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Menu Plan for Spring I: Week 12, Friday
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Daily Recipes:
Asparagus Soup
Lightly Smoked Cod
Potato and Onion Packets with Gruyère
Cooking time: 45 minutes for menu Cooking schedule: see below for instructions
Pick out 10 asparagus spears and trim to 4in (10cm) lengths, from tip, for the tarts tomorrow. Use the trimmings in the soup. The fish is not done in a smoker, but on the barbecue with a few wood chips to add flavor. Perfect summer cooking - easy, all done on the barbecue grill.
Asparagus Soup
Total time: 30 minutes
This is a lovely soup for late spring. I like to make it earlier in the day and serve it chilled, but it's equally good served warm. You can use milk or cream in place of some of the stock for a creamier version.
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion
- 1 small - medium potato
- 12oz (360gr) green asparagus bundle, trimmed)
- 2 cups (16oz, 480ml) chicken stock
- 2 tsp butter
- 2 tbs Greek or plain yogurt
Instructions:
- Chop onion.
- Trim asparagus and cut into 1" (2.56cm) lengths. Reserve 2 - 4 tips for garnish.
- Roughly chop potato.
- Heat butter in medium saucepan. Add onion and sauté until tender and transparent, about 5 minutes.
- Add asparagus, potatoes and stock.
- Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are done, about 15 minutes.
- At any time, drop in the reserved asparagus tips and boil for 2 minutes.
- Remove tips and set aside.
- When potatoes and asparagus are tender purée in blender, using only as much stock as needed, reserving the rest.
- Add as much of the remaining stock to get your preferred consistency.
- The soup can be served hot or made ahead to this point, chilled and served cold.
- To serve: ladle into soup plates, put 1 tbs yogurt in the center and garnish with asparagus tips.
Lightly Smoked Cod
Total time: 30 minutes
This is a cross between smoker cooking and grilling, and it flavored the cod perfectly: a light smoke and dill combination. It needed nothing else.
Ingredients:
- 1 - 2 filets of cod, or other thick, firm white fish, 12oz (360gr) total weight
- 2 tsp dill weed
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- wood chips for smoking - apple is nice See Barbecue Grills for more info
- Weber-type kettle barbecue with charcoal or Gas Grill
Instructions:
- If you are using small, commercial wood chips, put them in water to soak.
- Mix the soy sauce and the olive oil.
- Brush on the fish.
- Sprinkle the dill weed on top.
- Charcoal grill: Put some charcoal in the barbecue, off to one side and light it.
- When the coals are glowing, add the fish - either in a basket or on a grill mat of some sort, to the other side - in other words, not over the coals.
- Throw some wood chips on the coals and cover.
- Check it halfway through and add more wood chips if it has stopped smoking. It's done when if flakes easily with a fork. We left ours on for about 30 minutes.
- To use a gas grill: Only light one side of the grill.
- Wrap the soaked wood chips loosely in foil. Poke a few holes in the foil and place on the grill.
- Keep the fish off of direct heat and the grill cover closed and vented or propped open an inch or so.
- To use oven: The fish could also be baked, 400F (200C) for 15 to 20 minutes. It won't have the smoke flavor, of course, but the dill and soy sauce add a lovely flavor on their own.
Potato and Onion Packets with Gruyère
Total time: 40 minutes
A summer version of Potatoes Savoyard. It's cooked on the barbecue grill, wrapped in foil. Use sweet onions if you can get them, otherwise regular yellow onions are fine. Dried herbs work best in this, use any you like.
Ingredients:
- 2 medium potatoes
- 1 medium sweet or regular onion
- 1 piece Gruyère cheese, about 4oz (120gr) or any flavor you like
- olive oil
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- aluminum foil - heavy duty (or use a double sheet)
Instructions:
- Thinly slice potatoes, onions (cut in half first) and cheese - about 1/16 inch.
- Lightly oil 2 square (as long as the package is wide) sheets of aluminum foil.
- Place 2 slices of potato side by side, place an onion slice halfway on the potatoes in the middle and 1 slice of cheese on the onion slice. Overlap 2 more potato slices, onion and cheese - repeating until you have used 1 potato and half the onion and cheese - or until you think you have enough. You should end up with 2 rows of vegetables - 2 potato slices wide and about 5 inches long.
- Sprinkle rosemary over the top.
- Fold foil over, the 2 long sides first then the short (don't worry about a tight wrap - we want steam to escape).
- Repeat with the other potato.
- Cook packets on barbecue grill for 25 - 30 minutes. Do NOT turn over.
- When done, potatoes and onions should be cooked through and the cheese will have melted and formed a golden crust under the potatoes.
- To serve carefully slip spatula under cheese - trying not to tear the foil and to maintain the shape of the potato/onion packet. Lay on plates and enjoy!
Note: Can be baked at 400F for 30 minutes - just put packets on rack in middle of oven... you won't get the nice, crispy cheese, though..
Cooking Schedule: 45 minutes |
Slice onions, cheese, potatoes for packets |
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