Velouté d’Artois

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4-quart heavy saucepan
• •Small saucepan for the julienne
• •Sturdy fine-mesh sieve or chinois
• •Heatproof mixing bowl
• •Balloon whisk
• •Instant-read thermometer, optional
• •Soupière or warmed soup bowls

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the julienne

   Cut equal parts carrot, white of leek, and turnip julienne-fashion, into matchstick rods as fine and even as you can manage. Measure four tablespoons into a small saucepan with ½ cup of the measured white consommé. Cover and cook at the barest simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, until tender but still distinct. Drain the julienne carefully, reserve it, and return every drop of its cooking liquor to the remaining consommé.

   Keep the matchsticks short enough to sit neatly on a soup spoon. A knife does the job perfectly well; a special cutter is brigade scaffolding.
2. 2

   Mix and pass

   Whisk the ordinary velouté and white haricot purée together until no pale streaks remain. Rub the mixture through a sturdy fine-mesh sieve into a clean soup pot, pressing firmly with the back of a ladle or flexible spatula. Scrape the smooth purée from beneath the sieve and discard the dry skins left above. Do not skip this passing. The beans provide body, but their skins would leave the finished Velouté d’Artois chalky rather than silken.

3. 3

   Add the consommé

   Whisk in the white consommé gradually so the thick base loosens without forming pockets. Set the pot over medium-low heat and bring the soup just to a bare simmer, stirring across the bottom so the bean purée cannot catch. Hold it there for 5 minutes and skim away any foam. Do not reduce it hard; the book’s 2:1:1 proportion supplies the proper body without boiling the consommé away.

4. 4

   Temper the liaison

   Set aside 2 tablespoons of the measured cream for rescue. Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining cream in a heatproof bowl, then whisk in about 1 cup of hot soup, one small ladle at a time. Pull the soup pot off the heat and slowly whisk the tempered liaison back into it. Return the pot to the lowest heat and stir constantly until the soup lightly coats a spoon, ideally between 160 and 170°F (71 and 77°C). Once the liaison enters, never let the soup simmer. If grainy yolk threads appear, remove the pot immediately, whisk in the reserved cold cream, and pass the soup through a clean sieve. Ça se rattrape.

5. 5

   Monter au beurre

   Take the pot completely off the heat. Monter au beurre, mount the soup with butter, by whisking in the cold pieces one at a time until each disappears and the surface takes on a quiet gloss. Taste before adding salt because the velouté and consommé may already carry enough. If butter beads on the surface, the pot is too hot; stand it briefly in a basin of cool water and whisk steadily until the emulsion closes again.

6. 6

   Garnish and serve

   Warm a soupière or individual bowls. Divide the tender julienne among them, ladle over the Velouté d’Artois, and scatter the chervil pluches, the fine picked shreds, across the ivory surface. Serve at once while the butter still gleams and the liaison is supple. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ordinary velouté and white consommé are finished foundations, exactly as the entry assumes. Prepare them ahead or use carefully made versions already in your kitchen, but do not replace either with condensed cream soup or ordinary boxed broth; the first gives the roux-built body, the second gives clarity and depth.
• •Plain white haricots are right here: navy beans, Great Northern beans, or cannellini all work. Well-rinsed canned beans are an honest answer when no pot of beans is waiting. Purée them completely smooth and add no garlic or rosemary; Artois is not Provence.
• •The sieve is not ceremony. It removes the last bean skins and any cooked yolk threads, giving the soup the satin texture promised by the word velouté.
• •The source also permits a crème d’Artois, but that is a sibling preparation, not a reason to pour extra cream into this pot. Keep this version to its measured liaison and butter so the bean, velouté, and consommé remain in balance.
• •For a dinner party, serve modest bowls before roasted poultry or veal. A dry northern bière de garde is splendid alongside, its gentle bitterness cutting through the cream and butter.

Advance Preparation

• •The ordinary velouté, white consommé, bean purée, and cooked julienne may be prepared up to two days ahead and chilled separately. Bring the first three back to temperature before combining them.
• •The passed soup base may be completed through the consommé step earlier in the day. Reheat it to a bare simmer, then remove it from the heat before adding the freshly mixed liaison.
• •Once the liaison and butter have been added, the soup is best served immediately. Leftovers keep for one day in the cold and must be reheated very gently without simmering. Freeze only the unliaised base.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 255g)