Cream of Asparagus Soup with Applewood Smoked Bacon

The best meal I've had in my life (so far) was in Reims, France, at a restaurant called Le Continental. I hadn't researched the place, heard of the place, nothing. By luck and lack of patience, (not wanting to wait in the long line at the restaurant next door) I just wandered in. Only 18 and a bit naive, I could have cared less about being in Reims and didn't expect much. To me, it was just a stop on the way to grand old Paris. It was New Year's Eve, I was hungry and they had a table, that was good enough. When walking into the dining room I was actually feeling disappointed because the sign outside only had 2 stars (I didn't realize they were Michelin stars, I had been accustomed to my mom's AAA guides where only 2 stars meant sort of sh**ty in American standards.) The waiter took full advantage of the fact that I didn't speak a lick of French and shortly thereafter I was served duck pate on raisin toasts, a dozen oysters, salad with champagne vinaigrette and fromage blanc, poached lobster tail sauteed in a mushroom champagne sauce, fillet of beef smothered in some other mushroom sauce followed by a course of cheeses that I am ashamed to say I can not recall the name of a single one, except for the fact that they were utterly delicious. It wasn't until my return home that I actually read a guidebook and realized that Reims was in the heart of Champagne country in France. Talk about traveling blind..........

The magical thing about traveling blind is that it can lead to what I like to call "stumbleuponedness" (I know, that's not an actual word, thank you.) The stumbleduponess factor is quite often the most memorable thing about traveling. When you stumble upon something truly special, you get that wonderful feeling of the excitement of discovery combined with comfort and happiness, because you swear it seems like you've been waiting to find that spot your whole life and then wa-la! there it is. For instance I will never forget getting lost in a maze of medieval streets on a snowy day in Marburg Germany and stumbling my way into a bowl of creamy asparagus soup. I could have sat there forever in that cafe, my bowl of soup, my little miniature coca cola bottle, people watching, wondering if I was going to miss my train but not wanting to leave that place.

The funny thing about food memories is that sometimes they don't surface again for a very long time, years actually. It was in fact exactly 10 years later when my asparagus soup food memory overtook me and man, oh man, I just had to have some. I don't know if this recipe is similar or resembles anything like the soup I had in that Marburg cafe, but when I fix it, it warms me right up and takes me back to a simpler time when I didn't have any agenda but escaping the snowfall.

Cream of Asparagus Soup with Applewood Smoked Bacon
Serves 4

8 oz Applewood Smoked Bacon, chopped
1 Bunch asparagus (roughly 1 lb) cut into 2 inch pieces
1 Yellow onion, chopped
2 Garlic cloves (kept whole)
4 Cups chicken stock
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
Salt and pepper
In a large soup pot over medium heat, cook bacon until crisp. When bacon is crisp, remove from pot and set aside to cool on paper towels. In the same pot, saute onion and garlic cloves in leftover bacon grease until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add asparagus and saute until tender, about 5 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper.  Add chicken stock, increase the heat, bringing the soup to a boil. Simmer (not boil) soup for 30 minutes. Stir in cream. Using an immersion blender (or regular blender, but be careful it's hot!) Puree soup. Season with salt and pepper. Top soup with bacon pieces. Serve with hot buttered sourdough bread!

Bacon "crisping"

Asparagus, onion, & garlic sauteing!