Recipe: Daniel Boulud's White Asparagus Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon sugar

Salt

1 pound white asparagus stems, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

3 white asparagus tips

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

1/4 large onion, thinly sliced

1/3 leek, white part only, thinly sliced and rinsed well

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced

1/2 clove garlic

1/2 russet potato, cut into small dice

1 quart Chicken Stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

Freshly ground white pepper

Juice of 1 lemon

Wild Chervil Cream

6 tablespoons heavy cream

6 ounces wild chervil leaves

4 nasturtium leaves

Wild Chervil Oil

12 wild chervil leaves

12 chive blossoms

For the White Asparagus Soup

Fill a large saucepan with 2 gallons of water.

Add the sugar and season with salt.

Bring to a boil, add the asparagus stems and tips, and boil for 9 minutes, or until easily pierced with a cake tester.

Strain and cut 1/4 cup of brunoise from the stems and reserve.

Slice the tips in quarters lengthwise; reserve, chilled.

Heat the grapeseed oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Add the onion, leek, celery, garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt.

Cook, stirring, for 6 minutes, until tender but not colored.

Add the potato, the remaining asparagus stems, and the chicken stock.

Simmer for 8 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

Add the cream and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until smooth.

Pass through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl set over ice.

Chill, then season with salt, pepper, and the lemon juice.

Reserve, chilled.

For the Wild Chervil Cream

Pour 4 tablespoons of the cream into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.

Transfer to a blender with the chervil leaves and puree until smooth.

Pass through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl placed over ice.

Chill well, then add the remaining 2 tablespoons cream.

Whip the cream to stiff peaks and reserve, chilled.

To Finish

For each serving, place a spoonful of the reserved brunoised asparagus stems in the center of a chilled bowl.

Arrange 3 asparagus tip quarters around the brunoise, standing them upright.

Gently pour the soup into the bowl.

Top the brunoise with a nasturtium leaf and a spoonful of the wild chervil cream.

Garnish the soup with 3 drops of the wild chervil oil, 3 wild chervil leaves, and 3 chive blossoms.

Recipe from Daniel: My French Cuisine. Copyright © 2013 by Daniel Boulud. Used with permission by Grand Central Publishing. All rights reserved.