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La Belle Cuisine - More Soup Recipes
Fine Cuisine with Art Infusion "To cook is to create. And to create well...is an act of integrity, and faith."
Julia Child's Velouté Cream Soups
“Once you have mastered a technique, |
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Cream Soups “Soups may be creamed in a number of ways, including great lashings of cream itself – an ambrosial item I shall soft-pedal here in favor of the velouté system with its flour-butter roux, and of the… rice puree system, which looks, feels, and tastes for all the world like a creamy soup but can contain as low as zero fat.” Cream Soups: Velouté “Start out with minced onions tenderly simmered in butter, stir in a little flour to make the roux that will lightly thicken the soup, and cook until the butter and flour are foaming nicely; moisten with a delicious chicken stock or milk or wine, then simmer a few minutes more. That’s the traditional base for a myriad of cream soups, be they based on chicken, mushrooms, artichokes, broccoli, or even fish.” Manufacturing Note: Velouté soups are delicious and velvety when properly made, but they can be dismal and gluey when prepared by careless or untutored cooks. It is of greatest importance that the roux be sufficiently cooked, as described below, and that the soup have a preliminary simmer of at least 10 minutes. Nothing difficult about that!
Chicken Stock Note: When making vegetable soups, don’t be too lavish with
chicken stock, particularly canned stock. If it is too strong, you’ll muffle
the taste Master Recipe Velouté Soup Base For about 2 quarts
4 tablespoons butter
Special Equipment Suggested: Set the saucepan over moderately low heat, add the butter, and, when melted, stir in the onions. Cover and cook slowly 7 to 8 minutes, or until the onions are tender and translucent. Blend in the flour. Stir slowly for 3 minutes, to cook the flour without letting it color… [illustration included in cookbook] Remove from heat, and in a few seconds, when bubbling stops, pour in 1 cup of hot liquid all at once, whisking vigorously to blend smoothly. Whisk in 6 more cups. Bring to the simmer, stirring frequently to be sure the soup is not scorching on the bottom of the pan. The soup base should be slightly thickened, enough to coat a spoon lightly… add dollops more liquid if too thick. Correct seasoning, and continue as your recipe directs.
Ahead-of-time note for roux-based soups and sauces: Warm flour-based
soups and sauces will form a skin over their surface. The skin will not form
if you stir the soup frequently until it is cool. Or fill a large kitchen
spoon with stock or milk and lay the spoon just over the surface, tipping it
to let the liquid float on top. Or lay a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the
surface, pressing it well. Variation Cream of Mushroom Soup “Use this as a general model for all velouté soups, and since the base itself is well flavored, the actual amount of other ingredients you add is not too important. For instance, the following recipe calls for 1 quart of mushrooms, but just a handful will give the mushroom impression.” For about 2 1/4 quarts, serving 6
Ingredients for the preceding Velouté Soup Base, made with 1
cup of hot chicken broth and 6 or more cups of milk
Suggested decoration:
Special Equipment Suggested: Finishing the soup and serving. Bring the soup base to the simmer, and fold in the mushrooms and tarragon; simmer 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Stir in the optional cream, simmer a moment more, and carefully correct seasoning, adding drops of lemon juice if you think they are needed. Decorate each serving, if you wish, as suggested. Other Cream of Vegetable Soups
"Make other vegetable soups in much the same way, either simmering the
vegetables in the velouté base as for the preceding mushroom soup, or
cooking them separately as for the following broccoli soup. Here the soup is
puréed, and given a final decoration of broccoli buds." Cream of Broccoli Soup For about 2 1/2 quarts, serving 6 to 8
2 large heads of fresh broccoli (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds)
Special Equipment Suggested:
Preparing the broccoli. Wash the broccoli. Trim an
inch or so off the woody ends of each stem, and peel the stems with a knife
up to where the bud branches begin, taking off a scant 1/16 inch of the
tough outer green skin. Cut off the tiny branches and bud ends of the
broccoli flowerettes, and reserve. Cut the remaining stalks into 1/4-inch
slices. Ahead-of-time note: To preserve its green color chill the soup uncovered.
Finishing the soup. Shortly before serving, bring the
soup to the simmer. Stir I the cream if you are using it. Simmer 2 to 3
minutes uncovered – always watching that it does not scorch! Taste carefully
for seasoning, adding lemon juice if you think it needed. (The broccoli
buds: rather than leaving them as is, you may wish to sauté them briefly in
2 tablespoons of butter.)
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