Heavenly Asparagus Soup with Tarragon Cream

Do you have an immersion blender? WELL, I do! (said in a sarcastic, snotty, jollier than thou tone). Diane gave me one for Christmas. She bought me a Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender w/whisk & chopper attachment. She bought it for me because I mentioned I needed a quick chop type of deal, but what she didn't expect was my favorite part to be the immersion blender.






Servings: 4
Prep Time: 15 min
Start to Finish: 50 min


Recipe:
1.5lb medium asparagus
2 T unsalted butter
1/2 C chopped shallots
4 C chicken broth, plus a little extra if needed
1/2 t kosher salt, plus more if needed
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1/3 C long-grain white rice, uncooked
1/3 cup creme fraiche (recipe follows below)
1 1/2 T chopped fresh tarragon, plus several sprigs for garnish

1. Cut off and discard tough bases from asparagus. Cut spears into 1/2 inch thick pieces.

2. Heat butter in a large heavy pot (with a lid) set over medium-high heat, until hot. Add shallots and cook, stirring, until softened, for about 2 minutes. Add asparagus slices and cook, stirring, 1 minute more. Add broth, 1/2 t salt, cayenne pepper and rice. Bring mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat, cover pot, and cook until vegetables are completely tender, for about 20 minutes.

3. Puree the soup in batches in a food processor, blender or food mill and return soup to the pot. (Or use an immersion blender to puree the soup in the pot.) Place the creme fraiche in a small bowl and stir in the chopped tarragon. Whisk 1/2 cup of the tarragon creme fraiche, a little at a time, into the soup. Save the remaining creme fraiche for garnish.

4. Taste soup and season with salt, as needed. If soup is too thick, thin it with a few tablespoons of extra broth. (The soup can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool, cover and refrigerate. Reheat over medium heat).

5. To serve, ladle the soup into 4 soup bowls. Garnish each serving with a dollup of the tarragon creme fraiche and a tarragon sprig.


Creme Fraiche (this makes more than you need for the recipe)
1 C heavy cream
1/2 C soup cream

1, Whisk cream and sour cream together in a medium nonreactive bowl (not metal). Let stand at room temp until thickened, for 6 hrs or longer. Cover and refrigerate. It can be stored in the fridge for 1 week.


Okay... My revisions.
Shallots = green onion to me. Is that true for you?
I could not find fresh tarragon at Berkot's (my grocery store), so I used dried and then halved the amount
I used brown rice b/c that's what I had on hand



This soup is DELICIOUS. I love asparagus and, duh, I love soup. Put the 2 together and like the title suggests it is heavenly. It looks like diaper goo, but you need to quickly get over it and soup it up! I found that kosher salt is worth the extra money, it adds a necessary zing to this soup. It really strengthens the flavor of the asparagus.

The immersion blender? Well, just made making this soup a dream. I didn't have to ladle it into the blender in batches; what a pain in the butt... I've done it before, I'm glad I'll never have to do it again. Especially since, inevitably, there is always an error in the blender process and a mess ensues.


Funny story.. I was talking to my parents about making this soup and how I loved using the immersion blender and suggested to my mom to get one for herself. She replied "I have one. Don't you remember; it was white? I haven't seen it in awhile" and I looked at her, and after a moment, I said "WHAT?! That was the milkshake maker, not an immersion blender?"  LOL, I used that darn thing as a child whipping up shakes; I had no idea it was used for other purposes.


So, don't pass the pepper on this soup, pass the kosher salt and enjoy!