Julia's Kitchen Wisdom (4 page)

HARD-TOASTED FRENCH-BREAD ROUNDS—CROÛTES.
For about 18, made from a 16-inch baguette. Slice the bread ¼-inch thick and dry out for 25 to 30 minutes in a 325°F oven, until light brown and crisp. You may wish to paint them with olive oil halfway through.

Mediterranean Fish Soup

For about 3 quarts, serving 8. Sauté 1 cup each sliced leeks and onions in ¼ cup olive oil until almost tender. Stir in 2 or more large cloves of chopped garlic; 3 cups peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
tomatoes
; a tablespoon of tomato paste; 2 pieces dried orange peel if available; and ½ teaspoon each dried thyme and fennel seeds. Simmer another 5 minutes. Pour in 2 quarts
fish stock
or light chicken stock. Stir in a pinch of saffron if available. Season lightly, and bring to the boil; simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make a
rouille
(red garlic sauce; see box below), and cut into 2-inch chunks 3 pounds (6 cups) of skinless and boneless lean fish, such as cod, halibut, sea bass, monkfish. When almost ready to serve, add the fish to the soup, bring to the boil, and cook a minute or so, just until fish turns opaque and is springy to the touch. Spread the
rouille
on hard-toasted
French-bread rounds
and place in soup bowls. Ladle on soup and fish, sprinkle with chopped parsley and grated Parmesan cheese, and serve, passing more
rouille
separately.

ROUILLE—RED GARLIC SAUCE.
To accompany fish soups, boiled potatoes, eggs, poached fish, pastas—and for all garlic lovers. In a heavy bowl, purée 6 to 8 large minced cloves of peeled
garlic
to a fine paste with ¼ tsp salt. Pound in 18 large leaves fresh basil, chopped; ¾ cup lightly pressed-down fresh
bread crumbs
; 3 tablespoons soup base or milk. When paste is smooth, pound or beat in 3 egg yolks. Switch to an electric mixer and beat in ⅓ cup diced canned red pimiento, and by driblets, as for making mayonnaise, ¾ to 1 cup fruity olive oil, to make a strong, thick sauce. Season with salt, pepper, and Tabasco.

AÏOLI
. Omit the pimiento here, and you have the famous garlic sauce, aïoli.

Scotch Broth

For about 2 quarts, serving 6. Bring 2 quarts
lamb stock
, or lamb stock plus chicken broth, to the simmer. Stir in ½ cup barley, lentils, or almost cooked white beans (or add canned beans later), and ½ cup each diced onion, turnip, and carrot. Fold in 1 cup peeled, seeded, and diced
tomato
. Cover loosely and simmer about 15 minutes, until vegetables are tender; season to taste. Stir in 3 tablespoons chopped parsley, and serve.

CREAM SOUPS

MASTER RECIPE

Cream of Mushroom Soup

For about 2 quarts, serving 6

4 Tbs butter

1 cup minced onion or white of leek

¼ cup flour

1 cup hot
chicken stock

6 cups milk

1 quart fresh mushrooms, trimmed, washed, and diced

¼ tsp dried tarragon leaves

½ cup or more heavy cream, sour cream, or
crème fraîche
, optional

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Drops of lemon juice, optional

Sprigs of fresh tarragon or slices of sautéed fresh mushroom caps, for garnish

The Soup Base.
Sauté the onion or leek slowly with the butter in a heavy-bottomed covered saucepan, for 7 to 8 minutes, until tender and translucent. Blend in the flour and cook slowly 2 or 3 minutes, stirring. Off heat, gradually whisk in the hot stock. Bring to the simmer over moderate heat, and whisk in the milk.

The Mushrooms.
Blend in the mushrooms and dried tarragon, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Stir in optional cream, simmer briefly, then season to taste, adding drops of lemon juice if needed. Garnish with tarragon sprigs, or with sautéed mushroom slices floated on each serving.

CRÈME FRAÎCHE—FRENCH SOUR CREAM.
This is unpasteurized heavy cream allowed to ferment naturally. You can simulate it either by blending 1 tablespoon of sour cream into a cup of heavy cream and allowing it to ferment and thicken at room temperature, or by whisking together equal amounts of sour cream and heavy cream until thickened. The cream will keep for a week under refrigeration.

