I do love asparagus, so when I found a recipe that called itself asparagus soup (and still used chicken!) I had to see what it tasted like. Or make my husband see what it tasted like. Watch the one minute version on Instagram!
Asparagus Soup
The Virginia Housewife
1824
Step One: “Scrape” a few bunches of asparagus and cut off the top inch. I’ve never actually heard of peeling asparagus, but I can only assume that’s what scrape meant.
Step Two: Chop the asparagus stalks, put them “on the fire” with a piece of bacon, a chopped onion, pepper, salt, and a quart of water. Obviously I just used the stove. I typically skip onions in these recipes because I dislike them, but in this particular case I decided to keep them, and you’ll see why in the next step.
Step Three: Boil until the stalks are soft, then “pulp them through a sieve.” Needless to say, this took FOREVER. Sitting and trying to press the asparagus stalks through those tiny holes. I mostly got water out of them, but some of the pulp managed to get through as well.
Step Four: Strain the water, put it back in the pot, and add “a chicken cut up” and the tops of the asparagus. I admit I didn’t want to cut up a chicken myself, so I purchased chicken pieces and dropped them in. It said nothing about deboning them, so I figured I would just let them cook rather than dealing with raw meat.
Step Five: I had to add extra water while the chicken boiled, which tells me that perhaps I should have cut it up so that it cooked faster. Ah, well, Hindsight and all that. I did end up pulling the chicken apart once it was cooked, because the final step was to “thicken with flour, butter, and milk.” It’s a good thing I am familiar with making roux, or I would have no idea of the proportions for this.
Verdict:
Honestly, it was pretty good. Daniel really liked it, and Flynn LOVED it. We finally had to transfer him to the high chair so he could keep eating it without make a mess. I would probably make it again, as long as I could use a food processor instead of pressing it through a strainer.
Have you ever made asparagus soup? Did it have chicken in it? How did you puree it? Or didn’t you?
Forest Idylls 