Mmmm, I love the asparagus. And this is an excellent asparagus soup recipe, based on one from Sara Moulton. Originally, the creaminess/thickening came from eggs — I used tofu instead. Again, tofu is the best thing ever for making soups creamy.

Huh, I think that’s all I have to say about the soup. Just make some and you too will know how good it is. On an unrelated note, I will add that aside from asparagus, I also love sleep.

Asparagus-Dill-Lemon Soup
1.5 lb asparagus
2 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium leek, white part coarsely chopped and washed well
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp fresh dill, minced
1/2 cup soft tofu
Optionoal: more fresh dill and some lemon zest for garnish

Trim the ends off the asparagus but reserve the ends. In a saucepan combine the asparagus trimmings with the chicken stock, bring to a boil, remove from heat and allow stock to infuse for 15 minutes. Strain stock and reserve.

Cut the trimmed asparagus into 1-inch pieces.

Heat the oil in a soup pot over moderate heat and cook the leeks, onion and celery, seasoned with salt and pepper, until softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the 1-inch asparagus pieces and stir to combine. Add the infused stock and bring to a boil and simmer, covered for 8 to 10 minutes until asparagus is tender.

In a blender puree the soup, in batches, until smooth. Add the tofu, lemon and dill into the batches of the soup as you blend.

Return pureed soup to large pot and reheat. Taste and adjust any seasonings. You can actually serve hot, room temperature or cold — so many delicious possibilities. Garnish with a sprig of dill and a strip of lemon zest.

***
I spent a few hours Saturday night perfecting the Save-the-Date card plan. It took a while but I think I finally have a design I really like. Now, we just need to decide on a location after next weekend’s field trip to Astoria and Ilwaco/Seaview. Then I can actually sit down and hammer them all out.

So, my original plan was to go to bed early last night and post something this morning. Perhaps the chicken and plum tart from my new Shakespeare-inspired Cookbook that I got in Ashland a couple of weeks ago. Or maybe the lavender and rosemary crusted chicken.

But here’s what happened instead.

10PM — I turn the light out and try to sleep while jwa decides to do his vocal impressions of Jack Black, Dio, Meatloaf and Dave Grohl while singing along to the entire Pick of Destiny soundtrack.

11PM — jwa discovers computer stuff at work is broken and he needs to go in and see what’s wrong…

11:30PM — Spencer is upset that jwa is gone — continually mrows and vocalizes his displeasure. Chelsea, oblivious, snores away.

12:00 AM — I go downstairs and end up watching Law & Order.

1:30 AM — I go back to bed and read a bit. Turn out the light for the 2nd time around 2:00.

2:30 AM — jwa calls, he’s going to be a while longer.

3:00 AM — I think I fall asleep, as does Spencer, who finally gives up his protest and decides to take a nap. Chelsea still snoring.

4:00 AM-ish — jwa gets home. Then promptly starts snoring. Thankfully, I fall back asleep too.

6:45 AM — Alarm goes off. I hate the alarm clock with the heat of a thousand suns. I make coffee and decide I’d rather stare at the wall and try to will time to turn backwards, than try to decide what recipe to post about.

8:00 AM — jwa gives me a ride to work so I can leave 30 minutes later than usual. I feel a little guilty for him getting out of bed after only four hours of sleep, but then I remember he gets to come home and go back to bed and I feel okay with it.

10:00 AM — I can’t believe I have 6.5 more hours at work until I can go home and sleep.

Anyway, that’s why there’s not a new food post today…

This is a recipe based on a dish from Sara Moulton. I omitted the cream in the original and replaced it with some manchego cheese. Mmmmm, cheese. It was flavored much like the soup I had a Dundee Bistro last month (that was on purpose as I loved that soup).

The Sara version was featured on a show called, “Cooking for One”, which I don’t really understand. jwa and I both had some of this along with some chicken the other night and I was able to use leftovers the next day to make soup. So, one? Probably more servings than that but it’s not really a problem as this puree is awesome.

Cauliflower & Manchego Cheese Puree
1/2 pound cauliflower florets, chopped (2 2/3 cups)
1 garlic clove, smashed
1/3 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cubed manchego cheese (I won’t tell anyone if you add more cheese)
1 tsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
Freshly ground pepper

Simmer cauliflower, garlic, broth, and salt in a small saucepan, covered, until cauliflower is very tender, about 10 minutes. You will have a lot more cauliflower than broth, so really, you’ll be kind of steaming it.

Puree mixture with cubed cheese, paprika and butter in a food processor until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids), or mash with a potato masher or a fork. Although, if you mash it, grate the cheese instead of just cubing it.

Serve with some freshly ground pepper on top and you will be happy. We had this with lavender and rosemary crusted chicken on top of some sauteed spinach with red wine, orange peel, garlic and almonds. I’ll have to post about that later in the week as I am on this new exercise kick and need to now go do arm curls with jwa.

