Purée de Choux de Bruxelles, otherwise Flamande

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan with lid
• •Food mill with fine disk or immersion blender
• •Fine-mesh sieve and flexible spatula
• •10-inch skillet
• •Colander

Instructions

1. 1

   Sort the sprouts

   Pull away every yellowed or loose outer leaf, trim only the dry end of each stalk, and halve any sprout much larger than a walnut. Peel and quarter the potatoes, keeping the pieces close in size so they finish together. This purée has nowhere to hide a tired vegetable; the sprouts should be compact, bright green, and clean-smelling.

   Cut one sprout through its core. The inside should be tight and pale green, without yellow chambers or dark marks.
2. 2

   Parboil the sprouts

   Bring a large saucepan of water to a vigorous boil. Add the sprouts and parboil for 4 minutes, just until their green brightens and the outer leaves begin to soften while the cores remain firm. Drain immediately and spread them out in the colander so their heat can escape. Do not leave them sitting in hot water; that is how a fresh green purée becomes olive and cabbagy.

3. 3

   Stew in butter

   Wipe the saucepan dry and melt the 6 tablespoons of butter over low heat. Return the drained sprouts, cover, and stew them gently for 8 minutes, turning twice so every surface meets the butter. They should soften without taking colour. If the butter begins to brown, lift the pan from the heat and add a spoonful of the consommé to arrest it; browned butter would pull this pale northern soup in the wrong direction.

4. 4

   Moisten and bind

   Add the white chicken consommé and the quartered potatoes. Bring the liquid just to a simmer, partially cover the pan, and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Keep only a quiet tremble at the surface. The sprouts are ready when a knife passes through their cores without resistance, and the potatoes should be tender enough to collapse under the back of a spoon. The potatoes are the liaison, the binding, so no roux or cream belongs here.

5. 5

   Pass the purée

   While everything is still hot, pass the vegetables and their liquid through a food mill fitted with its fine disk into a heatproof bowl, then press the purée through a fine-mesh sieve with a flexible spatula. A short pass with an immersion blender can replace the food mill, but stop as soon as the sprouts are smooth; prolonged blending makes the potato elastic. If the mixture begins to look tacky, stop working it. The milk added next will loosen it.

6. 6

   Add milk and skim

   Rinse the saucepan, return the purée to it, and whisk in 2½ cups of the milk. Bring it slowly to the barest simmer and cook for 5 minutes, skimming away grey-green foam while leaving the butter-gold sheen alone. This is dépouiller, to skim the soup clean. If the milk catches, do not scrape the bottom. Ça se rattrape: pour the upper soup immediately into a clean saucepan, leaving the scorched layer behind.

7. 7

   Fry the bread dice

   Melt the 3 tablespoons of butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the bread dice in one layer and fry for 6 to 8 minutes, tossing often, until crisp and evenly golden on several faces. Season them with a small pinch of salt and turn them onto a plate. Keep them away from the soup until serving, or their necessary crispness disappears.

8. 8

   Monter au beurre

   Judge the purée before finishing. It should pour in a broad, silken ribbon rather than sit like mashed potato; if it is too thick, whisk in the remaining milk a little at a time. If it is thin, simmer briefly before proceeding. Take the pan off the heat and monter au beurre, finish by whisking in the chilled butter cube by cube until the surface gleams. Taste before adding salt because consommé carries its own. Ladle into warm bowls and scatter the butter-fried bread dice over each serving. À table!

Chef Tips

• •This is one dish that truly needs very fresh sprouts. If the market offers only yellowed, loose, sulfurous ones, change the plan and make Potage Parmentier; tired sprouts belong in a longer braise, not a pale purée.
• •White consommé means a clear, pale meat broth with enough body to carry the vegetables. Prepared chicken consommé at drinking strength is the practical home choice. A light, well-strained chicken stock can stand in, but the finished purée will taste less concentrated.
• •Do not add onion, garlic, nutmeg, cream, or herbs. The source builds its flavor narrowly and deliberately from sprouts, butter, consommé, potato, and milk. Cooking well is not cooking fancy.
• •A food mill followed by a fine sieve comes closest to the tammy without overworking the potatoes. If using an immersion blender, use short pulses and stop early; the sieve, not prolonged blending, supplies the final refinement.
• •Salt only after the milk and finishing butter are in. Prepared consommé varies enormously in salinity, and reducing a salty one leaves no graceful retreat.

Advance Preparation

• •The purée can be prepared through the sieving step up to 24 hours ahead. Cool it promptly in a shallow container, cover, and refrigerate; add the milk and finishing butter only while reheating gently.
• •The bread dice can be fried up to 4 hours ahead and held uncovered at room temperature. If they soften, return them to a dry skillet for 2 minutes before serving.
• •A finished batch keeps for 2 days under refrigeration, though its green color softens with time. Reheat over low heat without boiling and loosen it with milk if the potato has tightened.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 250g)