Well, she's baaaaaaaaaack with no excuses and a soup recipe

Ciao ragazzi. Annalena has been distinctly absent as of late, hasn't she? Mea culpa. You all have had those periods when you can't get anything done, haven't you? Ah, so it has been. And to think I had dreams of taking another class this summer. HAH. I am lucky these days to have time to peel a potato. And in fact, by the luck of coincidence, we are going to talk today about doing things when you don't have to peel the potato.



BUT FIRST. Some news. Annalena has won a cooking prize. A small one, but a prize nonetheless. One of her favorite purveyors (http://www.earthy.com/), had a contest to pick the best recipe using morel mushrooms. Well, Annalena entered her recipe for morel mushroom soup. When they announced the winner and posted the recipe, Annalena sighed and said "yes, indeed, it is better than mine." On Friday of last week, however, Annalena received word that she was the first runner up. No chat about how if the winner could not fulfill his duties or anything like that, just her choice of a tshirt or a coffee mug. Now, Annlena is a tshirt kinda girl, but wearing a tshirt that spells out "Earthy Delights" was not in the cards. So, I am now a proud owner of a chiles of the world coffee mug.



Now, back to what we do: cook. Recently, I wrote about fingerling potatoes. And this soup uses them; however, you could use any potato you like. This recipe is the result of circumstances: a bowl of fingerlings, beginning to sprout "eyes" and a need to make a pot of soup for Monday dinner (just one more of those, as Guy's rehearsals end).



Those of you who are of a soup like persuasion will immediately recognize parallels to vichissoyse, and indeed, that is the inspiration for this soup. It shows us all how a basic recipe can be modified to use what is available and make a lovely dish.



The recipe uses fingerling potatoes, green garlic (to review: the spring garlic that has not yet formed a bulb), vegetable stock and green peas. On the question of vegetable stock: if you are eating seasonally, you are now surrounded by things like asparagus, and pod peas. You are probably not using the very bottoms of the asparagus, as they are very tough. Store them, and when you have about two or three cups, make stock. It couldn't be easier. Put the asparagus pieces in a pot, with about six cups of water, and turn on the heat. When it comes to a boil, lower and simmer for ten minutes and then drain it off. You can do the same thing with peapods and make a lovely stock for something like risibisi, or risotto, or anything like that.



So, now you have that stock. While it is cooking, rub the sprouting eyes off of your potatoes if you were as foolish as moi, and then cut them into halves or thirds. You don't have to peel fingerlings, because the skin is so light, and if you do, you will lose most of the potato. New potatoes will work the same way, but if you use storage potatoes, do yourself a favor and peel them. Also, get two or three green garlics, peel off the tough stem, and chop them, all the way up to the point where the plant is getting very dark green. (Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the peas).



To me, butter and potatoes are a natural combo. BUT... you can burn butter so easily and ruin your dish, that I use two tablespoons of butter, unsalted, and two tablespoons of oil. Melt the butter in the oil, and then simmer the green garlic in it until it begins to soften. Now add your potatoes, toss them through the oil, and then add that vegetable stock - drain the asparagus pieces before you do- and taste the thing for salt. Let this bubble away for about half an hour, until the potatoes are ridiculously soft. It will take that long. Fingerlings are rather sturdy.



When you have it to the soft point, test the salt again. You can use this soup as it is, but if you want something more classic, it's time to puree it.



PUT THE BLENDER OR FOOD PROCESSOR AWAY NOW. Does anyone recall Annalena's warnings about potatoes and those instruments? It is true. You will get a very gummy soup. No, get out that old fashioned food mill and start pushing the stuff through that. It will keep some of the skin back, as well as bigger pieces of garlic, and give you a much more interesting texture. Of course, you could just go in with a spoon and smash the potatoes to a texture you like. I am told that an immersion blender is good here, but I do not have one.



I told you I didn't forget the peas. Now, put all that soup back into the pot, and add as many fresh green peas if you like. The soup will probably be hot enough to cook the peas to the point they should (not too much), and you have a lovely, filling dinner.



You can put some grated cheese on top of this, but I wouldn't. What you may want to do is dilute it further. You may find the pureed potatoes just too thick to feel comfortable serving it forth as soup. That is your call. For those of us who like it thick, it is wonderful just like this.



Enjoy. I will be back soon with some new recipes, including a wonderful strawberry upside down cake from my friend Dana, a creamy macaroni and cheese, a wonderful springtime pasta dish, and Buddha only knows what else.



Annalena is a silver medal winner. How cool is that?