Asparagus Soup

Once again I found myself with a sick girlfriend in need of soup.  This time I had a whole bunch of asparagus and potatoes in the fridge so I stopped by the market on the way home from work for a few complimenting ingredients and got to work.

onion
garlic
1 fennel bulb
3-4 small potatoes
asparagus (about a pound I think)
cream
yogurt
chives

I meant to use chicken stock as my base but discovered I was out after I had already started cooking so I went without. It still worked out just fine.  I like using fennel in these all-veggie soups because it adds an almost meaty heartiness to recipes. I hear it's a common seasoning in making sausage so maybe our taste buds are just salivating to the ring of a bell so to speak.

Saute onions and garlic.  Add fennel and cook about 5 min.  Add potatoes and just enough water to barely cover the potatoes.  Boil until potatoes are tender, then add the asparagus and put the lid on so they get steamed.  After about 3-4 min the asparagus will be tender and you can blend it.   I added a little cream to each batch I put in the blender but I think yogurt would work too if you're looking for the low fat option.  I added some sliced ham on top just to get a little protein into the meal - it was tasty.

Brie Stuffed Meatballs

For my birthday we put a wheel of brie on the grill. It was delicious but since we had just been to Costco and bought a life time supply of almost everything, our friends barely put a dent in any one dish.   The next week I found myself with a whole lot of beef and brie and so I did the only logical thing and rolled it all up into little balls.

Balls:
1 lb ground beef
basil
bread
1/3c buttermilk
garlic

Sauce:
tomato sauce
canned diced tomatoes
basil
onion
garlic
olives

I admit it! I used store bought sauce (as a base).  Sometimes shortcuts are worth it - this one didn't seem too bad. If you decide to follow in my path just be sure to find one without too much sugar in it.  I used Trader Joe's.  I always like to start by caramelizing the onions and then I pretty much just throw everything else in and simmer it.

For the meatballs I started by looking at my America's Test Kitchen cookbook.  It had me starting with some little torn up pieces of bread and buttermilk.  I'm not sure what this does but the final product is tasty.  I put the bread, buttermilk, garlic, and basil in my fancy new food processor and made a lumpy paste. Then, I added the meat and pulsed a few times.  I just rolled the mixture it into balls, pushed a chunk of cheese into the middle of each and fried them up.

If I had to change something I might actually change the cheese.  Brie was good, and lord knows we had enough of it, but I think goat cheese or blue cheese would be really good too.