an acquired taste

Chilled Asparagus Buttermilk Soup

I know one person who will not like this recipe. My mom has always had a hate/hate relationship with asparagus stemming from an unfortunate childhood encounter. As a result, an asparagus spear never set foot in our house. My brother and I grew up having no idea what it was or how it tasted. Fast forward years later and you can imagine my delight in discovering this versatile vegetable for the first time. As my love affair with asparagus has developed, I’ve concocted many ways to enjoy it: steamed, roasted, grilled and even raw. I top it with hard boiled egg, a balsamic reduction, brown butter or shaved Parmesan. But I had never made soup with asparagus…until now. This is one creamy green delight—so cool and refreshing. Goes to show, you never know what you’re missing until you try it.

This velvety soup has a subtle asparagus flavor and a lovely tang from the buttermilk. Sweet onion begins the aromatic base. It can easily be whipped up in under an hour, with minimal effort. You’ll want to have a batch on hand for your next picnic in the park or day at the beach.

This recipe calls for asparagus and lots of it–three pounds (or about three bunches) to be exact. But there’s no waste here. Melissa Clark of The New York TImes offers a great idea to fortify the chicken stock by simmering it with the stem ends of the asparagus. It’s a clever way to build flavor in this soup from the ground up.

Trim the woody ends of the asparagus and reserve them for the stock. Chop remaining stalks, beginning at the tips, into 1 inch pieces.

Use homemade chicken stock if you have it on hand, but the store bought low sodium variety works, too. If you want to keep it vegetarian, use vegetable stock.

In a medium saucepan, add the stock, stem ends of the asparagus and water. Bring to a simmer over medium low heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Strain stock and discard woody stems.

In a soup pot or dutch oven, melt butter over medium low heat and add chopped Vidalia onion. To continue building flavor as you go, season lightly with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Sauté for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until onion is translucent but not yet golden. Turn up heat to medium and add asparagus pieces. Season again lightly and cook for 5 minutes until bright green.

Add strained stock to soup pot and bring to a slow simmer. Continue to cook for 15 minutes, until asparagus is fork tender. Cool slightly.

Purée soup in batches in a blender until fine—be careful not to overfill blender with hot liquid.

Pour soup into a large bowl and stir in a scant 4 cups of buttermilk, reserving a drizzle for the garnish. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Refrigerate at least 3 hours, or overnight.

In a small bowl, stir to combine crème fraîche with a drizzle of buttermilk to make it runny.

Ladle soup into small bowls. Drizzle the tops with the crème fraîche mixture and garnish with freshly minced chives before serving.

Serves 6 to 8:

3 pounds asparagus
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock, homemade or low sodium
1 cup water
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large Vidalia onion, chopped
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 quart low fat buttermilk

1/2 cup crème fraîche
drizzle of buttermilk
1/4 cup minced chives

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