Lettuce Convince You – Butter Lettuce Soup is Good!

Amy — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:42:14 +0000

Ahhh, don’t you love a nice, cheesy pun in the morning? I know I do! If there was an emoticon (Omg, am I dating myself by using that word? Do people even use the word emoticon anymore? Do emoticons even exist anymore?! A quick search shows yes. Still, why do I feel like such a geek for discussing emoticons? Do I even want emoticons to exist anymore? Ok, back to the sentence) showing someone giving a wink, wink, nudge, nudge or slamming on to the top of a microphone saying, “Is this thing on!?” then that would have gone at the end of the post title.

Regardless of how stupid the title of this post is, the finished product was better than expected. Since I met my husband Jonny, I have heard about his mother’s famous Lettuce Soup, always made with butter lettuce (also called Boston or Bibb). Unfortunately, Jonny’s mother passed away many years ago and he is left only with the memories of the way his mother cooked this fabulous soup, remembering the flavors only in his mind.

This soup is meant for summertime, when lettuce is absolutely fresh and it’s too warm outside to eat a bowl of piping hot soup. In fact, like a gazpacho, melon or cucumber soup, this soup is to be eaten cold. Think of how delicious a crisp salad with buttermilk dressing is – the flavors just go together. This soup is very basic, very simple and very refreshing.

So I raise a glass to Jonny’s mom and thank her for not only raising an amazing man, but also for serving her kids her lettuce soup!

BUTTER LETTUCE SOUP (Serves 3 or 4 as a main, 6 as a starter)
Ingredients:

2 heads of Butter Lettuce (aka Bibb or Boston)
bit of olive oil or a pat of butter
1 large onion, diced
1/2 potato, peeled, cubed and boiled till soft
1/8 cup chopped chives
3 tablespoons fino sherry or white wine
1 1/2 cup veggie stock (or chicken stock)
1 cup buttermilk (or you can thin 2 tablespoons of sour cream with some regular light cream- but I recommend buttermilk)
ice bath
stick blender or regular blender

What to do:

Boil some water and make an ice bath by putting ice cubes and cold water into a bowl. Chop the bottom of the lettuce and immerse the leaves of the lettuce in the boiling water for thirty seconds. With tongs, remove the lettuce from the boiling water and “shock” them in the ice water to keep their color. After cooking in the ice water, remove and allow to drain and dry on a towel.
Meanwhile, in a tablespoon of olive oil (or a pat of butter), sauté the diced onion until translucent. After three minutes or so, add the boiled potato and stir. Add a pinch of salt. Toss in half the chives and stir again. After a minute, add the fino sherry or wine and allow to cook down (about one minute). As soon as the alcohol has been absorbed, add the stock and stir. Add the rest of the chives and allow to cook for 30 seconds then kill the fire.
Remove pot from stove and add half the cup of buttermilk to the pot along with the cooled and drained lettuce and start blending in the pot with the stick blender (if using a blender, add everything in and puree). Add the final bit of buttermilk and blend one more time.
Chill in the fridge for an hour or in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes.
Serve in bowls with some chopped chives and sliced radish and swirl in some thinned sour cream, buttermilk or regular cream! Enjoy.

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Lettuce Convince You – Butter Lettuce Soup is Good!