Chilled Apple Vichyssoise Recipes

ITALIAN VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• For the soup: In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add the potatoes, chicken broth, and arugula. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the potatoes are very tender, about 15 minutes. In batches, ladle the mixture into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Return the soup to the saucepan and whisk in the cheese, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Let the soup cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour until ready to serve. Before serving, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.
• For the croutons: Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a small bowl, toss together the bread, oil, and salt until coated. Spread in a single layer on a small baking sheet. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes.
• To serve: Ladle the soup into small bowls. Garnish with croutons and cherry tomatoes.

CHILLED APPLE VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• In a large pot, stir together water and sugar over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a simmer. Add 1 1/2 pounds large diced apples and cook about 15 minutes at a low simmer or until apples are very tender. Stir occasionally. Let cool.
• In another non-reactive larger pot, melt butter over medium heat and saute ginger about 3 minutes to release its flavor; don't let it burn. Stir in applesauce, white wine, brandy and heavy cream. Stir in cooked apples. Remove from burner and let everything cool to room temperature.
• In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process apple mixture with ice cream (in batches if necessary) until very smooth. Pass everything through a fine sieve into a large bowl. Discard any solids that remain in sieve. Whisk in cinnamon and yogurt and refrigerate several hours or overnight until well chilled, covering when cool. Stir well before serving. Garnish each serving with 1/4 cup fine-diced apples.

LIGHT VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Place the potatoes and leeks in a 2-quart souffle dish and add 1 1/2 cups of the broth. Cover tightly with microwave plastic. Cook in a 650- to 700-watt oven at 100 percent power for 10 minutes.
• While the potatoes and leeks are cooking, combine the ricotta and 1/4 cup of the broth in the food processor. Process until very smooth.
• Remove potato and leek mixture from oven. Prick the plastic to release steam and uncover. Add to the food processor with the remaining broth and process until very smooth. Remove to a serving bowl. Stir in the buttermilk and salt and chill for 3 hours or overnight. Serve with a sprinkling of chives on top, if desired.

VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Gently sweat the chopped leeks and the chopped onion in butter or margarine until soft, about 8 minutes. Do NOT let them brown.
• Add potatoes and stock to the saucepan. Salt and pepper to taste; do not overdo them! Bring to the boil, and simmer very gently for 30 minutes.
• Puree in a blender or food processor until very smooth. Cool. Gently stir in the cream before serving.

APPLE VICHYSSOISE WITH BLEU CHEESE

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan.
• Sweat the onions over low heat until they are clear and soft, but not brown.
• Add the diced apples and cook until they are soft.
• Add the wine and chicken stock and cream and bring to a simmer.
• Add the bleu cheese, to taste.
• Check the seasoning, and add salt and pepper if desired.
• Puree the soup in a blender and then refrigerate overnight or until well chilled.
• Serve chilled, top with a garnish of finely diced apples.

CLASSIC VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• In a large stock pot melt butter over low heat. Add leeks and onion, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
• Add potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Add thyme, marjoram, bay leaf and stir well. Cover pot and continue to cook for 12 minutes.
• Add chicken stock and bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook, partially covered for 30 minutes.
• Puree soup in blender or food processor and cool.
• Prior to serving add cream. If you are serving this soup warm you need to reheat the soup slowly so that the cream does not change consistency.

VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a stockpot over medium heat. In a second stockpot over low heat, warm the chicken stock. Meanwhile, slice the white parts of the leeks in half lengthwise; then thinly slice. Trim and thinly slice celery. Add leeks and celery to the melted butter; gently sweat until translucent, 7-8 minutes, adding a pinch of salt halfway through. Make sure the vegetables do not take on any color.Meanwhile, slice potatoes lengthwise into 4 wedges, then roughly dice into 1-inch chunks. When the leeks and celery are translucent, add warmed stock, followed by the potatoes.
• Make a sachet: Lay a square of cheesecloth large enough to fit the herbs on a flat surface. Place thyme, parsley, bay leaf, and garlic in the middle; then wrap into a bundle and tie with butcher's twine. Submerge the sachet in the soup and simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are soft, 15-20 minutes.
• When a fork easily pierces a potato, the soup is ready to be blended. First, remove the sachet. Then use a ladle to remove 1½ cups of broth; set aside. Carefully add the rest of the soup to a blender and cover. Blend, beginning on low speed, then slowly increasing to high speed. When the soup is pale and completely puréed, turn off the blender and add crème fraîche. Cover and continue blending on high speed to a light, smooth texture. Test the thickness, then add some of the reserved broth as necessary to thin the soup, and blend again. Set aside the remaining broth.
• Strain the soup (optional): In a large bowl filled with ice, chill a second bowl large enough to hold the soup. Strain the soup through a chinois or fine-mesh strainer into the chilled bowl; use the back of a ladle to help push the soup through the strainer. The vichyssoise will have a syrupy texture when it's warm, but it will become thicker and more velvety as it chills in the bowl. Let cool for 1 hour.
• When the vichyssoise is chilled, strain more reserved broth into the soup as needed to thin to desired consistency; stir well to combine. Ladle into a bowl. Shape quenelles of crème fraîche (optional): Pass about a tablespoon of crème fraîche back and forth between two spoons, smoothing and shaping it until you have formed an egg-shaped dollop, or "quenelle." Garnish each bowl with a quenelle of crème fraîche and several chive batons before serving.