Velouté Marie Stuart

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart saucepan
• •Two 2-quart saucepans
• •Immersion blender
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Balloon whisk
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Sharp knife for 3 mm brunoise

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the barley cream

   Combine the ½ cup pearl barley with 3 cups (710 ml / 710 g) of the white chicken stock in a small saucepan. Bring it just to a simmer, cover loosely, and cook gently for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring more often as it thickens, until the grains have opened and will crush against the pan with a spoon. If the bottom begins to catch, add a little of the remaining stock and lower the heat. Purée directly in the pan with an immersion blender, then press the thick barley cream through a fine sieve. The old kitchen used a tamis and a strong arm; the sieve gives the same smooth result at home.

2. 2

   Cook the garnish barley

   While the barley cream cooks, place the 1½ tablespoons pearl barley in another small saucepan with the white chicken consommé. Hold it at a bare simmer for 25 to 35 minutes, until each pearl is fully tender but still distinct. Drain it, reserving every drop of consommé, and moisten the barley with a spoonful of that liquid so it does not dry into a clump. The consommé is not decorative language here; it seasons the grain from within.

3. 3

   Soften the brunoise

   Cut the carrot, turnip, celery, and leek brunoise-fashion, into even 3 mm dice. Melt the tablespoon of butter over low heat, add the vegetables with a pinch of salt, and cook for 2 minutes without allowing them to colour. Add 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) of the reserved consommé, cover, and cook gently for 6 to 8 minutes, until tender but still holding their tiny shapes. Set aside in their buttery cooking juices.

4. 4

   Build the poultry velouté

   Warm the remaining 5½ cups (1.3 L / 1.3 kg) white chicken stock in a separate pan or heatproof jug. Melt the 4 tablespoons butter in a heavy 4-quart saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook over medium-low heat for 3 to 4 minutes. This is a roux blond, a pale cooked flour-and-butter foundation: it should smell faintly nutty but remain ivory, because browned roux would muddy both the flavour and colour. Add the warm stock in small additions, whisking each one smooth before the next, then simmer very gently for 25 minutes, skimming the surface. If the roux forms lumps, stop adding liquid and whisk firmly with a small ladleful of hot stock; if a few remain, strain them out. Ça se rattrape.

5. 5

   Join and strain

   Whisk the barley cream into the poultry velouté and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring along the bottom so the grain cannot catch. Pass the soup through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan. It should coat the back of a spoon with a thin, opaque veil, not sit on it like porridge. Before adding the liaison, adjust the base to about 7 cups (1.65 L): reduce it gently if thin, or add reserved consommé if too thick. Make this correction now, because the finished liaison must never be boiled down.

6. 6

   Temper the liaison

   Whisk the egg yolks and 1 cup heavy cream together in a bowl. Whisk in about 1½ cups (355 ml / 355 g) of the hot velouté, a ladleful at a time, then take the saucepan off the burner and slowly stir the tempered liaison back into it. Return the pan to the lowest heat and stir constantly until the soup grows slightly fuller and reaches 165 to 170°F (74 to 77°C). Never let it bubble. If the first tiny flecks of curd appear, pull the pan off the heat, blend in the reserved 2 tablespoons cold cream, and strain immediately. Ça se rattrape, provided you act before the yolks fully scramble.

7. 7

   Mount with butter

   Remove the velouté from the heat. Whisk in the cold butter one cube at a time until each disappears and the surface takes on a quiet gloss. This is monter au beurre, finishing with cold butter to round the texture and flavour. Season with the remaining salt as needed and the white pepper. If the soup has tightened, loosen it with reserved consommé by the spoonful; once the liaison is in, gentle heat only.

8. 8

   Garnish and serve

   Warm the brunoise and cooked pearl barley together with a spoonful of reserved consommé, then drain them well. Fold most of the garnish through the velouté and ladle it into warmed bowls, distributing the remaining barley and brunoise over the surface. The garnish should look generous but remain delicate, little vegetables and tender pearls suspended in ivory soup. Serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Use a white chicken stock made without roasted bones. A dark stock may taste splendid, but it turns this pale velouté beige and overwhelms the restrained barley. A good unsalted or low-sodium prepared stock is an honest home answer; reduce it briefly if its flavour is timid.
• •Fine pearl barley is the smallest polished barley you can find, not quick-cooking barley. Quick barley disappears into the garnish, while hulled barley remains too chewy. Standard pearl barley works for the puréed cream but may need another ten minutes of cooking.
• •Keep the two garnishes equal by cooked volume: about ¼ cup (60 ml) brunoise and ¼ cup (60 ml) pearl barley for this two-quart pot. The barley cream gives body below the surface; the intact grains repeat the flavour where the diner can see and feel it.
• •A liaison changes the rules of reheating. Keep the pan below a simmer and stir along the bottom, because direct high heat curdles the yolks. If you are serving guests, finish the base ahead and add the liaison and butter only when everyone is ready for soup.
• •Serve this as a first course with a dry, restrained white wine. Avoid anything heavily oaked or sweet; the velouté wants freshness beside its cream, not another layer of weight.

Advance Preparation

• •The barley cream, consommé-cooked garnish barley, and brunoise may be prepared one day ahead. Chill them promptly in separate covered containers so the vegetables and intact barley keep their shapes.
• •The poultry velouté can be completed through the straining and consistency adjustment several hours ahead. Reheat it gently, then make the liaison and mount with butter shortly before serving.
• •Finished leftovers keep for up to two days under refrigeration. Reheat slowly while stirring until thoroughly hot, never allowing the soup to boil; loosen with a little white chicken stock if it has thickened.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)