Volume 8, Issue 070 - April 8, 2005

Hello Recipe Club,

Thanks Pam for the recipes this week. The second one today comes from Chef June Jacobs, CCP and is a favorite around here any time of the year. Asparagus is cheap this time of year, or at least it should be. It is great grilled and awesome in the following soup. I hope you try it. Side Note: I once had an Asparagus Soup at Spago in Chicago before it went out of business. Wolfgang himself came out to our table a couple of times, which was quite exciting for the group. He charged $9 for that cup of soup! It was good, but....$9? Oh well...he signed my copy of his cookbook for no additional fee :-)

Have a great weekend.

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Cream of Asparagus Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 pound of fresh jumbo asparagus
1 quart boiling water
1 tablespoon salt
5 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup minced leeks, washed well (use all parts)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon chopped parsley

Preparation:

Wash, peel and snap off the lower stalks of the asparagus. Reserve the peelings and lower stalks.

Lay the asparagus in a deep pan, so that the tips are facing in the same direction. Cover with the boiling water seasoned with salt. Cook for five to seven minutes, or until the asparagus is tender but still crisp. Lift the asparagus from the boiling water and plunge into ice water. Reserve the cooking liquid. Only one-quarter of this asparagus is used in the soup. (Serve the remaining pieces with vinaigrette, as a salad, or with melted butter as a side dish.)

Cut the tips from one-quarter of the cooked asparagus, reserving both stalks and tips for the soup. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Stir in the onions and leeks and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, but do not brown.

Dust the onions and leeks with the flour and mix thoroughly. Pour in the reserved liquid, blending vigorously with a whisk.

Add the raw asparagus peelings, lower stalks and the reserved cooked stalks. Season with the pepper. Cover and boil gently for 30 minutes. Purée the soup in a blender or food processor (may have be puréed in several batches) and force through a fine strainer.

Before serving, reheat the soup and with a whisk stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and the cream. Adjust seasonings. Add the reserved asparagus tips and garnish with croutons and freshly chopped parsley.

Hint: Most soups may be prepared ahead of time, but do not add the cream or butter until ready to serve.

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Chicken Ajíllo, El Charro
(Chicken with Garlic and White Wine)

This dish is SO delicious - and it's easy enough to make for an everyday dinner. It's one of the house specials at my favorite New York restaurant, "El Charro." My friend Manuel Vidal, the owner of El Charro, not only gave me this recipe, we made it together at El Charro one blustery Saturday. You can enjoy it with your friends at home, too!

Makes 6 first course servings, or 2 to 3 main course

Ingredients:

1 3 to 3 1/2 pound chicken cut into 16 pieces
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 heads garlic (use all the cloves, peeled but whole)
1 cup dry white wine
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation:

Rinse the chicken in cold running water and thoroughly dry it with paper towels. Using a meat cleaver or poultry shears, cut the chicken into 16 pieces.

Make a mixture of sea or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle this mixture generously over the chicken pieces.

Warm a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and put in the olive oil. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the chicken pieces and brown well on all sides.

(You want to make sure the oil is hot enough that the chicken pieces will make a sizzling sound as you put them into the pan. This ensures that the chicken will sear immediately and the juices will stay inside!)

After you have turned over all the chicken to brown on the other side, add the garlic and turn the temperature down low to let it sauté for a few minutes.

Make sure the garlic does not get brown at all.

Add the wine. Bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat -- to medium, not too low -- and let simmer until the wine has almost evaporated, and has made a caramel-like sauce in the pan.

Serve with Saffron Rice or homemade Potato Chips.

Wine Tip: A Spanish Rioja or American Zinfandel (red) complements this dish wonderfully.

Source: Chef June Jacobs

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Strawberry Rhubarb Lemonade

Makes about 6 Servings

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups water
1/2 pound rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
3/4 cup sugar, or to taste
two 3-inch strips of lemon zest removed with a vegetable peeler, plus additional for garnish
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 cup fresh lemon juice

Preparation:

In a saucepan stir together the water, the rhubarb, the sugar, 2 strips of the zest and the vanilla, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and simmer it, covered, for 8 minutes.

Stir in 1 cup of the strawberries and boil the mixture, covered, for 2 minutes. Let the mixture cool and strain it through a coarse sieve set over a pitcher, pressing hard on the solids.

Stir in the remaining 1 cup strawberries and the lemon juice, divide the lemonade among stemmed glasses filled with ice cubes and garnish each glass with some of the additional zest.