We’re in that transition between spring and summer. Hot days, cool nights. Tonight’s supper was that same hot and cool.
I made chilled asparagus soup. The asparagus is still coming on ferociously and I had a pound to do something with. Chilled soup is pretty light, so I made some parmesan croutons to go with it. And the soup is pretty mellow, so I made some fiery grilled shrimp to round it out. Spring and summer, cool and hot. It was perfect.
The shrimp were marinated with cloves of smashed garlic. I looked at those cloves and thought they’d be good grilled too. So I stuck them on the end of the skewers. But they weren’t all that tasty. Since they were smaller than the shrimp they didn’t contact the grill. Maybe over a charcoal grill?
The entire meal (somebody should’ve wiped the rim of the soup bowl before snapping a picture!). It was a wonderful combination. The soup was light and smooth and tasted like fresh asparagus. The shrimp was fiery and unctuous. The parmesan croutons were salty and crunchy.
It was all delightful, and while it took a bit of work in advance, to put it together at meal time took almost no effort.
The recipes.
Chilled Asparagus Soup
Enough for 2 with leftovers for lunch the next day
About 1/2 cup white or yellow onion, roughly diced
2 ribs celery, roughly diced
3 cloves garlic, smashed
Salt
About 1 pound asparagus, roughly chopped into pieces
2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and roughly diced
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
Put a splash of olive oil in a sauce pan and add the onion, celery and garlic. Season with salt and cook on medium heat until the vegetables are soft, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Add the asparagus. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the potatoes and the stock. Add salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
Let the soup cool, then puree in a blender. If you want it really smooth, strain through a mesh strainer.
Taste and add more salt if needed. Chill for several hours or overnight.
Parmesan Croutons
Slices of French or Italian bread sliced about 1/2 inch thick. How many to make depends on how big your loaf is. How thick is to your taste. Thicker is chewier, thinner is crunchier. 1/2 inch is fairly chewy.
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Freshly grated parmesan cheese. I’m not a snob, really, but don’t use Kraft from a shaker.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Put the bread slices on a cookie sheet and brush with olive oil
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a generous amount of parmesan cheese
Cook until browned, around 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them, they’ll go from pale to burned in a few minutes at the end.
Grilled Shrimp
Use about 8 to 10 31-40 count shrimp per person
16 to 20 31-40 count shrimp
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 sprigs thyme
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 small shallot, sliced thin (red onion, scallion, white onion, whatever, it doesn’t matter)
Mix the shrimp and ingredients together and refrigerate an hour or 2 or 3.
Spice mix
You don’t need to be precise here.
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t cayenne (a bit spicy, cut this back if you don’t like it hot)
1/2 t mustard powder (also a bit spicy)
1/4 t thyme
1/4 t salt
1/4 t oregano
Put the shrimp on a skewer and sprinkle the spice mix over evenly.
Grill about 3 minutes per side on a hot grill pan or charcoal or gas grill
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