Friday was soup day. You'd think it'd be pretty easy, I mean, it's an activity we generally reserve for lazy rainy days spent indoors. All you've got to do is dump a bunch of stuff in a pot and stir it occasionally, right?
Well after today, I decided that I hope I'm never the entremetier (ahn-truh-met-ee-YAY), at a restaurant. It was a semi-stressful day. Might have been because it was the first time we'd ever had to plate a hot dish.
Soup 1: Beef Consommé with garnish of vegetables
As you may know, the best consommés, are the ones that are perfectly clear. No impurities. Until today, I never knew how they got it to be so clear. I assumed it involved skimming, then perhaps refrigerating so all the fat lumps into a solid at the top. Nope. In order to get a clear soup, chef told us to dump a concoction of egg whites, ground beef, julienne carrots and celery and tomatoes into the veal stock we'd made. (I was skeptical too). When you dump all this junk into the stock, it forms a "raft" on top. All the impurities in the broth with get sucked up into this raft. You just let it simmer for an hour, periodically ladling some stock over the raft to keep it moist. After about an hour, you ladle the clear broth out. Magic, I tell you. The you strain it through some cheese cloth. Then you remove any other impurities by laying sheet after sheet of paper towel on the surface till even the smallest speck are gone. LABOR OF LOVE. Trees hate me.
To serve, you drop a few perfectly cubed (and separately cooked) peas, carrots, turnips and beans into the bowl (that you've had warming in the oven) and pour the consommé over top.
Soup 2: Patage Saint-Germain aux Croûtons (split pea soup)
Chef actually liked this. "Good flavor" was the quote I got. (Please note, I presented it prior to sloshing soup up the sides of the bowl.)
Soup 3: French Onion-Chef Demo
It was alright. I've had better.
Soup 4: Potage Cultivateur (farmer-style vegetable soup)
Alls I can say, is ain't no farmer ever gonna make this soup. All the vegetables were precisely shaped, cooked separately, and 12 steps later you have your soup.
Chef was impressed by our taillage (knife skills) and his one comment was "maybe a little more salt" to which I have to agree. I made the cardinal mistake of not tasting my food before plating it. I was in a hurry. I added more to it after, and brought it home and had it for dinner.
Tips:
If you curiously forget to copy the instructions for making one of the soups, be sure to write them in as chef is doing the demo.
If using potatoes, once you cook them DON'T blanch them like you would other vegetables. Let them cool on their own. You want them to keep their starch to help bind the soup.
If rehydrating legumes/beans don't start them soaking more than 1/2 hour ahead if you plan on just leaving them on the counter to soak. Place in the refrigerator if soaking for longer. Why? They will start the fermenting process, and that's what makes you gassy. You're welcome.
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