Creamy Asparagus Soup

This recipe is adapted from a recipe in Gourmet magazine. I changed it a bit added some spice to it to give it a kick. It’s great for this time of year all you need is a pot and hand held blender and you will have a fancy restaurant style soup.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs fresh asparagus

• 1 large yellow onion, chopped

• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter or 3 swirls of olive oil

• 5 cups chicken broth preferably home made

• Leaves of 2 sprigs of fresh thyme

• 1/3 cup heavy cream

• Tabasco to taste

• A squeeze of fresh lemon juice

• Salt and pepper

Method

Cut asparagus into 1/2-inch pieces. Reserve some of the tops for garnish.

Cook onion in butter in a 4 quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add asparagus pieces and salt and pepper to taste, then cook, stirring 5 minutes. Add 5 cups broth, thyme, and simmer covered until asparagus is very tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove aspargus tips and set aside.

Purée soup with the hand held blender away from the heat, until smooth. Return to heat and stir in cream, Tabasco and a squeeze of lemon juice. Season with salt and fresh pepper.

Garnish with asparagus tips.

Serves 4-6.

Pickled Turnips

Very easy to make these turnips (kabiss lift) they are good with lentil dish Moujadara and with falafel, they are also good as appetizer. I like to eat them right out of the jar. The reason I make my own is because they are much better than store bought and they have a great crunch to them!

Ingredients:

2 pounds Turnips peeled and sliced thinly

½ beets for coloring

1 part (cup) boiling water

1part (cup) vinegar

1 Tablespoon kosher salt



Fill the turnips in jars add water and empty in a measuring cup. With a half the amount fill a pot with the kosher salt and let boil to dissolve, let cool. Add the rest of amount with vinegar. When cool add it to the jar seal and keep refrigerated for at least one week.