Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Celebrate the arrival of spring – and asparagus

Post Thumbnail

I don’t want to jinx it, but I think we can finally say that spring has arrived, says Martin Hollis, executive chef of the Old Course resort, St Andrews.

Aside from the warmer weather, spring marks the start of the rather short asparagus season here in the UK that lasts from around March to June.

You can easily find asparagus in the supermarket nowadays, but I’d recommend hunting out fresh spears from your local market for a truly wonderful taste. The reason for choosing local sources is because the supermarkets have to collect them from wherever they were harvested, so they’re not entirely fresh. Asparagus is best eaten very shortly after purchasing.

People shy away from asparagus because there’s so many ways to cook it. So, I thought I’d share with you a simple asparagus soup to set you on the right path.

For our soup recipe, you simply need to cut the asparagus, but typically there are six ways to enjoy the fresh spears: blanched, steamed, griddled, roasted, stir-fry and raw. Yes, you can eat asparagus raw, so if the above options don’t appeal to you, simply pop it in a smoothie or enjoy in a salad.

For this recipe you’ll need: 100g of butter, 500g of chopped, washed leeks, 600mls of milk, 2 bay leaves, 170mls of chicken stock, 1kg of chopped, washed asparagus, salt and pepper for tasting.

Start by melting the butter in a large pan. Once melted, add the leeks and sweat for approximately 10 minutes until they’re soft.

Separately, heat the milk with the bay leaves until hot but not at boiling point.

Add the chicken stock to the pan of leeks. Remove the bay leaves from the milk pan and add the milk to the other pan along with the asparagus. Stir well before turning off the heat and leaving it to cool.

Once it has cooled, blend the soup until smooth; for this recipe, you’ll want very few chunks. Return to the pan and reheat. Finish by seasoning and serve up with a fresh baguette.

Chef’s tip

23MDNCF_MARTINHOLLIS (13).JPG

My recipe requires you to cut your asparagus. To do so effectively, simply cut at a diagonal in 1 and 2 inch pieces. Several spears can be cut at one time. Why do they need cutting? Because it helps to expose the flesh and encourages them to cook evenly.