South Brockwells Farm Asparagus Three Ways
Michael Bremner – Head Chef of Due South.

Spring is upon us and the long anticipated South Brockwells Farm Asparagus is finally in season. The fresh stalks are tender, sweet and have a beautiful green “granny-smith apple” color with purple-tinged tips.

Here at Due South we serve the following dish – Asparagus three ways – a smooth creamy soup, a super fresh salad and a beautiful soufflé – all dishes showcasing the difference in textures and subtleties of flavour that this wonderful spring ingredient has to offer, while also ensuring that none of the stalk goes to waste.

The twice baked souffle is extremely easy to make and can be prepared in advance to the set ramekin stage - at which point it can be refrigerated to finish off later.

• 24 Asparagus stalks.

Prepare the asparagus as follows –

Trim the hard base of the stalks and set aside trimmings to flavour the soup – then snap off the ends of the stalks where they break naturally. Cut the “flower” heads off and set aside for the salad.  

Use a vegetable peeler to peel the remaining stalks leaving the centre portions intact.
Set aside the peelings for the soup and blanch the remaining stalks in hot water for about 5 minutes then cool quickly in cold water to retain texture and colour.

Soup:

• Asparagus peelings & trimmings from the base
• 2 shallots chopped
• ½  leek chopped
• 2 celery sticks chopped
• 1 pint of vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp of crème fraiche
• Olive oil
• Seasoning

Saute the leeks, shallots and celery in a pan with butter until soft. Add vegetable stock and the asparagus peelings and simmer on a moderate heat for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the asparagus trimming for texture and using a blender blitz until smooth. Mix in crème fraiche and season to taste. Serve either hot or cold with a drizzle of olive oil.

Salad:

• Asparagus tips
• 3 tbsp mayonnaise (homemade if possible)
• 2 tbsp chopped capers
• 2 tbsp chopped shallots
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

Slice the asparagus tips lengthways – arranging lengthways on serving dish.
Prepare the dressing, mixing capers, shallots, mayonnaise & mustard together. Add lemon juice and pour dressing over asparagus.

Twice Baked Asparagus Soufflé:

• 30g butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 100ml milk
• 2 whole eggs (separated)
• 25g asparagus puree
• 25g grated Twynham grange cheese
• 4 sheets of filo pastry
• 50ml clarified butter

Make a simple béchamel sauce – mix the butter and flour and cook them gently in a pan for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally to form a roux making sure the mix doesn’t burn or colour. In a separate pan, heat the milk.
Gradually add the hot milk to the roux, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook gently for a few more minutes until thickened nicely. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chop the blanched asparagus stalks and blitz with crème fresh to form puree.
Mix the béchamel sauce, egg yolks, asparagus puree & grated cheese.
In a separate bowl whisk your egg whites until they form soft peaks then fold whites into the asparagus & béchamel sauce mix.
Transfer to buttered ramekins. Place ramekins into a oven dish and add simmering water to come halfway way up the side of the ramekins & cook in the oven for 8 – 12 minutes at 180 degrees or until it has set but not risen. Remove and reserve to cool.

Take a sheet of filo pastry, butter and fold in half lengthways – butter again and repeat fold until you end up with a long strip about 2 inches wide. Repeat with each sheet.
Turn out the ramekins onto a greased baking sheet and wrap a pastry strip around the sides of each one to form a collar – glue end with butter.
Place back into the pre-heated oven at 180 degrees and cook until risen for 15 minutes.