Purée de Haricots Verts, otherwise Cormeilles

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6-quart (5.7-litre) pot for blanching
• •Large bowl for the ice bath
• •4-quart (3.8-litre) heavy saucepan
• •Vented countertop blender or immersion blender
• •Fine-mesh sieve, about 8 inches (20 cm) wide
• •Small saucepan for the milk

Instructions

1. 1

   Blanch for colour

   Prepare a large bowl of ice water before you begin. Bring a broad pot of water to a vigorous boil, add the salt, then drop in the green beans and parboil uncovered for 3 to 4 minutes. The water must return to the boil quickly; crowded, lukewarm water dulls the beans before they are tender. As soon as the beans bend without becoming soft, transfer them to the ice water. Drain thoroughly and pat dry. Set aside 10 to 12 of the neatest beans for the garnish, then cut them diagonally into narrow lozenges.

   The beans will cook twice more, first in butter and then in consommé. Keep this first cooking brief. If they are already fully tender after blanching, their colour and fresh flavour will not survive the pot.
2. 2

   Stew gently in butter

   Melt the stewing butter in a wide, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the well-drained beans and cook gently for 10 to 12 minutes, turning them often so each piece is coated in butter. They should soften without frying or taking colour. If the butter begins to brown, lower the heat and add a spoonful of the measured consommé; the pan is too hot, but the beans can still be saved.

3. 3

   Simmer with potato

   Add the finely minced potatoes and the white chicken consommé or light chicken stock. Bring the liquid just to a simmer, partially cover, and cook gently for 15 to 20 minutes, until the potato collapses readily beneath a spoon and the beans are completely tender. Keep the surface at a quiet tremble. A hard boil works air into the soup, drives off liquid unevenly, and spends the green colour for nothing.

4. 4

   Blend and pass

   Remove the pan from the heat and blend promptly until smooth. If using a countertop blender, work in batches with the jar no more than half full and the lid vented beneath a folded towel. Pass the purée through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing with a ladle or flexible spatula but leaving the dry strings and skins behind. The old tamis was finer and broader, but this gives the same silky result without requiring a second pair of hands.

5. 5

   Set the consistency

   Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it reaches its first boil. Return the purée to gentle heat and stir in half the milk, then add only enough of the remainder to make a soup that coats the spoon lightly yet pours in a continuous ribbon. Despumate, skimming away the pale foam and any skin that gathers at the surface. If the soup is too thick, add more hot milk by the spoonful; if it is thin, hold it at the barest simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Ça se rattrape. Correct the consistency before adding the final butter, since reducing afterward can leave the finish greasy.

6. 6

   Finish with butter

   Take the saucepan completely off the heat. Monter au beurre, whisk in the cold finishing butter a few cubes at a time, until the purée gleams and the butter disappears into it. Taste before adding salt, since consommé may already carry enough. If butter floats at the surface instead of emulsifying, whisk in a tablespoon of hot milk or blend for a few seconds. Warm the reserved bean lozenges in a spoonful of soup, divide them among the bowls, and ladle the Cormeilles over them. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose slender beans that snap cleanly and show no soft brown marks. This soup has nowhere to hide a tired vegetable. Out of season, good frozen whole green beans are the honest answer; blanch them from frozen for only 60 to 90 seconds before proceeding.
• •White consommé means pale, clean, and mild. A dark roasted stock muddies both the colour and the fresh bean flavour. If you use light chicken stock instead, strain it carefully and avoid one heavy with herbs or roasted garlic.
• •Passing the purée is not discarded brigade ceremony. Green bean skins remain fibrous after blending, and the sieve removes them while giving Cormeilles its satin texture. Cooking well is not cooking fancy, but this step is the dish.
• •Keep this preparation a purée. The source also permits separate velouté and cream versions, but adding roux, egg yolks, or cream silently would change its classification and soften the direct taste of the beans.

Advance Preparation

• •The beans may be trimmed several hours ahead. Keep them wrapped in a barely damp towel in the refrigerator; do not cut them into small pieces, which exposes more surface and hastens dulling.
• •The soup may be prepared through the sieving step up to one day ahead. Cool it promptly in a shallow container, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat gently, then add the boiled milk and mount with cold butter only when you are ready to serve.
• •Refrigerate leftovers for up to two days. Reheat over low heat without boiling, loosening with a spoonful of milk as needed, then blend briefly if the butter has separated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)