DINNER TIME! Cream of Asparagus and Ham Soup

We've moved and we're no longer suburban. We'll now be known as The Cheapskate Rural Dweller since we live at least a half hour from anything that could be deemed a city or suburb.

Time to ease back into the blogging grind and we'll do it with a recipe.

It's been cold up here in Northern California and it's great soup weather. Here's one I came up with this week.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 bunch of asparagus
1 cup spinach
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 medium onion
1 medium pasilla chile
1/2 pound cubed ham
1/4 cup sherry
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons Kosher salt
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon tarragon
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Start by putting a stock pot half full of water and 2 tablespoons of salt on the stove and bring to a boil. Cut the crown spears off of the asparagus.

Put in a strainer and hang in boiling water. Cut the rest of the asparagus into 2 inch lengths.

Slice the chile into strips, remove the seeds, and then cut into 1 inch squares.

After the asparagus crowns have boiled for 5 or 6 minutes, remove and set aside. Put the chile chunks , asparagus stalks, carrots, and spinach into the boiling water. Boil for 8 minutes and strain out all but one cup of water.

Put the boiled vegetables, the onion, and the one cup of reserved water into a blender and puree for 5 seconds.

Pour the mixture into a saucepan, add the sherry, garlic, parmesan cheese, and simmer for one hour. Stir every 5 to 10 minutes.

10 minutes before the simmer period is over, add the ham and asparagus spears.

5 minutes after turning off the heat, stir in the cream.

Serve and sprinkle the cheddar over the top.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2019 - All Rights Reserved

This Week's Menu: Pan Fried Ribeye Steak and Honey Glazed Carrots with Asparagus

Oops...a little late posting this but you still have time to get to the store for the ingredients.

This Sunday, I'm breaking in my new cast-iron skillet with some USDA Prime beef and another super side dish, modified from Martha Stewart's recipe.

Recipes at the links below..

DINNER: Pan Fried Rib Eye Steak

SUPER SIDE: Honey Glazed Carrots with Asparagus

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

SUPER SIDES: Honey Glazed Carrots and Asparagus

We're modifying the Martha Steward honey glazed carrot recipe a bit to make this side dish for our pan-fried rib eye steaks.  Also, I'm messing with the prep a little bit so I can have it ready early. That way, when it's time to make dinner, the only thing I have to do is stick the pan on the stove and cook.

INGREDIENTS
6 carrots
4 stocks of asparagus
1/2 cup of honey
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
7 ounces chicken broth
5 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper

Peel the carrots.  

Cut both the carrots and asparagus into 1/2 inch chunks. In a 3-quart pot, melt the butter and cook the carrots for 10 minutes, stirring twice.

Remove from heat and add the asparagus, honey, chicken broth, vinegar, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover, and refrigerate until ready to cook dinner.

When ready, bring to a boil (we're cooking ours outdoors on our gas grill side burner), then lower to low heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

This Week's Menu: Penne with Pancetta Cream Sauce and Asparagus Cheese Omelet

Going delicious and glucose friendly with this week's menu with a delicious pasta dish (the whole wheat makes it diabetic friendly but you can use regular penne if you want) and a basic asparagus and cheese omelet for breakfast.


Recipes are at the links below.

DINNER: Penne with Pancetta Cream Sauce

BREAKFAST: Asparagus and Cheese Omelet


Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

BREAKFAST: Asparagus and Cheese Omelet

We're cooking up some asparagus to put in a quick omelet for breakfast.

Just put some olive oil in a hot pan, cook up for five minutes, and put in an omelet with cheese using our basic omelet recipe.

Darryl

This Week's Menu: Cream of Asparagus and Ham Soup and Our New Basic Omelet

Was noticing I didn't have just a basic omelet recipe up here that I could come back and refer to so this week I correct that with our breakfast link below.  For dinner, this is the soup that you'll dream about...I know, because the recipe came to me in a dream (really!) but I did check out some sites to see if wasn't crazy in how to make it.


Good news...it worked like a charm and turned out to be very easy and extremely delicious.


Recipes are at the links below.

DINNER: Cream of Asparagus and Ham Soup

BREAKFAST: Basic Omelet


Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

DINNER: Three Part Cream of Asparagus and Ham Soup.

Sometimes, everything aligns and comes together perfectly. This recipe, which actually came to me in a dream, is one of those. It's appropriate, because this is one dreamy soup!

As the title suggests, this hearty soup is made in three parts , then cooked together to come into one fantastic whole.

INGREDIENTS
One bunch (approx. 1 pound) of asparagus
Three carrots
1 can chicken broth
8 oz. diced pancetta
3 oz. heavy cream
1 small, white onion
1 green onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup all purpose flour

The three parts to make are the vegetable base, the ham base, and the chicken broth. I'm making the vegetable and ham base ahead of time so at dinner, all I have to do is combine in a pot and cook.

Vegetable Base: Cut off the crowns of the asparagus and set aside. Cut the remaining stocks of asparagus into 1/2 to 1 inch lengths.  Peel the carrots with a potato peeler and also cut into the same lengths.

Put the asparagus and carrots into a steamer and steam for 10 minutes.

