Week 13: Asparagus Soup with Tarragon Cream

I can't believe it's been 13 weeks already! And I can't believe I'm not tired of eating and making soup. Maybe I'm getting better, but each week seems to be easier and faster! This week I was finally able to enjoy the weather and make it to the Farmer's Market for my ingredients. My typical farmer's market routine is to do a lap to see what's there and do a second lap paying attention to prices and make my purchases in my final lap. This time around, the asparagus were calling to me to take them home. I got distracted by some amazing oranges and forgot to look for the tarragon, but I was able to pick up a few shallots too.

To make the soup, I cut the asparagus into 1/2" pieces, and sauteed the shallots. A note about the shallots: This is the first recipe that called for shallots rather than onions. I've never used a shallot so I figured I'd stick to the recipe since they were easy to find at the farmer's market and not real pricey (although in comparison to an onion they are a little pricey). I even thought I might get a break from burning, tearing eyes this week --no such luck. In the end, I couldn't taste the difference, so if you don't have shallots on hand, a plain old onion would probably be fine. If you are interested in learning more, my friends at Good Housekeeping have more to say on the subject.

Back to the steps...
So after sauteing the shallots in butter for a few minutes, I added the asparagus for a minute more. I then added broth, a sprinkle of cayenne, salt and rice. I covered and let simmer for 20 minutes, until the asparagus were very soft.

In the meantime, I whisked the creme fraiche with the chopped tarragon. A note about the tarragon/creme fraiche: This was another unfamiliar ingredient to me. But loving fresh herbs and being stubborn and never measuring, I may have overdone it a tad. I'm not entirely sure how much tarragon I used, but next time I would add a little at a time to taste before dumping it in. Also, the last time I used creme fraiche, I recall not being too impressed by the taste considering the high price and similarity to plain, cheap sour cream, but this time I found the creme fraiche at Trader Joe's much cheaper, so I used it. However, this is another ingredient that can be easily substituted and still come out with a great soup.

Once again, back to the steps...
After vegetables are soft, puree the soup and whisk in the creme fraiche/tarragon mixture. I returned the soup to the stove and kept on low heat until we were ready to eat. The licorice flavor of the fennel subdued a tad, I think. Or maybe I just got used to it.

Overall the soup was yummy! It was actually even quite good before adding the tarragon, so if you aren't a fan of the licorice/anise flavor, this can be skipped and enjoyed just as well. My friends loved the soup and went back for more! Even my fried who was stunned by the strong flavors of the tarragon ended up having a second helping later. The moral of the story, is don't rule out the tarragon right away. Give it a chance and you will LOVE this soup!

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds medium asparagus /2 bunches = $6 / farmer's market
2 tablespoons butter / from home
1/2 cup chopped shallots / $1.50/lb = $0.75 / farmer's market
4 cups chicken stock / from home
salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper / from home
1/3 cup long grain white rice, uncooked / from home
1/2 cup creme fraiche / $3.49 / Trader Joe's
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh tarragon / $1.99 / Whole Foods

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Taste: 4 stars
Prep: easy
Cost: $12.23

Can't wait to see what's at the Farmer's Market next week!