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Mushroom veloute with buttermilk 'blini'

Time2 hours 15 minutes
YieldsServes 8
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The word itself is delicious -- veloute, veh-loo-TAY. If you were in Paris, you’d see them on the menus in bistro after brasserie after restaurant. Velvety, creamy soups, sometimes classic, sometimes more inventive -- chestnut-celeriac with foie gras and cacao, or white bean showered with matchstick-size pieces of black truffle, or a veloute of porcini mushrooms with lardo di Colonnata and fatty-spicy ham from the valley of Les Aldudes in the Pays Basque (poured from a glass carafe at the table, no less).

On a recent wintry day, I spent an afternoon at a bistro by the Seine. Lunch began with a creamy chestnut veloute topped with a fat, toasty griddle cake stuffed with creme fraiche. It was warming, gently rich and deeply satisfying. I then found myself ordering bowlfuls of veloute all over the city.

Veloute sounds fancy, but it’s easy enough to make. The point is to get the right consistency -- a not-too-thick, creamy-velvety texture -- as well as concentrated flavor. Knowing the basic construction of veloute lets you improvise with whatever vegetables you happen to have on hand. Try a veloute made with cremini and oyster mushrooms, punctuated with a little garlic and rosemary; or a soulful white-bean soup finished with cream and a little Gruyere cheese. Go elegant with kabocha soup dressed with a dollop of sour cream; slender, buttery croutons; and a light sprinkling of piment d’espelette (dried red Basque chile).

In the fall, definitely chestnut veloute, and in the summer, chilled avocado. Or even a Brazilian-style cashew soup from James Peterson’s “Splendid Soups” that is basically a veloute -- roasted cashews pureed with cooked onions and garlic, added to chicken broth and finished with coconut milk.

Sauce veloute is a light stock that has been thickened with white roux -- flour cooked in butter. Veloute soup traditionally is a pureed vegetable soup made with broth, thickened with a little flour and finished with cream and egg yolks. (Cream soups are made with milk as the liquid instead of broth.)

But it’s a flexible formula. Flour often helps thicken the soup and gives it a smooth texture, but you don’t always need it. A tablespoon of flour goes into the mushroom veloute to add body, but for a kabocha squash or white-bean soup, the vegetables (or legumes) themselves make a thick enough puree. Be careful not to over-process the vegetables in your blender or food processor; it’ll make the puree too viscous.

The mushroom soup is finished classically with cream and a little egg. But butter swirled into the kabocha veloute a little bit at a time at the end of cooking gives it extra smoothness and adds another dimension of flavor, bringing out the butteryness of the squash. Gruyere and cream enrich the white-bean soup -- the cheese stirred in just until it melts and then finished with the cream. So veloute.

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Buttermilk "blini"

1

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Combine the buttermilk, 2 tablespoons beaten egg and the butter in a small bowl. (Set aside the remaining egg for use in the soup.) Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; add the liquid ingredients. Stir just until blended.

2

Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat with just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Spoon 1 teaspoon of batter onto the griddle or skillet for each “blini.” Cook 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side until both sides are dark golden brown. Repeat until all the batter is used, adding oil to the pan as necessary. Makes about 30 “blini.” Reserve in a warm place until ready to use.

Soup and assembly

1

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large sauce pot over low heat. Add the leeks and celery and saute about 5 minutes, stirring often, until tender. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute, or until the garlic is fragrant.

2

Add the mushrooms and saute until all the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.

3

Add the chicken broth, bay leaf and rosemary and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, loosely covered, for 45 minutes. Remove bay leaf and rosemary.

4

Puree the soup in a blender until velvety smooth; this may need to be done in 2 or 3 batches. Rinse out the pot and pour the soup back into the pot. Bring the soup to a simmer.

5

Blend the remaining tablespoon butter with the flour in a small bowl. Whisk this into the soup and simmer about 1 minute until the soup is slightly thickened. In another small bowl, beat together the cream and the egg until blended. Whisk this into the soup until it is combined and the soup is slightly thickened; do not bring to a simmer or the egg will scramble. Season with one-eighth teaspoon each salt and white pepper, or to taste.

6

Combine the creme fraiche, chives, salt and white pepper to taste in a small bowl.

7

To serve, have the “blini,” seasoned creme fraiche and soup on hand. Ladle about three-fourths cup soup into each of 8 shallow bowls. Use a sharp knife to cut a pocket in one of the blini. Spoon about one-fourth teaspoon creme fraiche onto each “blini” half, then put together to make a sandwich. Place 2 or 3 filled “blini” and a parsley sprig on top of each soup serving. Each serving: 191 calories; 7 grams protein; 14 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 13 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 59 mg. cholesterol; 490 mg. sodium.

Creme fraiche is available at most well-stocked markets.