transparent golden fat with some opaque milk solids below. Slowly pour the yellow liquid butter into a container, leaving any remaining milk solids behind in the pan.
The clarified butter keeps in an airtight container for up to a month in the refrigerator.
SPRING EGG DROP SOUP
I hate muddling through a long winter only to suffer those odd early spring months when the weather is finally warming up, but the markets don’t seem to have noticed. Spring produce takes a while to shake off the cold. So when it does, an excitable cook like me tends to go overboard. I pop to the market to grab a bunch of asparagus and return weighed down by bags and bags of spring goodies. I want to use them all without cooking a dozen different dishes. So I make a nice soup, one flaunting a last-minute drizzle of eggs beaten with a little Parmesan so they set in silky, fatty strands. A variety of veg is fantastic here, but feel free to use just asparagus or just peas, if that’s what you’ve got or what you like.
serves 4
55ml extra-virgin olive oil
225g young carrots, topped, tailed, peeled and cut into 1-cm irregularly shaped pieces
230g chopped (1-cm pieces) bulbous spring onions
3 slim or 1 bulbous spring garlic head(s), roots and tops trimmed, tough layers removed, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons plus a pinch Maldon or another flaky sea salt
900ml Simple Chicken Stock (here)
225g asparagus, woody bottoms snapped off, cut on the diagonal into 1-cm pieces
110g sugar snap peas, trimmed, strings removed, and cut on the diagonal into 0.5-cm pieces
100g shelled fresh peas (from about 300g of pods)
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
A five-finger pinch of mint leaves, roughly chopped at the last minute
A five-finger pinch of basil leaves, roughly chopped at the last minute
½ lemon
Heat the oil in a wide heavy pot over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the carrots first, then the onion, garlic, and 2 teaspoons of the salt. Cover and cook, stirring only after 5 minutes have passed and occasionally thereafter, until the onions are soft and creamy but not coloured, about 25 minutes.
Uncover, add all but 1 tablespoon of the chicken stock, increase the heat to high, and bring the stock to a vigorous simmer. Add the asparagus and both kinds of peas and cook just until they’re tender with a slight crunch, about 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs with the Parmesan, a pinch of salt, and the remaining tablespoon of stock.
When the green vegetables are ready, reduce the heat to low, stir in the herbs, then drizzle the egg mixture here and there over the soup. Have one very gentle stir, wait a minute or two until the egg sets, then take the pot off the heat. Season to taste with salt (be judicious, or else you will obscure the flavour of the vegetables), then squeeze in just enough lemon to add brightness, not acidity. Let the soup cool slightly before you dig in.
WATERCRESS SOUP WITH SPRING GARLIC
The watercress I dream about comes from Dave Harris at Max Creek Hatchery, in Delaware County, New York. ‘Hatchery’? you might wonder. Yes, Dave deals mainly in trout, fresh and smoked, but he also sells perfectly peppery, bitter watercress that grows wild by the water. He keeps sheep, too, that like to chomp on it while they’re grazing. Sheep eat everything, those little buggers. This soup features the sophisticated flavour of watercress balanced by the sweetness of slowly cooked onion and spring garlic. The soup’s silky body comes from potatoes, rinsed to wash away some of their starch, and, if I’m being honest, plenty of tasty fat. Fortunately, watercress is one of those vegetables whose strong flavour lets you know you’re eating something good for you. I like to think that’s all that matters. Add a spoonful of smoked trout roe for a special treat.
The soup will go from garden green to drab olive if you don’t serve it straightaway. If you’d like to make the soup the night before but retain its bright green colour, make an ice-water bath in a bowl large enough to hold another bowl and set the second large bowl in the bath. Once the soup is done, pour it in the bowl and stir until it’s cold. Transfer it to an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for up to a day.
serves 4 to 6
2 spring garlic heads, with stalks attached if possible (see ‘Spring Garlic’, opposite)
110g plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large Spanish onion (about 450g), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
2½ tablespoons plus a pinch Maldon or another flaky sea salt
450g russet (baking) potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-cm pieces, rinsed and drained well
450ml whole milk
450g mature watercress (not baby), bottom 2.5cm of stems trimmed, thick stems thinly sliced, the rest left whole
A small handful of delicate chervil sprigs, optional
110ml plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
120g crème fraîche
½ teaspoon black peppercorns, toasted in a small pan until aromatic, then coarsely crushed
Trim away the roots and cut off and discard the dark green tops of the spring garlic. Peel off the outermost layer from the stalks and bulbs. If your knife slides easily through the stalk about 10cm up from the bulb, thinly slice it and set aside. If not, save it to use as an aromatic in stock or sauce. Halve the bulbs lengthwise and if necessary remove any tough layers. Thinly slice the bulb, discarding anything you come across with which your knife struggles.
Melt the butter in a medium pot over medium-low heat, then add the garlic, onion, and 1 tablespoon of the salt and have a stir. Cover the pot and cook, stirring occasionally and reducing the heat if the onion threatens to colour, until the onion is very soft, creamy and sweet, about 30 minutes.
Add the potatoes, milk, the remaining 1½ tablespoons of salt, and 450ml of water. Cover the pot, increase the heat to medium, and bring the liquid to a vigorous simmer. Uncover, lower the heat if necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook until the potatoes are fully tender, about 15 minutes.
Add the watercress and chervil (if you’re using it), let it wilt slightly, and gently stir to submerge the greens in the liquid. Bring the mixture back to a simmer, pour in 110ml of the oil, then remove the pot from the heat.
Pour the soup into a large mixing bowl. Working in batches, blend the soup (be careful when blending hot liquids) until very smooth, adding each batch back to the pot. (Whenever I make this at one of my restaurants, I use a high-power blender, such as a Vita-Prep, to get the soup especially smooth and fully bright green rather than green-flecked.)
Keep the