Take the steamed asparagus and carrots, put into the blender and add one cup of the broth in the bottom of the steamer and puree.

Steam the crowns for five minutes, Put the puree and the crowns into a sealable container and set aside in the refrigerator.

Ham Base: Take the green onion and chop up the green stalks to use as a garnish later.

Put the bulb and the small onion into a processor and chop finely.

Just like this...

The steamer I use is on top of a three-quart stock pot. I melt the butter in the pot and cook the onions until translucent in the butter, stirring the entire time (about 3 minutes).

Add the pancetta, salt, pepper, and garlic. Cook for another 15 minutes on medium/low stirring occasionally. The fat from the pancetta will render down and combine with the butter.

Put in a sealable bowl and in the fridge until you're ready to cook.

I want to cook outside today, so I'm using the side burner of my gas grill (I collect barbecues like some people collect art). The three parts...vegetable base, ham base, and chicken broth...are all put together in the stock pot and cooked on high until boiling.

Once a good boil is achieved, put the flame on low and stir everything together thoroughly.

Put a loose lid on, lower the heat to low, and simmer for half and hour, stirring occasionally.

Put the lid on tight, take off the flame and set aside for five minutes. Then, add the cream and stir in.

Sprinkle some shredded cheese and the chopped green onion stalks for garnish and flavor, then serve.

BREAKFAST: Basic Omelet

Basically, an omelet is just a quickly fried, beaten egg, cooked without stirring (as you would with scrambled eggs), and folded over.  Most people also put something inside as a filling, such as cheese, vegetables, or meat.  

We're doing a little of all three in our basic omelet recipe.

INGREDIENTS (as shown, you can put whatever you like in your omelet)

2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon half and half
salt 
pepper
2 tablespoons shredded carrot
1 1/2 stalk of chopped asparagus
1/2 oz. shredded cheese 
1/2 oz. chopped ham
guacamole
1 tablespoon olive oil

In a hot non-stick ten inch frying pan, with some olive oil, put in the carrots and cook for a couple of minutes.  Add the asparagus and cook another five minutes. Set the mixture aside and wipe the pan clean with a towel. Be careful not to burn yourself.

Put the eggs in a bowl, add the half and half, and a sprinkle each of salt and pepper.

Stir the mixture with a fork. Add a little more olive oil to the pan and rock it back and forth to coat the cooking surface and put it on a hot flame.  Pour the mixture into the pan.

As the eggs start to solidify, lift the edges with a spatula and let the liquid mixture fill in the voids.

Put your filling...the carrot/asparagus mixture, cheese, and ham...over one half of the pan.

Reach over to the far edge and carefully put your spatula under the edge. Fold it over the other half. Press down on the top for about 10-15 seconds with your spatula and flip the omelet. Cook another 10 seconds and put on a plate.  I'm also garnishing mine with a little guacamole on top (picture at the top of the post).

These are also good to go, we're taking these two to my convalescing mother in law and her son. Just reheat them for a minute in the microwave and they're ready to eat.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

This Week's Menu: French Omelet and Spring Ham Salad

We're trying to be healthy and diabetic friendly this week with a couple of meals that actually lowered my glucose, one (the omelet) by almost 40 points!

The omelet is a super tasty and very filling entree that can be served for any meal.  The salad is a bit lighter but still very tasty and satisfying.

Recipes are at the links below.

BRUNCH: French Omelet

LUNCH: Spring Mix Salad

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

French Omelet

This can be for breakfast or brunch. Heck, we've even had it with dinner where it can be paired easily with a lighter red like a Beaujolais.  It's called a French omelet because it's a dish I came up with after visiting the local market in the South of France (if you ever want to really get inspired to cook, try going to a French farmers market).

It's easy to cook, although some items may be a bit of a chore to find. For instance, in France, they have incredible dark purple asparagus and another purple elephant garlic that you just can't find around here, so I've substituted shallots and regular asparagus.

It really does taste better in France, which will amaze you after you find out just how good this version tastes (spoiler: it's really good).

INGREDIENTS (for each omelet, increase as appropriate for more)

2 eggs 
1 teaspoon half and half
1/2 ounce goat cheese
salt
pepper
nutmeg
2 links of merguez sausage (may be available at Whole Foods or other gourmet markets)
4 spears asparagus
1/2 bulb shallot (chopped fine)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Chop the asparagus into half inch pieces. In a 12 inch frying pan, heat up one tablespoon of oil.  Cook the asparagus for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the shallot and cook until just translucent.  Set the mixture aside in a bowl.

Chop up the sausage.  I like to freeze them first and cut with a tomato knife which makes it easier to get clean cuts.

Brown the sausage in the pan, put in the bowl with asparagus and shallot.

In a bowl, mix the eggs and half and half. Add a dash of salt, pepper, and nutmeg before whisking.

You're going to use your sausage, asparagus, shallot mixture and sliced up cheese in as a filling.

In an eight inch pan, heat up the other tablespoon of olive oil. Pour in the egg mixture when hot. Using a spatula, lift up the edges to let the liquid mixture fill in under the cooked egg. When just a little liquid is left on the surface, put in the filling across the center. Fold the far edge over. Let sit for about 10 seconds and flop into a plate.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved