No. 145 — Asparagus Purée Soup
Complete English translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 145 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original quantities, preparation and source.
Boil a stock from a bunch of greens and 1 Russian pound of firm, non-mealy potatoes; salt and strain. Take 2½ Russian pounds of inexpensive young asparagus and cut off the tips. Cook those separately in salted boiling water.
Cut the rest of the asparagus into small pieces, place in a saucepan with a spoonful of butter and a little strained broth, cover and stew for one to one and a half hours until fully softened. Rub through a sieve while hot.
Mix with puréed rice or pearl barley Nos. 94 and 95, or a spoonful of flour lightly fried in ½ spoonful of butter and boiled in a glass of strained vegetable stock. Cook for twenty to thirty minutes.
Thirty minutes before serving, slowly stir the remaining strained stock into the purée. Beat two egg yolks with ½ glass of cream and stir in a glass of boiling stock; mix into the soup with another ½ spoonful of butter. Heat until very hot without boiling, add the asparagus tips and pour into a tureen.
To provide
A bunch of greens and 1 Russian pound of potatoes 2½ Russian pounds of asparagus and ⅛ pound of butter 2 egg yolks and ½ glass of cream | ½ glass of rice or pearl barley Or 1 spoonful of flour and ½ spoonful of butter |