Experimenting with Asparagus

I like to experiment with food.  What this actually means is that I don't generally follow recipes as they are written.  This free-form approach to cooking is a joy to me, and a frustration to those requesting recipes.  My goal today was to use only items I had currently available in my fridge, freezer and pantry.  So...what's for supper?

I've recently discovered the delight of grilled mixed vegetables.  Since I only use the tips of the asparagus in those tasty veggie pouches, I had an abundance of asparagus stems, waiting patiently in my fridge to be repurposed.  Today was overcast and rainy; the perfect day for soup.  Inspiration!  Cream of asparagus soup.  And what else?

On rainy days, I like to bake.  What better on a drizzly day than soup and freshly baked bread?  I had a plan.  Now, to execute...

Asparagus spears, purple onion, EVOO & herbs

First up: I wanted to roast the asparagus to bring out a nice, rice flavor.  I found half a purple onion and tossed it in the pan.  A drizzle of EVOO, sprinkle of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, crushed oregano, basil and rosemary, and into a 400 degree oven it went.

Sticky basil batter in the bread machine, ready to rise

While the asparagus roasted, I started a batch of Basil Batter Rolls from the Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook.  However, I wanted to use my bread machine to do the mixing, and altered the recipe a bit to make it healthier.  Instead of shortening I used butter, and substituted Eagle Mills While Whole Wheat Flour.  I set the bread machine to the dough cycle, and let her rip.  The recipe says the dough will be sticky, so I stopped adding flour when the dough looked like this:

Roasted asparagus to be pureed in the food processor

Meanwhile, the roasting asparagus has filled the kitchen with a mouth watering aroma.  Once the spears and purple onion were tender, I transferred them to my food processor to puree for the soup.

Wild caught Florida blue crab

Epicurious once again provided the inspiration for my experimentation: Cream of Asparagus Soup. After a cursory glance at the requisite ingredients and perusal of the associated reviews on my trusty Epicurious phone app, I rummaged through the freezer in search of homemade chicken or turkey stock.  Lo and behold; what did I find instead?  Crab stock, from these beauties wild caught by my brother Russ near Navarre, Florida: 







Oh, yes.  That will do nicely!  Into the crab stock went the pureed roasted asparagus, purple onions and a bit of minced garlic.  After simmering about a half hour, I added homemade creme fraiche and thickened the soup with a bit of butter and whole wheat flour.  Nothing left to do for the soup except let the flavors blend and bake some bacon for a garnish.  Meanwhile, something strange was going on with the roll batter/ dough...

With about 1/2 an hour to go in the dough cycle, the batter/ dough had risen to the top of the bread machine and was overflowing the pan.  This didn't happen when I followed the standard recipe, so the warmth of the bread machine dough cycle must require less yeast.  Note to self.  Time to transfer the dough to a bowl and start spooning out rolls.  Easier said than done.

Whole wheat basil batter rolls, ready to rise

Remember that the recipe said the dough would be sticky?  Yessir.  VERY sticky.  It stuck to the spoon, the bowl, my fingers, the muffin tins--pretty much everything it touched.  Consequently, it was really hard to portion the dough equally.  Here are the golden blobs of dough, ready for the second rise:

Basil batter rolls, or baby brioche?

Again, the dough rose much faster than anticipated.  The rolls doubled their size in less than 30 minutes, not the 50 estimated.  Into a 400 degree oven they went for about 15 minutes.  Ohhh, something smells good...

Light, fluffy basil batter rolls, hot from the oven

Although the cookbook calls these Basil Batter Rolls, they really look and feel more like a slightly more dense cousin to brioche.  The pesto, garlic and butter add a wonderfully savory flavor, yet the bread is light and airy.

Cream of Roasted Asparagus Soup

The soup turned really out well!  The crab broth added an unexpected flavor complexity to the still delicate cream of asparagus soup.  Topped with crispy bacon, this is comfort food of the grown-up sort.  I will be making it again.

Now, if I can just get the hang of how to layout the blog text and pictures properly, I'll be a happy girl.