Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 Page 7
To be simmered or cooked in the pressure cooker with the potatoes and leeks or onions at the start
Sliced or diced carrots or turnips
Peeled, seeded, and chopped tomatoes; or strained canned tomatoes
Half-cooked dried beans, peas, or lentils, including their cooking liquid
To be simmered for 10 to 15 minutes with the soup after it has been puréed
Fresh or frozen diced cauliflower, cucumbers, broccoli, Lima beans, peas, string beans, okra, or zucchini
Shredded lettuce, spinach, sorrel, or cabbage
To be heated in the soup just before serving
Diced, cooked leftovers of any of the preceding vegetables
Tomatoes, peeled, seeded, juiced, and diced.
POTAGE VELOUTÉ AUX CHAMPIGNONS
[Cream of Mushroom Soup]
Here is a fine, rich, mushroom soup either for grand occasions or as the main course for a Sunday supper.
For 6 to 8 people
A 2½-quart, heavy-bottomed enameled saucepan
¼ cup minced onions
3 Tb butter
Cook the onions slowly in the butter for 8 to 10 minutes, until they are tender but not browned.
3 Tb flour
Add the flour and stir over moderate heat for 3 minutes without browning.
6 cups boiling white stock or chicken stock; or canned chicken broth and 2 parsley sprigs, ⅓ bay leaf, and ⅛ tsp thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
The chopped stems from ¾ to 1 lb. fresh mushrooms
Off heat, beat in the boiling stock or broth and blend it thoroughly with the flour. Season to taste. Stir in the mushroom stems, and simmer partially covered for 20 minutes or more, skimming occasionally. Strain, pressing juices out of mushroom stems. Return the soup to the pan.
2 Tb butter
An enameled saucepan
The thinly sliced caps from ¾ to 1 lb. fresh mushrooms
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice
Melt the butter in a separate saucepan. When it is foaming, toss in the mushrooms, salt, and lemon juice. Cover and cook slowly for 5 minutes.
Pour the mushrooms and their cooking juices into the strained soup base. Simmer for 10 minutes.
(*) If not to be served immediately, set aside uncovered, and film surface with a spoonful of cream or milk. Reheat to simmer just before proceeding to the step below, which will take 2 or 3 minutes.
2 egg yolks
½ to ¾ cup whipping cream
A 3-quart mixing bowl
A wire whip
A wooden spoon
Beat the egg yolks and cream in the mixing bowl. Then beat in hot soup by spoonfuls until a cup has been added. Gradually stir in the rest. Correct seasoning. Return the soup to the pan and stir over moderate heat for a minute or two to poach the egg yolks, but do not let the soup come near the simmer.
1 to 3 Tb softened butter
Optional: 6 to 8 fluted mushroom caps cooked in butter and lemon juice; and/or 2 or 3 Tb minced fresh chervil or parsley
Off heat, stir in the butter by tablespoons. Pour the soup into a tureen or soup cups, and decorate with optional mushrooms and herbs.
POTAGE CRÈME DE CRESSON
[Cream of Water-cress Soup]
This is a lovely soup, and a perfect one for an important dinner.
For 6 servings
⅓ cup minced green onions, or yellow onions
3 Tb butter
A heavy-bottomed, 2½-quart saucepan
Cook the onions slowly in the butter in a covered saucepan for 5 to 10 minutes, until tender and translucent but not browned.
3 to 4 packed cups of fresh water cress leaves and tender stems, washed, and dried in a towel
½ tsp salt
Stir in the water cress and salt, cover, and cook slowly for about 5 minutes or until the leaves are tender and wilted.
3 Tb flour
Sprinkle in the flour and stir over moderate heat for 3 minutes.
5½ cups boiling white stock or canned chicken broth
Off heat, beat in the boiling stock. Simmer for 5 minutes, then purée through a food mill. Return to saucepan and correct seasoning.
(*) If not to be served immediately, set aside uncovered. Reheat to simmer before proceeding.
2 egg yolks
½ cup whipping cream
A 3-quart mixing bowl
A wire whip
1 to 2 Tb softened butter
Blend the yolks and cream in the mixing bowl. Beat a cupful of hot soup into them by driblets. Gradually beat in the rest of the soup in a thin stream. Return soup to saucepan and stir over moderate heat for a minute or two to poach the egg yolks, but do not bring the soup to the simmer. Off heat, stir in the enrichment butter a tablespoon at a time.
A handful of water-cress leaves dropped for ½ minute in boiling water, refreshed in cold water, and drained
Pour the soup into a tureen or soup cups and decorate with optional water-cress leaves.
TO SERVE COLD: Omit final butter enrichment and chill. If too thick, stir in more cream before serving.
VARIATIONS
Potage Crème d’Oseille or Potage Germiny
[Cream of Sorrel Soup]
Potage Crème d’Épinards
[Cream of Spinach Soup]
Follow the recipe for the preceding crème de cresson, using sorrel or spinach leaves instead of water cress, but cut the leaves into chiffonade (thin slices or shreds). Do not purée the soup.
