spring and its fresh greens

Easter is nearly upon us, and the nighttime frosts are finally over. what better way to celebrate than with fresh green chervil soup.

as i mentioned in my earlier post, my grandmother used to make this quite often when we were children. i always thought everybody knew what chervil was until i started watching cookery programs on the BBC and it never ever came up as a recipe, most often it would be tomato soup, or pumpkin, or carrot and coriander etc. but chervil only started being featured very recently, and more often than not, as a herby addition in a chique salad, or to go with fish (as it does have a slight aniseed flavor).

but over here in Belgium, 'kervelsoep met rijst en ballekens' (chervil soup with rice and little meatballs) was and still is a regular starter to a meal.

here s how i make mine:

INGREDIENTS:

200 gr chervil, finely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 banana shallots, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped (optional)
1500ml light chicken stock
rapeseed oil, or sunflower oil
some double cream to garnish

METHOD:

1. lightly sauté the chopped onion, shallots, and garlic in a bit of the rapeseed or sunflower oil until softened but not browned
2. add the chicken stock and simmer for about 15 minutes
3. in a blender, mix the hot stock with the fresh chopped chervil
4. serve immediately with a little cream

should you want to add rice or meatballs for a classic chervilsoup, add them already cooked to the blended soup and warm through, but be careful not to overcook or the soup will look grayish, it s so much more appetizing with its spring green color.

we had this yesterday evening under our flowering wisteria... balmy