, if using, taste and adjust seasoning, garnish if you like, and serve.

VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Put the leeks, potatoes, celery and onions in a pot. Add mineral water to cover and season with salt and pepper. Cover, bring to a boil and simmer until very tender. Puree and strain into a glass bowl. Thin with the cream, and with more liquid if needed. Let cool, then chill.
• Before serving, thin the soup to the desired consistency with more water or milk. (You can also use chicken stock, but if you're trying to be vegetarian, then obviously don't.) Check the seasonings. Serve sprinkled with chives.

VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a stockpot over medium heat. In a second stockpot over low heat, warm the chicken stock. Meanwhile, slice the white parts of the leeks in half lengthwise; then thinly slice. Trim and thinly slice celery. Add leeks and celery to the melted butter; gently sweat until translucent, 7-8 minutes, adding a pinch of salt halfway through. Make sure the vegetables do not take on any color.Meanwhile, slice potatoes lengthwise into 4 wedges, then roughly dice into 1-inch chunks. When the leeks and celery are translucent, add warmed stock, followed by the potatoes.
• Make a sachet: Lay a square of cheesecloth large enough to fit the herbs on a flat surface. Place thyme, parsley, bay leaf, and garlic in the middle; then wrap into a bundle and tie with butcher's twine. Submerge the sachet in the soup and simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are soft, 15-20 minutes.
• When a fork easily pierces a potato, the soup is ready to be blended. First, remove the sachet. Then use a ladle to remove 1½ cups of broth; set aside. Carefully add the rest of the soup to a blender and cover. Blend, beginning on low speed, then slowly increasing to high speed. When the soup is pale and completely puréed, turn off the blender and add crème fraîche. Cover and continue blending on high speed to a light, smooth texture. Test the thickness, then add some of the reserved broth as necessary to thin the soup, and blend again. Set aside the remaining broth.
• Strain the soup (optional): In a large bowl filled with ice, chill a second bowl large enough to hold the soup. Strain the soup through a chinois or fine-mesh strainer into the chilled bowl; use the back of a ladle to help push the soup through the strainer. The vichyssoise will have a syrupy texture when it's warm, but it will become thicker and more velvety as it chills in the bowl. Let cool for 1 hour.
• When the vichyssoise is chilled, strain more reserved broth into the soup as needed to thin to desired consistency; stir well to combine. Ladle into a bowl. Shape quenelles of crème fraîche (optional): Pass about a tablespoon of crème fraîche back and forth between two spoons, smoothing and shaping it until you have formed an egg-shaped dollop, or "quenelle." Garnish each bowl with a quenelle of crème fraîche and several chive batons before serving.

ASPARAGUS VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Sautee vegetables for 2-3 minutes, season with salt and pepper. Add stock and cook until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Puree until very smooth. chill. Stir in cream. Can also be served warm.