It's getting to be that time of year, at least in the northern midwest, where the climactic change causes a culinary migration from the tastes of the grill to the flavors and aromas of soup. This is a normal occurrence, resistance is futile. In an effort to provide the riders with the benefit of my further schooling, this post will provide you with the ability to make any type of cream soup imaginable (that is NOT a euphemism). Just swap out the vegetable of choice in the apparelle; mushrooms, broccoli, butternut squash, potato, leak or any combination.
Traditionally, there are two ways to approach creme soups, either veloutte or bechamel. Veloutte is stock based, bechamel is milk based. Both are thickened with roux, equal parts of butter and flour cooked to a desired color. Veloutte based soups are then finished with heavy creme, but ultimately end up having a hint of taste that reflects the base of the stock used, either poultry, beef, veal or fish. For this reason, I like to stick with bechamel-based creme soups.
Apparelle - 1 gal. vitamin D milk (don't skimp on the milk, it's good for you)
- 3 lbs. vegetable (substitute at your discretion)
- 1 lb. mirepoix (ratio: .5lb. onions : .25lb. carrots : .25lb celery)
- 8oz. butter
- 8oz. all-purpose flour
- onion piquet (half of a medium-sized onion + 1 bay leaf + 2 cloves)
- Pince of nutmeg (just enough to cover the tip of a pairing knife)
- salt & white pepper to taste
Getting Started
Preparing you mice en place makes everything easier in the kitchen. Gather all the apparelle, first. Prepare the ingredients and have them at hand, ready to use. This will make the process smoother.
Mirepoix
Collect the vegetables and chop them into a small dice. The size of the cut is determined by the cooking time, shorter durations will require a smaller size vegetable in order to be fully cooked. Our cooking time is between a 60 and 90 minutes. Use a small dice, 1/4 inch, for the mirepoix. It doesn't have to be pretty, watch your fingers.
Onion Piquet
Use the diagram above to prepare the onion. Cut it in half, cross-wise, using the half with the core--the hard yellowish section. Slice it cross-wise, like a smiley face. Place the bay leaf in the mouth, cloves in each corner.
Procedure
- Select a pot that has a volume of greater than 1 gallon. Heat the pot first, and then add the butter once it is hot. Once the butter is hot, BUT NOT BURNT, add the mirepoix. Sweat the mirepoix until the onions appear translucent and a strong aroma is present, a few minutes. Do NOT brown the mirepoix.
- Add the main vegetable and continue to sweat a few minutes more.
- Singe (sin-jay) with flourusing all the flour, dust the mirepoix, while stirring, to evenly coat. This will create roux, a flour-based thickener. Cook the roux a few minutes, taking care not to brown it.
- Add the milk and stir out the clumps. Add the onion piquet and the nutmeg. Continue to stir as the liquid comes up to a boil. Pay close attention to the corners of the pot, as they will collect roux and potentially scorch it. Reduce the soup to a simmer, stirring occasionally for an hour. While stirring, pay close attention to the texture of the bottom of the pot. The milk will have a tendency to stick to the bottom and scorch. If you pan is non-stick the caked milk will lift and rise to the top, pick it out of the soup. If you are using a pot without a coating, be careful NOT to scrape the bottom. A thin coating of collected milk on the bottom is OK. Reduce the heat as much as possible to avoid further scorching. If you scorch the soup, all is NOT lost. Remove the soup from the pot into an appropriate container, claen the scorched pot and continue to prepare the soup. If you have an extra pot of the same size, bouya.
Finishing Up
Test the vegetables for tenderness. If so, remove the soup from the heat. The soup can be pureed in a blender, my personal favorite, or served as is. If you are going to puree the soup use a garnish of the main ingredient--for example, broccoli flowers or thinly sliced mushrooms. The intent is to give a visual clue as to what type of soup it is. Cook the garnish in a small portion of the soup. This will prevent the garnish from detracting from the flavor by not adding rawness to the soup. The garnish should fit in a spoonful.
Adjust the consistency of the soup as needed. The length of the cooking time will cause natural reduction of the liquid. If the soup is too thick add some milk and try again. The soup should coat a spoon thinly, but not be Malt-O-meal.
Season the finished soup with salt and white pepper, to taste. Don't be afraid to add a good amount of salt, you are seasoning a yield of about a gallon (slightly less considering natural reduction) or 10-twelve ounce servings. Salt opens taste buds and allows the natural flavors to be detected. Don't believe me? Take a sampling of the soup and place it in a bowl, say 1 cup. Taste it UNSEASONED. Add salt, as you continue to taste and see what happens to the natural flavors. Your broccoli soup will taste more like broccoli with the right amount of salt.
Garnish as desired, with a sample of the vegetable for puree soups, cheese or croutons (homemade, brouniouse--1/8 inch, are my favorite). |
