Potage Bagration Gras

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart saucepan
• •Countertop blender with vented lid
• •Fine-mesh chinois or sturdy sieve
• •Flexible spatula
• •Whisk
• •Small saucepan for the macaroni
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Ready the foundations

   Measure the finished thin veal velouté and white consommé before the veal meets the pan. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the consommé in the cold; it will adjust the finished consistency or rescue the liaison if needed. Whisk the egg yolks and cream together until completely smooth, then keep this liaison cold. Break the macaroni into short, spoon-friendly lengths.

2. 2

   Raidir the veal

   Melt the cooking butter in a heavy 4-quart saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the veal in one layer and raidir it, gently stiffening the meat in butter, for 4 to 6 minutes. Turn the dice frequently until every surface is opaque and firm but entirely free of browning. If the butter begins to colour, pull the pan from the heat and add a spoonful of the measured velouté to arrest it. The soup must remain ivory, so patience, not a hotter flame.

3. 3

   Simmer without colour

   Pour in all the thin veal velouté and stir across the bottom of the pan with a flat-ended spoon. Bring it slowly to the barest simmer, then cook gently for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring often, until the veal is tender and the velouté tastes fully joined to it. A roux-bound liquid catches easily. If it scorches, decant the unburned soup into a clean pan without scraping the bottom; the scorched layer stays behind.

4. 4

   Purée and pass

   Lift the veal into a blender with about 1 cup of the cooking velouté and purée until smooth. Add the remaining velouté gradually and blend again, working in batches with the lid vented and covered by a folded towel. Pass every drop through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl, pressing with a flexible spatula but leaving the dry fibrous residue behind. Rinse the saucepan before returning the strained purée to it. The blender replaces the old mortar, but it does not replace the sieve; that final passing gives the potage its silk.

   Do not force the last dry fibers through the mesh. They add quantity but steal the smooth texture you have done all this work to build.
5. 5

   Add the consommé

   Whisk the remaining white consommé, except the chilled reserve, into the strained veal purée. Heat gently for 5 to 8 minutes until the surface barely trembles, never boils, and skim away any foam. Taste before adding salt because both finished foundation preparations may already be seasoned. The soup should pour freely while retaining a light, creamy body.

6. 6

   Cook the macaroni

   Cook the short macaroni in a separate pan of salted water until tender but still distinct, usually 7 to 9 minutes. Drain it, rinse briefly with hot water to remove clinging starch, and drain again thoroughly. Keep it separate from the soup until serving; left in the pot, macaroni drinks the liquid and turns a satin potage into paste.

7. 7

   Make the liaison

   Take the soup completely off the heat. Whisk about 1 cup of hot soup into the cold liaison, beginning with several small spoonfuls and then pouring in a thin stream. Whisk the tempered liaison back into the saucepan, return it to the lowest heat, and stir constantly until it reaches 165 to 172°F (74 to 78°C) and lightly coats the spoon, about 3 to 5 minutes. No bubbles. If the soup begins to look grainy, remove it from the heat at once, whisk in the reserved cold consommé, and pass it once more through the clean sieve. Ça se rattrape. A full boil will scramble the yolks beyond rescue, so stop as soon as the binding is smooth.

8. 8

   Finish and serve

   Off the heat, whisk in the cold butter one cube at a time until each piece disappears and the surface takes on a fine gloss. Use the reserved consommé now if it was not needed earlier and the soup requires loosening. Divide the drained macaroni among warmed soup bowls or place it in a warmed soupière, then ladle over the Potage Bagration Gras. Send the grated Gruyère to the table in a separate bowl, exactly as the dish intends, and serve immediately. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The clock begins with finished thin veal velouté and white consommé ready. Make these foundations ahead and freeze them in measured containers; that is the home kitchen's answer to a stockpot that never goes cold.
• •Veal fillet follows the source literally, but boneless veal loin is an honest home equivalent. The meat will be puréed and sieved, so pale, clean flavour matters more than paying extra for the most tender cut.
• •The velouté must be thin and freely pourable, not reduced to the consistency of a finished sauce. A thick velouté produces a heavy purée that even the consommé cannot entirely loosen.
• •Do not skip the fine-mesh sieve. A blender makes the fibers small; the sieve removes them. Cooking well is not cooking fancy, but this particular discipline is the whole texture of the soup.
• •Once the liaison is in, hold the soup for no more than 20 minutes over barely warm water and never over direct heat. Leftovers may be chilled promptly and reheated very gently, but they should not be boiled or frozen.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the thin veal velouté and white consommé up to 3 days ahead, cool them promptly, and keep them refrigerated, or freeze them in the measured quantities needed here.
• •The soup may be completed through the addition of the consommé up to 1 day ahead. Chill it quickly, then reheat gently before adding the freshly made liaison and cold butter.
• •Break the macaroni into short lengths earlier in the day, but cook it shortly before serving. Keep it separate until the bowls are filled so it cannot swell in the soup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 255g)