Purée d’Oseille et de Vermicelle à la Crème

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan
• •12-inch wide sauté pan
• •Immersion blender
• •8-inch fine-mesh sieve
• •Large heatproof bowl
• •Whisk and ladle
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Melt the sorrel

   Melt the butter in a wide pan over medium-low heat. Add the thoroughly dried sorrel and a pinch of the salt, then turn the leaves through the butter until they collapse from bright green to soft olive and their loose liquid has cooked away, 4 to 6 minutes. You need 1/4 cup of tightly packed cooked sorrel. Keep it beside the stove while the vermicelli poaches.

   Dry the sorrel well. Water left on the leaves dilutes the butter and leaves a wet, stringy mass instead of the concentrated pulp the purée needs.
2. 2

   Poach the vermicelli

   Bring 2 cups of the milk and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Rain in the vermicelli slowly while stirring so the strands remain well separated, then lower the heat until the milk barely trembles. Poach gently for 25 minutes, stirring across the pan floor every few minutes, until the vermicelli is completely tender and the milk has thickened around it. If the strands begin to clump, whisk firmly before their starch sets. If the milk catches on the bottom, transfer the unscorched portion to a clean pan without scraping the dark film. Ça se rattrape.

3. 3

   Blend and pass

   Add the cooked sorrel to the tender vermicelli and stir until evenly distributed. Take the pan off the heat and blend thoroughly with an immersion blender, then rub the purée through a fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl, pressing with the back of a ladle until only coarse sorrel threads remain. Blending makes the old tammy work manageable for one cook; the sieve still matters because it removes the fibers and any stubborn pasta fragments that would spoil the finish.

4. 4

   Set the consistency

   Return the strained purée to the clean saucepan. Whisk in the remaining 5 cups milk gradually, stopping when the soup pours like thin cream and reserving any excess for adjustment. Bring it just to the first boil over medium heat, stirring constantly along the bottom and into the corners, then remove it completely from the heat and let it stand for 1 minute. If it is pasty, add more warm milk. If it seems thin, reduce it now, before the liaison enters; boiling afterward is forbidden.

5. 5

   Temper the liaison

   Whisk the egg yolks and cream together in a large heatproof bowl until perfectly smooth. While whisking constantly, add about 2 cups of the hot purée in four gradual additions. Pour this tempered liaison back into the saucepan off the heat and stir for 2 minutes, until the soup lightly coats the back of a spoon. It should reach at least 160°F (71°C); if necessary, return it to the lowest heat and stir constantly, but do not permit even a simmer. If tiny yolk flecks appear, pour the soup immediately into a cool bowl, blend briefly, and pass it through a clean sieve. Ça se rattrape.

6. 6

   Garnish and serve

   Taste the finished purée and correct the salt. If the liaison has tightened it beyond thin cream, whisk in a little of the reserved warm milk. Ladle into warmed shallow bowls and scatter each serving with the small bread dice fried in clarified butter and pressed of excess fat, prepared according to Remarks relative to the Possible Variations of the Four Preceding Recipes (No. 646). Add them at the table so their edges remain crisp. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Buy true sorrel if you can. Its lemony acidity is the identity of this soup, not a decorative green note. Out of season, plain frozen sorrel purée is the classical pantry’s honest answer; use 1/4 cup (60 ml / about 60 g). Spinach sharpened with lemon makes a pleasant cousin, but it is another soup.
• •Choose fine wheat soup vermicelli, not rice vermicelli. If only long strands are available, break them into short lengths before measuring so they separate cleanly in the milk and pass through the sieve without a wrestling match.
• •Milk catches easily, so use a heavy pan and keep the heat gentle during the 25-minute poach. A pale skin on top is harmless and will disappear during blending; a browned layer underneath tastes burnt through the entire pot.
• •Judge the purée by movement, not merely quantity. It should leave the ladle in one continuous ribbon and level itself quickly in the bowl. The liaison thickens it slightly, so make the base a shade thinner than you want to serve.
• •Butter, not margarine. Cream, not a fat substitute. Sorrel needs their sweetness to round its acidity, and the liaison needs their fat to remain supple. We don’t apologize for butter.

Advance Preparation

• •The vermicelli and sorrel may be blended and passed through the sieve up to one day ahead. Cool the concentrated purée promptly, cover, and refrigerate; add the remaining milk, bring it to the boil, and make the liaison only when you are ready to serve.
• •The egg yolks and cream may be whisked together up to one hour ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Bring the bowl near the stove before tempering so icy cream does not cool the soup too sharply.
• •A finished liaison-bound purée keeps for two days under refrigeration. Reheat it slowly while stirring and never let it simmer. Do not freeze it, as the egg-and-cream finish may turn grainy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 250g)