Soubise Sauce with Rice

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart ovenproof saucepan or casserole with a tight lid
• •Large colander
• •Countertop blender
• •Fine-mesh sieve or tamis
• •Flexible bowl scraper or rubber spatula
• •Whisk

Instructions

1. 1

   Scald the onions

   Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Lower the minced onions into a large pan of boiling water and scald them for 2 minutes, just until their raw bite begins to soften. Drain at once, press gently in a colander, and leave them for 5 minutes so excess water can escape. This blanching keeps the finished soubise pale and delicate; wet onions dilute the consommé and cook unevenly.

   Do not squeeze the onions into a dry wad. Press only enough to remove loose water, then separate them lightly with your fingers before they enter the bacon-lined pan.
2. 2

   Line and assemble

   Line the bottom and sides of a heavy 4-quart ovenproof saucepan with the bacon rashers, overlapping them slightly so the onions cannot sit directly against the hot metal. Add the drained onions, unrinsed rice, powdered sugar, and half the salt. Pour in the warm white consommé and stir once to distribute the rice. Cover tightly. The bacon is both insulation and seasoning here, protecting the pale mixture while lending it quiet richness.

3. 3

   Cook without colour

   Set the covered pan in the oven and cook gently for 45 minutes. Begin checking at 40 minutes: the rice should crush easily between two fingers, the onions should be meltingly soft, and nearly all the consommé should be absorbed. If the rice remains firm and the pan looks dry, add hot water 2 tablespoons at a time and continue cooking. If a brown patch appears at the edge, do not stir it through. Lift the pale mixture into a clean pan, add 2 tablespoons of hot water, and lower the oven by 25°F (15°C). Ça se rattrape when caught early.

4. 4

   Purée and sieve

   Remove and discard the bacon rashers. Transfer the onions and rice to a blender in batches, never filling it more than halfway with the hot mixture, and blend until completely smooth. If the blades cannot turn freely, add a spoonful of hot water. Press the purée through a fine-mesh sieve or tamis with a flexible scraper. The blender replaces the mortar, but the sieve stays: it removes the last onion fibres and grains that stand between a heavy mash and a true soubise.

   Scrape the smooth purée from the underside of the sieve as you work. That dense ivory cream is the part you want; any fibrous residue left above has finished its service.
5. 5

   Finish the soubise

   Reserve 2 tablespoons of the cream, then return the sieved purée to a clean saucepan over low heat. Stir in the remaining warm cream until the soubise loosens into slow, glossy folds. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the cold butter a few cubes at a time, adding each portion only after the last disappears. If beads of fat gather on the surface, the pan was too hot. Transfer the soubise to a cool bowl and whisk in the reserved cold cream. Ça se rattrape.

6. 6

   Season and serve

   Taste and add the remaining salt only as needed, remembering that the consommé may already carry plenty. For a sauce, loosen the soubise with enough reserved cream to make a spooned path close slowly. For a garnish, leave it firm enough to hold a soft mound beside veal, lamb, poultry, or eggs. Keep it covered over a barely warm bain-marie for no more than 30 minutes, never over direct heat. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Carolina rice in this formula means a dry long-grain white rice. Ordinary long-grain rice is its honest home equivalent; don't use a creamy short-grain rice, and don't rinse away the starch that gives the soubise its body.
• •The white consommé is the foundation, so use one that is pale, clear-tasting, and lightly salted. A dark beef consommé will muddy both the colour and the quiet sweetness of the onions.
• •Choose unsmoked fatty bacon. Smoked bacon announces itself too loudly, while these rashers are meant to protect and season the onions before being discarded.
• •The finished consistency depends on its job. Leave it dense when it will sit beside roasted meat as a garnish, or loosen it carefully with cream when it must flow beneath the food. C'est la même grammaire.

Advance Preparation

• •For the best make-ahead method, cook, purée, and sieve the onion-rice mixture up to 2 days ahead. Cool it in a shallow covered container, refrigerate, then reheat gently and add the cream and butter shortly before serving.
• •A fully finished soubise keeps refrigerated for up to 3 days. Reheat it over very low heat, stirring often, and loosen it with a spoonful of cream if the chilled rice has tightened the texture.
• •Do not let the finished sauce stand over direct heat. For a short hold, cover its surface and set the pan over a barely warm bain-marie for up to 30 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 120g)