Corn and White Asparagus Soup

For the White Asparagus Soup

• Take the white asparagus bunch and cut off the bottom eighth of the stalks if they are hard and woody. Traditionally you would peel the stalks of the asparagus but if you want to skip this step you can. Take one bunch and cut the tops about one inch and length and reserve for the garnish. The rest of the asparagus you can cut into half inch pieces.

  In a soup pot on medium high heat, add butter, olive oil, sliced onions, chopped asparagus, and one tsp of salt. Stir for 5 seconds and then cover the pot with a lid. Turn down to medium. Shake the pot every 2 minutes keeping the lid on. (Check out video below on how to sweat onions). Do this for about 8-10 minutes. Then add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes with the lid on.

  Take the lid off, and pour everything into a vitamix. Place the lid on the blender, puree the soup until smooth, making sure you start off on a low setting because of the heat (note. When trying to puree sauces or soups when hot, you have to pulse or start off the blender at a very low power and work your way up to full power. If you try to puree at full power when the liquid is hot, the pressure and heat will make the blender explode which as you know will be very bad.)
  

How to make corn stock

• Take your ears of corn and shuck them if they already aren't peeled. Then in a bowl take one ear and stand it upright inside the bowl. Then take a knife and cut the kernels off the cob and the corn should all fall into the bowl instead of all over your countertop or cutting board. Continue the process until all the corn is off all the cobs.

  Take your cobs and break them in half using your hands (shouldn't be too hard to do). Place them in a pot of water (6 cups) and bring to a boil. Turn down to a hard simmer and cook for 45 minutes or so until you have a little less than half the amount of water. Taste the stock or corn water and see if it taste like corn. If it does then turn it off. If it doesn't have much flavor keep cooking for another 15 minutes until you have about 2 1/2 cups of water/stock. Season with a pinch of salt

How to make corn soup (puree)

• In a small pot add butter, half the corn and 1/2 tsp of salt. Cook for 4 minutes on medium high heat without browning. Then add 2 cups of the corn stock. Bring to a boil and then place everything in a vitamix. Puree until smooth, add a touch of corn stock if it is a bit too thick. Adjust the seasoning if need be with a pinch of salt and pepper.
  

To Finish