SOUPE À L’OIGNON
[Onion Soup]
The onions for an onion soup need a long, slow cooking in butter and oil, then a long, slow simmering in stock for them to develop the deep, rich flavor which characterizes a perfect brew. You should therefore count on 2½ hours at least from start to finish. Though the preliminary cooking in butter requires some watching, the actual simmering can proceed almost unattended.
For 6 to 8 servings
1½ lbs. or about 5 cups of thinly sliced yellow onions
3 Tb butter
1 Tb oil
A heavy-bottomed, 4-quart covered saucepan
Cook the onions slowly with the butter and oil in the covered saucepan for 15 minutes.
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp sugar (helps the onions to brown)
Uncover, raise heat to moderate, and stir in the salt and sugar. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes stirring frequently, until the onions have turned an even, deep, golden brown.
3 Tb flour
Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 3 minutes.
2 quarts boiling brown stock, canned beef bouillon, or 1 quart of boiling water and 1 quart of stock or bouillon
½ cup dry white wine or dry white vermouth
Salt and pepper to taste
Off heat, blend in the boiling liquid. Add the wine, and season to taste. Simmer partially covered for 30 to 40 minutes or more, skimming occasionally. Correct seasoning.
(*) Set aside uncovered until ready to serve. Then reheat to the simmer.
3 Tb cognac
Rounds of hard-toasted French bread (see recipe following)
1 to 2 cups grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese
Just before serving, stir in the cognac. Pour into a soup tureen or soup cups over the rounds of bread, and pass the cheese separately.
GARNISHINGS FOR ONION SOUP
Croûtes—hard-toasted French bread
12 to 16 slices of French bread cut ¾ to 1 inch thick
Place the bread in one layer in a roasting pan and bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for about half an hour, until it is thoroughly dried out and lightly browned.
Olive oil or beef drippings A cut clove of garlic
Halfway through the baking, each side may be basted with a teaspoon of olive oil or beef drippings; and after baking, each piece may be rubbed with cut garlic.
Croûtes au Fromage—cheese croûtes
Grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese
Olive oil or beef drippings
Spr
ead one side of each croûte with grated cheese and sprinkle with drops of olive oil or beef drippings. Brown under a hot broiler before serving.
VARIATIONS
Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée
[Onion Soup Gratinéed with Cheese]
The preceding onion soup
A fireproof tureen or casserole or individual onion soup pots
2 ounces Swiss cheese cut into very thin slivers
1 Tb grated raw onion
12 to 16 rounds of hard-toasted French bread
1½ cups grated Swiss, or Swiss and Parmesan cheese
1 Tb olive oil or melted butter
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Bring the soup to the boil and pour into the tureen or soup pots. Stir in the slivered cheese and grated onion. Float the rounds of toast on top of the soup, and spread the grated cheese over it. Sprinkle with the oil or butter. Bake for 20 minutes in the oven, then set for a minute or two under a preheated broiler to brown the top lightly. Serve immediately.
Soupe Gratinée des Trois Gourmandes
[Onion Soup Gratinéed de Luxe]
A final fillip to the preceding onion soup may be accomplished in the kitchen just before serving or by the server at the table.
A 2-quart bowl
1 tsp cornstarch
1 egg yolk
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 Tb cognac
Beat the cornstarch into the egg yolk, then the Worcestershire and the cognac.
The preceding onion soup
A soup ladle
A serving fork
Just before serving the soup, lift up an edge of the crust with a fork and remove a ladleful of soup. In a thin stream of droplets, beat the soup into the egg yolk mixture with a fork. Gradually beat in two more ladlefuls, which may be added more rapidly.
Again lifting up the crust, pour the mixture back into the soup. Then reach in under the crust with the ladle and stir gently to blend the mixture into the rest of the soup. Serve.
SOUPE AU PISTOU
[Provençal Vegetable Soup with Garlic, Basil and Herbs]
Early summer is the Mediterranean season for soupe au pistou, when fresh basil, fresh white beans, and broad mange-tout beans are all suddenly available, and the market women shout in the streets, “Mesdames, faites le bon piste, faites le pistou!” The pistou itself, like the Italian pesta, is a sauce made of garlic, basil, tomato and cheese, and is just as good on spaghetti as it is in this rich vegetable soup. Fortunately, this soup is not confined to summer and fresh vegetables, for you can use canned navy beans or kidney beans, fresh or frozen string beans, and a fragrant dried basil. Other vegetables in season may be added with the green beans as you wish, such as peas, diced zucchini, and green or red bell peppers.
For 6 to 8 servings
3 quarts water
2 cups each: diced carrots, diced boiling potatoes, diced white of leek or onions
1 Tb salt
(If available, 2 cups fresh white beans, and omit the navy beans farther on)
Either boil the water, vegetables, and salt slowly in a 6-quart kettle for 40 minutes; or pressure-cook for 5 minutes, release pressure, and simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes. Correct seasoning.