TO KEEP CREAM SOUPS AND SAUCES.
To prevent a skin from forming on the surface of flour-thickened soups and sauces, stir them up every few minutes. Or, to keep longer, float a film of milk or stock on the surface by filling a large spoon with the liquid, laying the spoon flat on the surface as you tip it, then spreading the liquid over the surface with the back of the spoon.

VARIATIONS

• CREAM OF BROCCOLI SOUP.
  Prepare the soup base as described above. Meanwhile, separate the small buds and stems from 1 or 2 heads of
  broccoli
  (about 1½ pounds) and set them aside. Peel and slice the stems, and boil them over ½ inch of water. Purée them in a food processor with 1 cup of the soup base, then fold into the remaining soup. Simmer the reserved tender buds briefly in the broccoli-boiling liquid; refresh in cold water to set color; drain, and set aside; just before serving, reheat briefly in a tablespoon of butter. Rapidly boil down the cooking liquid until reduced to ½ cup, and add to the soup base. When ready to serve, heat soup to the simmer, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes with up to ½ cup of heavy cream or sour cream. Correct seasoning and serve, decorating each portion with broccoli buds.
  

• CREAM OF ASPARAGUS SOUP.
  Boil 2 pounds peeled fresh
  asparagus
  spears until almost tender. Refresh in cold water and cut off about 2 tender inches at the tip of each spear. Cut the bud ends off each tip, slice buds in half or quarters, and reserve for garnish—sautéing them briefly in butter before serving. Reserve the rest of the tips to purée later, and chop up the remaining stalks. Add these stalks to cook with the onions for the soup base, and purée the finished soup base through a vegetable mill to eliminate coarse asparagus strings. Purée the reserved tips (not buds!) and add to the soup base. Simmer with ½ cup or so of heavy cream or sour cream, correct seasoning, and top each portion with the sautéed asparagus buds.
  

• CREAM OF CARROT SOUP.
  Trim and peel 8 medium-size carrots. Reserve one for garnish. Chop the rest roughly and add them to cook with the onions in the soup base. Shave reserved carrot into strips with a vegetable peeler; steam over boiling water several minutes until tender. Decorate each serving with a cluster of warm carrot strips.
  

• OTHER VARIATIONS.
  Adapt other vegetables such as spinach, parsnips, celery, broccoli to the same system, and see also the next section using a rice purée.
  

FAT-FREE CREAM SOUPS WITH PURÉED RICE

You can follow this system with any of the preceding cream soups: rather than using a butter-and-flour roux for thickening, you simmer rice in the soup base until very tender. When it is turned into a very fine purée in the electric blender, you have a deliciously creamy, literally fat-free cream soup.

MASTER RECIPE

Rutabaga Soup Soubise—with Rice and Onion Purée
For about 2¼ quarts, serving 8

¾ cup sliced celery stalks

1½ cups sliced onions

2 cups light
chicken stock

⅓ cup raw white rice

4 cups additional liquid—light chicken stock and milk

1½ quarts (2½ pounds) peeled and roughly sliced rutabaga

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Optional: sour cream or
crème fraîche
, and chopped parsley

The Rice and Onion Soup Base.
Simmer the celery and onions in the 2 cups of chicken stock until very tender and translucent—15 minutes or more. Stir in the rice, and the rest of the liquid.

The Rutabaga, and Finishing the Soup.
Stir in the rutabaga, bring to the simmer, season lightly, and simmer loosely covered for about 30 minutes, or until both rutabaga and rice are very tender. Purée in batches in the electric blender. Reheat, correct seasoning, and top each serving, if you wish, with a spoonful of sour cream or
crème fraîche
, and a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

VARIATIONS

• CREAM OF CUCUMBER SOUP.
  For about 2¼ quarts, serving 6 to 8. Peel 4 large cucumbers, save half of one for garnish, halve the rest lengthwise, and scoop out seeds with a spoon. Chop the halves roughly and toss with 2 teaspoons each of wine vinegar and salt; let stand while the celery and onions have their preliminary simmer. Then turn the chopped cucumbers and their liquid into the soup base with the rice, and finish the soup as described in the preceding recipe. To serve, garnish with a dollop of cream, cucumber slices, and a sprinkling of fresh dill weed.
  

• CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP WITH VEGETABLES.
  Combine the rice-and-onion soup base with the
  chicken-and-vegetable soup
  , using only 4 cups of the liquid called for in the chicken recipe.