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Surprise!
Hiver, 1900
Art Print
Mucha, Alphonse
Buy at AllPosters.com
“If you do not use good stock,
you should not
be allowed to eat.”
~ Pat
Conroy Cookbook
 
Pat Conroy
Cookbook:
Recipes of My Life
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Hiver sur la Seine, Lavacourt
Claude Monet
Buy This at Allposters.com
La Belle Cuisine
Michele's Potage d'Hiver
(Thanks to
Julia Child for her
education and inspiration)
3 slices thick-sliced bacon, chopped
White and pale green parts of 1 large leek chopped,
washed
thoroughly, and patted dry (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup (or more) dry white wine
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock or broth
1 small cabbage (1 1/2 to 2 pounds), cored
and shredded or chopped fine
2 to 3 cups peeled, coarsely chopped
baking potatoes
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small celery root, peeled, quartered
Bouquet garni of parsley, 1 bay leaf, and
8 peppercorns, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 cup half-and-half
Optional extras: 1 teaspoon sugar and
1 tablespoon unsalted
butter
A note about seasoning the soup: We
hope you will be able
to do
yourself the favor of using a
good-quality stock rather than canned
broth or
bouillon cubes. One tremendous advantage, in my opinion,
is that when you make your own
stock, you know exactly what's in
it. This is great not only from a health point of view,
but also when considering what seasoning to use. If, for example, your stock was
made in
the traditional way with a bouquet garni including bay leaf,
thyme, parsley springs
and possibly garlic or whole cloves, you would
need to adjust the seasoning of the soup
accordingly, depending on
the flavor of the stock.
If you find it necessary to use canned
broth or bouillon, there's a very
quick and easy way to compensate. Simply heat the broth
and simmer
it
with finely diced carrot, celery and onion or leek, adding a bouquet
garni
and wine or dry white vermouth.
In a large, heavy kettle cook the bacon over moderate heat until fat has
been
rendered. Pour off excess fat and refrigerate it for another use or discard
it (although it would be a shame to waste it!) Add the leek and
cook, stirring until slightly
softened. Deglaze the kettle by slowly adding
the
wine and scraping any brown bits from the
bottom of the kettle.
Add
the stock or broth to kettle and stir in cabbage, potatoes,
carrots
and
celery root. Bring mixture to boil and add bouquet garni, thyme
and marjoram. Reduce
heat and simmer the soup, partially covered,
until the vegetables are tender, 30 to 40 minutes.
In a blender or food processor purée the soup in batches until it is
smooth; return it to
the kettle. Stir in the half-and-half and simmer
the soup over very low heat, watching it carefully and stirring
occa-
sionally, about 15 minutes. Correct the seasoning as necessary. If
desired, you may add the sugar and unsalted
butter, in the French
tradition, which will enrich the soup, increasing the smoothness
and
enhance the overall flavor.
Serves 4 to 6.
Variations: Please do not allow yourself to be limited by
the vegetables
we have chosen for this soup. One of the benefits of vegetable soup is
that
you can really let your creative juices flow.
The idea for this soup is that of
winter vegetables; keeping that in mind,
we have included only vegetables which
would be readily available at
our local market in winter.
Heaven forbid we should scare any
vegetable-haters away by starting off with rutabagas, turnips or kohlrabi, but any of
them would be an excellent choice. Celeriac (celery root) is a delicious winter vegetable,
and I regret
that it is not more readily available in the United States. In the open-air
markets in Germany, and perhaps even in the ever-increasing number of
supermarkets, one is
able to buy what is called fresh Suppengrün. This
is a small bundle of vegetables
that every grocer worth his salt knows a
German housewife will want to include in her soup kettle: celery
root,
parsley, leek, and a carrot or two are the primary ingredients, with
more variety
offered in the spring and summer months.
In case you have
difficulty locating fresh
celeriac (celery root) in your
area, simply substitute celery, being sure to include some
of the very flavorful leaves.
If you are serious about keeping your diet as low in fat
(especially animal
fat) as reasonably possible, then simply eliminate the bacon. In that
case
it will be even more important that you use a very flavorful homemade
stock rather
than canned broth or cubes. The soup then becomes a very
healthy version, as it contains
no roux, egg yolks or beurre manié as a
thickening agent. The purée itself
will be thick, and you can adjust the
thickness to
suit your own taste, thinning it down
with more stock, or
thickening it with
a tablespoon or so of arrowroot mixed with an equal
amount of water.
Another excellent way to make this soup both healthy and flavorful
is
to sprinkle the vegetables lightly with good-quality olive oil, salt, freshly-
ground
pepper and herbs and then roast them 20 to 30 minutes at 500 degrees F. Then add them to the
stock and purée the mixture. This will impart a subtle earthy, slightly smoky taste to
the vegetables and
enhance their inherent flavor.
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