Taste of the Nation: Spring Asparagus Veloute, Pickled Radish & Crispy Garlic

A few weeks ago, I received an invitation to attend this year's Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation fundraiser.  The email stated:

"Inspired by a passion to fight childhood hunger, Boston’s hottest chefs, restaurants and mixologists will gather for Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation® benefit, the city’s premier culinary event. Taste of the Nation Boston, which will be held on April 14, 2011 at the Hynes Convention Center, will raise the critical funds needed to support Share Our Strength’s efforts to end childhood hunger in Boston and across the nation by 2015.

Since 1988, Taste of the Nation has raised more than $73 million for organizations in the United States, Canada and abroad, including more than $1.4 million in Boston alone. Area charities that will benefit from this year’s event include The Greater Boston Food Bank; Food for Free Committee; Cooking Matters, formerly known as Operation Frontline – Massachusetts; and Project Bread/The Walk for Hunger."

I've heard lots of great thing about this annual event and I'm excited to be attending this year as a media guest.  If you'd like to attend, here is some more information:

WHAT:
Share Our Strength’s 23rd annual Taste of the Nation Boston

WHEN:
Thursday April 14, 2011
From 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. EST
VIP reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. EST

WHERE:
Hynes Convention Center, 900 Boylston Street Boston, MA

WHO:
More than 65 of the city’s finest chefs and restaurants will participate in the gastronomic event. Along with Andy Husbands of Tremont 647 and the last season of Hells Kitchen, and Jody Adams of Rialto, participating restaurants will include Gargoyles on the Square, Hamersley’s Bistro, L’Espalier, Sel de la Terre, Summer Shack and Oceanaire. Attendees will also be able to sample over 100 different varietals of wine and sample a variety of cocktails prepared by some of Boston’s premiere mixologists.

DETAILS:
Tickets for Taste of the Nation Boston are $90 in advance / $100 at door for General Admission tickets are $150 in advance / $160 at the door for VIP and can be purchased by calling 1-877-26-TASTE or visiting www.strength.org/boston or www.TasteOfTheNation.org.

For more information about Taste call 202-478-6516. To purchase tickets or to get involved, visit TasteOfTheNation.org.

In addition to being invited to Taste of the Nation, I also got a copy of Richard Garcia's Spring Asparagus Veloute, Pickled Black Radish & Crispy Garlic.  Richard Garcia is the Executive Chef at 606 Congress at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel.  Last Friday, I got together with Megan and Meghan for a fun day of cooking and we decided to try our hand at the recipe.  We made some small modifications based on what ingredients we could find:

For the veloute:

• 2 pounds green asparagus (trimmed)
• 1 quart heavy cream
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the pickled radish:

• 1 cup champagne vinegar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 radishes, washed and radish greens removed

For the crispy garlic:

• 5 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the veloute:
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and add asparagus.  Cook until tender, about four minutes. 

Transfer the asparagus to an ice water bath. 

In a small pot, bring the cream to simmer.  Place asparagus in food processor with cream and puree until smooth. 

Season with salt and fresh ground pepper.  Take the pureed asparagus cream mixture and strain through a fine-mesh sieve.  Refrigerate to let the soup cool.

For the pickled radish:
Rinse the radishes and remove the greens.

Slice the radishes into matchsticks.

In a sauce pan, bring the champagne vinegar and sugar to simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Place the radish in the bowl and cover with vinegar mixture. 

Refrigerate to let the pickled radish cool.

For the crispy garlic:
Using a small knife, slice the garlic very thin.  Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat until very hot.  Line a plate with two paper towels.  To test the temperature of the oil, sprinkle some water into the oil.  When it sizzles, add the garlic and cook until just crisp and light golden brown.  This took about thirty seconds. 

Photo Credit: Megan Chromik

Use a slotted spoon to keep the slices from sticking together as they cook, and transfer them to the paper towels to drain once they change color. 

Photo Credit: Meghan Malloy

Here's a helpful tip - the oil can be strained and reserved for use as garlic oil.

To serve:
Place the chilled veloute in a bowl and garnish with pickled radish and crispy garlic chips.

This soup was definitely interesting.  It had a strong asparagus taste that was definitely cut when you got a spoon with either the pickled radish or the crispy garlic.  It was the kind of soup that would make a perfect amuse bouche or appetizer as a shooter but I wasn't sure if I could eat a bowl of it.  I will say that the presentation was really pretty and I'll definitely be making pickled radish and crispy garlic as garnishes in other dishes.

This recipe is really quick and easy to make but we definitely took our time making this as we sipped on wine, chatted and nibbled on drunken goat cheese, sliced baguette and fig jam. 

We also ate some delicious mini chocolate cupcakes with espresso buttercream frosting that Megan baked up in honor of Meghan's birthday. 

And nothing goes better with cupcakes than Bailey's on the rocks!

We ended the afternoon with an iChat with one of our favorite Connecticut bloggers - Alicia!  It was a really relaxing way to spend the afternoon with good friends in the kitchen.

I'm looking forward to trying Richard Garcia's version of this dish and more at Taste of the Nation on April 14th! 

Full disclosure: I was provided with a complimentary VIP media ticket to this event but I'm passing along the information because I think it is a great cause!