Jamie Oliver Strikes Back!

It's Tasty Tuesday and Jamie Oliver week continues! Tonight's dinner was Asparagus soup from Jamie's cookbook "Jamie at Home". Here's the recipe, with a few minor modifications...

I sauteed a diced onion and two stalks of diced celery, together with sliced leeks (2 good sized leeks) in a bit of olive oil and butter. Once the veggies are soft and starting to become a bit translucent you can add in the asparagus. First trim off the ends of the asparagus and the tips. Reserve the tips and then cut up the rest of the asparagus spears into 1/2 or so bits. Add the cut up asparagus spears to the veggies, together with one box of low salt chicken broth and half a can of vegetable stock. Bring to a boil. After the soup has been boiling for a bit lower it to simmer for 25-30 minutes. Add in a bit of salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. I also added in a touch of garlic salt, a bit of white wine. After the 25-30 minutes are up, I used my immersion blender to blend the soup. I kept it a touch chunky and then Jamie has you adding in the asparagus tips. Keep simmering until the tips are tender. At this point I added in a bit of lemon juice and a touch of cream.

I served the soup together with goat cheese toasts and a nice salad. I was impressed that even Miss B. enjoyed the soup! This was a winner... so Jamie's off the hook for tonight and out of the dog house. We'll have to see how the rest of Jamie Oliver Week turns out. Tomorrow-- either gnocchi or "English" onion soup. We'll see what kind of mood we're in tomorrow!