Velouté à la Sultane

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •2.5 to 3 L heavy saucepan
• •Blender
• •Nut-milk bag or double cheesecloth
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Piping bag with an 8 mm plain tip
• •Wide shallow poaching pan
• •Slotted spatula
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the almond milk

   Blend the almonds with the cool water for 90 seconds, until the liquid is opaque and the nuts are reduced to a fine pulp. Pour everything into a damp nut-milk bag or a double layer of cheesecloth set over a bowl, then twist and squeeze firmly. This replaces the original mortar and twisted towel without changing the extraction. Keep the almond milk cold; do not sweeten it and do not dilute it after straining.

   A carton of almond drink is not the same preparation. Its stabilizers, salt, and muted nut flavor interfere with the liaison, while freshly pressed almond milk gives the clean sweetness the formula intends.
2. 2

   Tint the forcemeat

   Place the cold chicken forcemeat in a chilled bowl and work in the crayfish butter a teaspoon at a time, stirring gently until the mixture is evenly coral-pink but still firm enough to pipe. Poach a teaspoonful in the consommé and taste it. If fat beads on the mixture or it grows slack, set the bowl over ice and stir slowly until it binds again, then keep it cold while the truffle is cut.

3. 3

   Pipe the crescents

   Lay the 24 truffle roundels on a parchment-lined tray. Fit a piping bag with an 8 mm plain tip, fill it with the cold forcemeat, and pipe one small curved crescent onto each roundel, using about 2 teaspoons per piece. The truffle is the foundation of the garnish, not a loose decoration, so leave a narrow black border visible around the pink forcemeat. Chill the tray for 15 minutes to set the shapes.

4. 4

   Poach without boiling

   Heat the consommé in a wide shallow pan until it barely quivers, about 80°C. Lower the garnishes into it in batches, truffle-side down, and poach gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until the forcemeat is opaque, lightly springy, and reaches 74°C at its center. A boil will roughen the crescents and lift them from the truffle. If the first one begins to separate, lower the heat at once and chill the remaining tray for another 10 minutes before continuing. Lift each garnish with a slotted spatula and hold it covered in a little warm consommé.

5. 5

   Ready the velouté

   Bring the poultry velouté to a bare simmer over medium heat, whisking across the bottom so its roux foundation cannot catch. It should coat a spoon in a thin, even film. If it is loose, reduce it now, before the yolks arrive; if it is overly tight, loosen it one spoonful at a time with strained poaching consommé. Reserve 1 cup of the velouté in a jug and let it cool slightly for the rescue, then take the saucepan off the heat for 2 minutes.

6. 6

   Temper the liaison

   Whisk the egg yolks with the almond milk until completely smooth. Whisk in 2 cups of hot velouté gradually, beginning with a thin stream, then return this tempered liaison to the saucepan. Cook over the gentlest heat, stirring continuously, until the soup reaches 75 to 80°C and lightly thickens. Never let it boil. If the first fine grains appear, pull the pan off the heat, whisk in the reserved cooler velouté, blend briefly, and pass the soup through a fine sieve. Ça se rattrape.

7. 7

   Whisk in pistachio

   With the pan off direct heat, whisk in the pistachio butter in six small additions, letting each disappear before adding the next. The finished Sultane should be satin-glossed and pale pistachio green, not bright emerald. If beads of butter collect on the surface, blend for 10 seconds and strain once more. Taste before adding the measured salt or white pepper, since the velouté, consommé, and compound butters may already provide enough. Hold the soup below 70°C and do not simmer it again.

8. 8

   Arrange and serve

   Warm eight shallow soup bowls. Set three truffle roundels with their pink crescents in each bowl, then ladle the Sultane around them carefully so the garnish remains visible and the black, pink, and pale green keep their contrast. Carry the bowls straight to the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Classical pistachio butter means blanched green pistachios pounded smooth with real unsalted butter. It is not sweetened pistachio spread, and pure commercial nut paste lacks the butter needed to finish the velouté properly. We don't apologize for butter.
• •Crayfish butter supplies both the shellfish perfume and the restrained pink color of the crescents. Crawfish is simply another market name for the same ingredient; use a butter extracted from its shells, never food coloring or paprika.
• •Fresh black truffle is splendid when available, but a good whole preserved truffle is the classical pantry's honest answer outside the season. Truffle oil cannot replace it because the roundel must carry the forcemeat as well as perfume the soup.
• •Begin with moderately seasoned poultry velouté and consommé. The prepared foundations, forcemeat, and two compound butters all contribute salt, and a composed soup this delicate is easier to correct at the final tasting than to dilute.
• •Serve with a dry Champagne or a poised white Burgundy. The wine needs freshness and enough body for the butter, yolk, nuts, and truffle, without trampling the almond liaison.

Advance Preparation

• •The poultry velouté, chicken consommé, pistachio butter, and crayfish butter may all be prepared ahead and kept cold. This is the brigade work moved out of the final hour, not a change to the dish.
• •The almond milk may be pressed one day ahead and refrigerated in a covered jar. Stir it before measuring because the fine almond solids settle.
• •The truffle roundels may be topped with forcemeat up to four hours before serving, then covered and refrigerated. Poach them shortly before finishing the soup so they remain tender.
• •Once bound with the liaison, the Sultane should be served promptly. If it must wait, hold it below 70°C for no more than 20 minutes and whisk occasionally; reheat leftovers gently and never let them boil.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 275g)