Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb. asparagus
• 4 cups chicken broth
• coarse salt
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/4 c. flour
• white pepper
• 2 tsp. each chopped chive, chervil, and dill
• 2 tbsp. heavy cream
• lemon

Preparation

1. Prep: Snap the woody bottom off each asparagus stalk and discard. Clean stalks with a vegetable peeler. Trim off tips and set aside.

2. Simmer: Settle stalks in a large saucepan. Pour in broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until very soft, 40-45 minutes. Don’t be alarmed by long cooking time. It’s necessary to a smooth soup.

3. Boil: Meanwhile, drop asparagus tips into fast-boiling, lightly salted water and cook until bright green and just tender, 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

4. Blend: Using a food processor, immersion blender or the standard sort, swirl smooth broth and stalks. Keep warm.

5. Thicken: In a large heavy saucepan melt butter. Add flour and whisk, without browning, 2 minutes. Pour in pureed stock all at once and bring to a boil. Cook over low heat until slightly thickened, 5 minutes.

6. Spike: Season soup with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon. Stir in herbs, cream and reserved asparagus tips. Enjoy fully dressed, or not.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 medium leeks, white and light green parts only, rinsed and sliced (about 3 cups)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 large russet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 large stalk celery, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 cups milk (any fat content)
• 8 ounces smoked salmon, flaked
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons chives, chopped

Preparation

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over low heat. Add the leeks and garlic and sautéthem for 2 minutes.

Add the potato, celery, salt, and pepper and cook over medium heat for about 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add the broth and simmer until the potato is tender, about 15 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and milk, then the salmon, and bring the mixture back to a simmer for a few minutes (but don’t let it boil, or the milk will separate).

As it simmers, stir in the cream.

Remove from heat, garnish with the chives, and serve.

Cookie, November 2007

Ingredients

• 8 c water
• 3/4 lb ground lamb or left-over leg of lamb cut into 3/4 in pieces
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 c yellow split peas
• 1/2 lb spinach, chopped
• 10 scallions, chopped
• 1 tsp salt freshly ground black pepper
• 1 c raw rice
• 2 c yogurt
• 1 tbl olive oil
• 2 tbl fresh chopped mint or 2 tsp dried mint

Preparation

Place the water, lamb, onions, split peas, spinach, scallions, salt and pepper in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 40 min. Stir in the rice and cook over moderate heat for about 25 min, stirring occasionally. Add the yogurt. Stir 1 minute without boiling and remove from heat. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the mint and stir for 1 min. Add to the soup and serve.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds chicken thighs
• 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 med. onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 one-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 tbsp. curry powder
• 2 tbsp. water
• 4 c. chicken stock
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 c. unsweetened coconut milk (optional)
• 1/2 c. cooked rice
• fresh cilantro

Preparation

Skin, bone, and cut the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces. Heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a soup pot. Add the onion and cook until golden brown, 7-8 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, and curry powder, and cook for 30 seconds. Add the chicken and water and cook, stirring, until the chicken loses its raw color and the oil sizzles and pools around the meat, around 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 20-30 minutes. If using, stir in the coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes more. Divide the rice among four bowls, ladle the soup on top and garnish with cilantro.

Joy of Cooking Calendar

Ingredients

• 32 oz. vegetable broth
• 32 oz. chicken broth
• 1/3 c. soy sauce
• Leftover turkey (or other meats), around 1 lb.
• 2 bunches kale
• 2 heads bok choi
• 1/4 c. sliced fresh ginger
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 8 oz. sliced mushrooms
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• around 3-4 c. bean sprouts
• 1 or 2 tsp. five spice powder
• cilantro
• sesame rolls or vermicelli noodles, for serving

Preparation

Combine vegetable broth, chicken broth, soy sauce, and turkey. Heat the broth to a simmer, and add the kale and bok choi. Add enough water just to cover the greens. Cook until the greens have wilted and cooked down. Add the sliced ginger and the crushed red pepper. Cook until the greens are done.

While cooking, sauté the mushrooms in the olive oil until slightly reduced and they’ve released a bit of their liquid. Once the greens are done, add the mushrooms and the sprouts, and test the broth for seasoning (salt and pepper, mostly). Add the five spice powder, and cook for a few minutes to settle the flavors.

Serve, garnished with cilantro and a bit of chili oil (if desired).

C. Pence

Ingredients

• 2 tbs olive oil (approximately)
• 4 large cloves peeled garlic, whole
• ½ loaf French bread, thinly sliced
• 1 tbs paprika
• 1 liter chicken, beef, or vegetable broth
• 2 eggs

Preparation

Brown the garlic whole in the olive oil in a large pot, then remove the garlic and chop it finely. Brown the bread in the same oil that the garlic was cooked in. Chop the bread into small (crouton-sized) pieces and add the garlic and bread back into the pot and add the broth, then bring to a simmering boil. Beat the eggs and drizzle in.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Fresh mushrooms
• 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 7 tbs butter
• 6 tbs flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Salt to taste
• White pepper
• Tabasco sauce
• 2 tbs sherry (optional)

Preparation

Wash the mushrooms and cut off the stems. Slice six caps and save for garnish. Discard any dried ends from stems. Grind or chop the remaining caps and stems very fine. Simmer, covered in the broth with the onion thirty minutes.

Sauté the saved caps in one tablespoon of butter.

Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir with a wire whisk until blended. Meanwhile bring the milk to a boil and add all at once to the butter-flour mixture, stirring vigorously until the sauce is thickened and smooth. Add the cream.

Combine the mushroom-broth mixture with the sauce and season to taste with salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce. Reheat and add the sherry before serving. Garnish with the sautéed sliced mushrooms.

New York Times Cookbook

Ingredients

• 1 cup white emergo beans
• 4 leeks, white part only, split, washed well and sliced
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cups cooked chicken broth
• 1 cup half and half
• sea salt and fresh black pepper to taste

Preparation

Rinse and pick over beans. Pour boiling water over beans to cover by 2 inches and leave for 1 hour. Drain, rinse, and add water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, let cook at slow boil until tender.

In a skillet, melt butter and lightly saute onions and leeks. Do not let them brown.

Drain beans, add chicken broth and vegetables. Heat over medium heat for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, add half and half. Puree in small batches in blender. Chill.

Serve chilled and garnished with fresh minced chives, salt and pepper to taste.