Ah, Spring. Rainy pasta weather (well, sometimes). A week or so ago we were had a lovely pasta meal while the wind and storms raged outside. The dilemma — jwa likes spaghetti best whereas I prefer rigatoni or a pasta more like that. Needless to say, we really rarely have spaghetti.

I think it was the meatballs that convinced me to make this spaghetti and meatballs dish. Forming meatballs is fun. So, he got a spaghetti dinner and I got to make a bunch of little meatballs with currants and pine nuts (oh and pork, too). Everyone wins. Actually, the meal was very tasty and I may just have become a spaghetti convert after this one.

I came across this recipe (and now, I can’t remember where. I’m 90% sure it was at www.foodnetwork.com, so it’s probably one of the usual suspects there). I added a few extras to the sauce (olives, red wine and a pinch of sugar) and fennel to the meatballs.

Sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
4 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup chopped black olives
1/2 tsp dried oregano
pinch of sugar

Meatballs
2/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs
3 tbsp milk
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 large egg
2 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 pound sweet Italian sausages, casings removed
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
2 tbsp dried currants

1 pound spaghetti

For the Sauce
Heat the oil in heavy large pot over medium-low heat. Add onion and sauté until golden, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and stir about for 1 minute. Add tomatoes with juices, 2 tablespoons of the basil, the olives and the red wine. Bring to boil.

Reduce heat the heat and simmer until sauce thickens, breaking up tomatoes with fork, about 1 hour. Mix in 2 tablespoons basil and a pinch of sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Set sauce aside.

For the Meatballs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil baking sheet. Mix crumbs and milk in medium bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Mix in Parmesan, onion, basil, egg, garlic and pepper. Add sausage, pine nuts, fennel and currants and blend well.

Using wet hands, form mixture into 1 1/4-inch balls. Place on baking sheet.

Bake until meatballs are light brown and cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Add to sauce and barely simmer until the pasta is done.

Cook spaghetti in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain and mound on yoru plates. Spoon some sauce and meatballs over the spaghetti. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Dig in.

I even made an antipasto platter to go with out meal — marinated artichokes, salami, peppers, black & green olives, parsley and garlic braided mozzarella and those big Italian beans I like. On the side, we also had steamed broccoli because, seriously, a whole plate of pork meatballs and pasta? You really need some steamed broccoli on the side.

***
Man, what was I thinking? A pasta meal when I have only 6-8 months to get into shape before my wedding dress comes in? Ha! Yeah, I found a dress at Tres Fabu (across the street from Caprials — see? It’s food related). I ordered it and now I just wait for the factory to make it and ship it. And, the one I picked was only 50% of the budget I had allotted for the dress. Awesome — now I can get that tiara I’ve had my eye on. Joking!

This month’s Sugar High Friday is hosted by Coconut Chutney and the theme is edible flowers. Hey — it’s a great time to break into my stash of dried lavender! In case anyone has trouble finding dried lavender, I usually buy it at Cost Plus, where it comes in nicely sized bags in the spices section. You can also use fresh lavender flowers, of course.

This recipe by Gale Gand, another person I wish still had a show on the Food Network.

Be warned — these are very addictive. The only problem I had is that the dough was way too dry and I had to add a little milk. So, I guess the lesson here is just have a little milk on hand in case your dough needs a bit more moisture.

Lavender Shortbread
8 tbsp (1 stick) cool unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp dried lavender flowers
Optional (if needed) 2-3 tbsp milk

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter until soft in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add 1/4 cup sugar and mix until incorporated.

Stir together the flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix at low speed just until the ingredients are almost incorporated, then add the lavender, and mix until the dough starts to come together.

This is where my dough did not come together. Just way too crumbly and floury. I added about 2 tablespoons of milk and it came together just fine.

Flour a work surface, turn the dough onto it, and knead it 5 to 10 times, to bring the dough together and smooth it out. I opted to press the dough into a 8 X 8 inch baking pan (lined with parchment), rather than rolling the dough out and then placing it on the pan. I think I made the right decision. I used my fingers to press it down and then smoothed it out with the bottom of a metal measuring cup.

Prick the shortbread all over with a fork to prevent any buckling or shrinking. Sprinkle the surface evenly with 1 tablespoon of the remaining sugar. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, deflate the dough if needed, by knocking the pan once against the oven rack then rotate the pan to ensure even cooking and a flat surface. You know, my finished surface was not entirely flat (probably because I pressed) but I am fine with that — it just looks homemade and rustic!

Bake 10 to 15 minutes more, until golden all over and very lightly browned. As soon as it comes out of the oven, sprinkle the surface evenly with the remaining tablespoon of sugar.

Let cool about 5 minutes. Using a very sharp knife, cut into 3 rows by 5 rows making about 1 1/2-inch by 3-inch bars. Let cool completely in the pan. Now, since the shortbread was on parchment, I actually lifted it out to cut the bars, then I replaced them back in the pan and let the shortbread finish cooling that way. After it is colled, it’ll store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Thanks again to Coconut Chutney for hosting this month’s event!