Velouté Agnès Sorel

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4-quart heavy saucepan
• •Second clean 4-quart saucepan
• •Food processor
• •Sturdy 20 cm fine-mesh sieve
• •Rubber spatula or flexible bowl scraper
• •Small sauté pan
• •Whisk
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Arrange the work

   Set a food processor, a sturdy fine-mesh sieve, a rubber spatula, and a clean receiving saucepan beside the stove. Put the finished poultry base from The Veloutés (No. 242) in a heavy saucepan and warm it gently until hot but not boiling. Keep it somewhat thin, as the source directs; the raw mushroom purée and liaison will give it its final body.

   The waiting sieve is not fussy preparation. Once the mushrooms are broken, speed protects the soup's pale color.
2. 2

   Cut the julienne

   Cut the small garnish portions of mushroom, cooked chicken fillet, and salted tongue julienne-fashion, meaning fine matchstick rods about 3 cm long. Keep the three elements separate. The tongue carries salt, so wait until the finished soup is assembled before deciding whether it needs any more.

3. 3

   Purée mushrooms quickly

   Put the peeled whole mushrooms in the food processor and pulse rapidly, scraping once or twice, until they form a very fine raw paste. Set the sieve directly over the hot poultry velouté and force the paste through at once with the spatula. Whisk each portion into the velouté as it falls. If the exposed purée begins to grey, scrape away the darkest surface and continue immediately; the color may be less ivory, but the flavor remains sound. Do not add lemon, herbs, or other flavorings, because the clean poultry and mushroom character is the point.

4. 4

   Boil and strain

   Raise the heat while stirring constantly. Let the soup reach one full boil, stir it down, then allow it to rise once more. Two brief boils are enough. Rinse the sieve quickly, set it over the clean saucepan, and pass the soup through immediately, pressing firmly but leaving the coarse mushroom fibers behind. This second sieving is the dish, not brigade scaffolding: it gives the velouté its fine, silken body.

5. 5

   Warm the garnish

   Melt the tablespoon of butter in a small pan over medium-low heat. Add the mushroom julienne and toss for 60 to 90 seconds, just until supple and glossy without browning. Add the chicken and salted tongue juliennes, toss only until warm, then remove the pan from the heat. Keep the garnish covered nearby.

6. 6

   Temper the liaison

   Whisk the yolks with all but 2 tablespoons of the cream to make the liaison, the yolk-and-cream binding. Whisk in a ladleful of hot soup, then a second, so the yolks warm gradually. Take the soup off direct heat and whisk in the tempered liaison. Return it to the lowest heat and stir until the velouté lightly coats a spoon and reaches 74 to 77°C (165 to 170°F). Never let it boil. If fine curds appear, pull the pan off the heat immediately, whisk in the reserved cold cream, and strain into a cool clean saucepan. Ça se rattrape.

7. 7

   Mount with butter

   Take the saucepan completely off the heat. Whisk in the cold diced butter a few pieces at a time, allowing each addition to disappear before adding the next. This mounting gives the velouté its final gloss and generosity. If melted butter begins to pool on top, set the bottom of the saucepan briefly in cold water and whisk steadily until the emulsion returns. Taste only now, then add salt if the tongue and poultry base have not already supplied enough.

8. 8

   Garnish and serve

   Divide the warm julienne garnish among heated soup plates or place it in a warmed soupière. Ladle the velouté over it and serve immediately, while the surface remains glossy and the garnish still holds its shape. No herb sprig, truffle oil, or decorative flourish is needed. Cooking well is not cooking fancy. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose tightly closed white button mushrooms with dry, unblemished caps. Brown or open mushrooms taste perfectly good in another dish, but they work against the pale color that defines this velouté.
• •Ask a good delicatessen or butcher for a thick slice of cooked salted beef tongue. Its cured savor is part of the Agnès Sorel garnish, not an eccentric extra; ordinary roast beef changes the dish.
• •A sturdy fine-mesh sieve is the honest home equivalent of a tammy. The processor replaces long pounding, but neither machine removes the need to sieve the raw purée and then the finished soup.
• •Serve small portions. The liaison and final butter make this a rich first course, best before a simply roasted bird or fish. A dry white Burgundy or restrained white Bordeaux suits its poultry, cream, and mushroom flavors.
• •Reheat leftovers over very low heat while stirring, and never boil them. The soup keeps for up to two days in the refrigerator, but freezing damages the yolk-and-cream emulsion.

Advance Preparation

• •The finished poultry base from The Veloutés (No. 242) may be prepared up to two days ahead and kept chilled. Warm it gently before beginning this recipe.
• •The chicken and salted tongue may be cut julienne-fashion several hours ahead, covered separately, and refrigerated. Cut the garnish mushroom shortly before cooking.
• •The yolks and cream may be whisked together up to 30 minutes ahead and kept cold. Do not process the pound of raw mushrooms in advance; their immediate passage into the hot velouté is the principle that preserves the soup.
• •Once bound with the liaison and mounted with butter, hold the velouté over barely warm water for no more than 20 minutes. It must not simmer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)