Cream of Asparagus Soup, Focaccia, and Salad

The first chapter of the Moosewood Cookbook is dedicated to soups, as will be my first posts. As Mollie says, the hearty Moosewood soups "can be the centerpiece of a meal, especially when served with rice or good bread and a light salad." In this vein, I decided to pair the first recipe in this book, Cream of Asparagus soup, with Moosewood focaccia and a nice salad.

Since the focaccia required the most prep time, I decided to make it first. For those not-familiar, focaccia is an Italian bread, in Moosewood's version flavored with delicate rosemary and just a touch of olive oil. The first step in making the focaccia, as with any yeast bread, was to dissolve the yeast in warm water, then, after about five minutes, feeding the foamy mixture with sugar or honey, (I used sugar for this bread):

Next, the gradual process of adding the flour and rosemary commenced, (for ease of mixing, I added the dried rosemary to the flour first, then gradually added that mixture to the dissolved sugar and yeast). The bread started out gooey and lumpy, (the stage at which Mollie instructs to "mix enthusiastically with a whisk"), then thickened into a soft mess recognize able as bread dough. I continued to add warm water and tiny bits of flour until I achieved the consistency I wanted:

(dry rosemary and flour mixture)

("Add flour, one cup at a time, mixing enthusiastically with a whisk." (Kazten))

("...As the dough thickens, switch to a wooden spoon...")

("...and, eventually, your hand." (Katzen))

The dried rosemary gave this dough a interesting prickly texture, almost like play dough with pine needles stuck in it. (I was worried this texture would survive baking, but the rosemary softened considerably.) Next, the dough was formed into a ball, placed in a olive-oiled glass bowl, brushed with olive oil, covered, and set on the preheating oven to rise for a few hours.

While my dough rose, I moved on the cream of asparagus soup. Mollie instructs that the tops of the asparagus stalks should be set aside for use in topping the soup, but, as this soup was not being "served" so much as packed into Tupperware containers and taken to work, I skipped the step. I chopped the asparagus stalks "into 1-inch pieces, discarding the tough bottoms," diced the onion, then added both, with a little bit of butter and 1.5 teaspoons of salt, to a skillet, (Actually, to two skillets, as I didn't have one skillet that was large enough to hold 2 pounds of asparagus and 2 cups of chopped onion).

(chopping asparagus)

(I freaking hate chopping onion...my eyes water and my nose runs.)

(asparagus, onion, unsalted butter, and salt in skillet)

I sauteed the veggies over medium heat until the onions were clear and the asparagus was tender, then gradually added 3 tablespoons of flour to thicken the mixture, and turned the heat down low. After a few minutes, I turned the heat back up to medium, and stirred the mixture until the water started to boil. Once the soup was boiling away happily, I turned the heat down to a simmer, began heating 2 cups of skim milk in a sauce pan, and checked on my focaccia dough:

(After about an hour, the dough had doubled in bulk!)

I kneaded the dough for a few more minutes, formed it into a ball, and rolled it out onto a floured cutting board into the shape of a thick, ("about 10-inch diameter"), circle. After letting the dough settle on the cutting board for about ten minutes, I popped it in the oven and returned to my soup!

By this time, my milk was hot, and my sauteed onion and asparagus mixture suitably tender and thickened. Mollie advises that the milk and veggies be creamed together in a blender, but since my blender is small, I had to make several small batches of creamed soup:

(milk and veggies prior to creaming)

(milk and veggies after creaming)

I added each batch of creamed soup to the sauce pan I'd used to heat the milk, and mixed them together over low heat, seasoning with 2 teaspoons dried dill, 1/2 teaspoon tarragon, and about 1/4 or 1/2 a teaspoon of white pepper. (to taste), and let the soup stay warm on the stove. This whole process, (from added water, to creaming, to seasoning), took about 25 minutes, which meant my focaccia was ready to emerge from the oven!

(Not my prettiest baked good, but the aroma was heavenly.)

I'll need practice with this bread and adjust cooking times; I felt like the outside was a little crunchy, while the inside stayed a little doughy. I baked it for an additional 5 minutes, which I think may have been a bit too long.

Mollie's next step in the salad-making process deals with the greens, which she suggests be tender, fresh, "immaculate, and absolutely dry!" In the future, I plan to mix and was my own greens, but for this salad, I used a pre-washed spring mix. To this I added "the optional extras" of Mollie's step three; for me, these included chopped fresh celery, carrots, cherry tomatoes, (on the author's suggestion), "crumbled pungent cheese," (I used crumbled blue cheese), and dried cranberries. In step 4, Mollie lays out directions for making homemade salad dressing in the bowl, but as I was using store bought dressing and keeping the salad in the fridge for a few days, I chose to add the dressing to each serving, (I did the same with the blue cheese and extra dried cranberries). Mollie closes the section with the helpful reminder to, "Be a benefactor with the oil, a miser with the vinegar,  a poet with the salt, and a demon with the pepper!"

(My salad ingredients and salad bowl.)

(Dicing celery; hand-chopped veggies just taste better!)

(Tossed salad!)

Finally, it was time to eat my delicious Moosewood meal with a zesty salad, a warm hunk of fresh-baked bread, and creamy, spicy soup!

(Ta-da! Next time, I'll try and use matching dishes...)