2 cups diced green beans or 1 package frozen “cut” beans
2 cups cooked or canned navy beans or kidney beans
⅓ cup broken spaghetti or vermicelli
1 slice stale white bread, crumbled
⅛ tsp pepper
Pinch of saffron
Twenty minutes before serving, so the green vegetables will retain their freshness, add the beans, spaghetti or vermicelli, bread and seasonings to the boiling soup. Boil slowly for about 15 minutes, or until the green beans are just cooked through. Correct seasoning again.
4 cloves mashed garlic
6 Tb fresh tomato purée, or 4 Tb tomato paste
¼ cup chopped fresh basil or 1½ Tb fragrant dried basil
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ to ½ cup fruity olive oil
Prepare the following pistou while the soup is cooking: place the garlic, tomato purée or paste, basil, and cheese in the soup tureen and blend to a paste with a wooden spoon; then, drop by drop, beat in the olive oil. When the soup is ready for serving, beat a cup gradually into the pistou. Pour in the rest of the soup. Serve with hot French bread, or hard-toasted bread rounds basted with olive oil, this page.
AÏGO BOUÏDO
[Garlic Soup]
Enjoying your first bowl of garlic soup, you might never suspect what it is made of. Because the garlic is boiled, its after-effects are at a minimum, and its flavor becomes exquisite, aromatic, and almost undefinable. Along the Mediterranean, an aïgo bouïdo is considered to be very good indeed for the liver, blood circulation, general physical tone, and spiritual health. A head of garlic is not at all too much for 2 quarts of soup. For some addicts, it is not even enough.
For 6 to 8 people
1 separated head or about 16 cloves whole, unpeeled garlic
Drop garlic cloves in boiling water and boil 30 seconds. Drain, run cold water over them, and peel.
2 quarts water
2 tsp salt
Pinch of pepper
2 cloves
¼ tsp sage
¼ tsp thyme
½ bay leaf
4 parsley sprigs
3 Tb olive oil
A 3-quart saucepan
Place the garlic and the rest of the ingredients in the saucepan and boil slowly for 30 minutes. Correct seasoning.
A wire whip
3 egg yolks
A soup tureen
3 to 4 Tb olive oil
Beat the egg yolks in the soup tureen for a minute until they are thick and sticky. Drop by drop, beat in the olive oil as for making a mayonnaise.
A strainer
Rounds of hard-toasted French bread
1 cup of grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese
Just before serving, beat a ladleful of hot soup into the egg mixture by droplets. Gradually strain in the rest, beating, and pressing the juice out of the garlic. Serve immediately, accompanied by the bread and cheese.
VARIATIONS
Soupe à l’Oeuf, Provençale
[Garlic Soup with Poached Eggs]
The preceding garlic soup, omitting the egg yolk and olive oil liaison
6 very fresh eggs
After the soup has been simmered for half an hour, strain it into a wide, shallow saucepan. Correct seasoning and bring to a simmer. Following directions here poach the eggs in the soup.
6 to 8 rounds of hard-toasted French bread
2 to 3 Tb chopped parsley
1 cup grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese
Place a round of bread in each soup plate and top with a poached egg. Pour in the soup and decorate with parsley. Pass the cheese separately.
Soupe à l’Ail aux Pommes de Terre
[Saffron-flavored Garlic Soup with Potatoes]
Ingredients for garlic soup, omitting the egg yolk and olive oil liaison
3 cups diced “boiling” potatoes
Pinch of saffron
After the garlic soup has simmered for 30 minutes, strain it and return it to the saucepan. Simmer the potatoes in the soup with the saffron for about 20 minutes or until tender. Correct seasoning. Serve with French bread and grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese.
SOUPE AUX CHOUX — GARBURE
[Main-course Cabbage Soup]
This fine and uncomplicated peasant soup is a comforting dish for a cold winter day. In the Basque country, a good cabbage soup must always include a chunk of lard rance, their slightly rancid and much appreciated salt pork; otherwise, the dish is considered to lack distinction. In neighboring Béarn, confit d’oie—preserved goose—is added to the pot to warm up in the soup at the end of its cooking.
For about 8 people
3½ quarts water
3 to 4 cups peeled, quartered “boiling” potatoes
A 1½-pound chunk of lean s
alt pork, lean bacon, or smoked, unprocessed ham
Place the water, potatoes, and meat in the kettle and bring it to the boil.
2 pounds or 3 quarts of roughly sliced cabbage
8 crushed peppercorns or a big pinch of ground chili peppers
Salt as necessary, added near the end
6 parsley sprigs tied with 1 bay leaf
½ tsp marjoram
½ tsp thyme
4 cloves mashed garlic
2 medium onions studded with 2 cloves
2 peeled, quartered carrots Optional additions:
2 to 4 peeled, quartered turnips
2 to 3 sliced celery stalks 1 to 2 cups fresh white beans, or half-cooked navy beans, or add canned white or red beans to soup 10 to 15 minutes before end of simmering