Spinach Vichyssoise Recipes

VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat; add leeks and season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are very soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in potatoes, broth, and 1 cup water; season with salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are very tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Working in batches, transfer mixture to a blender and purée until smooth, adding more liquid as needed. Transfer to a large bowl; whisk in 1 cup cream, milk, and nutmeg; season with salt.
• Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours and up to 2 days. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup cream, then ladle into bowls and serve drizzled with more cream. Sprinkle with chives and pepper before serving.

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.

WATERCRESS VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Simmer potato, onion, broth, and cream, uncovered, in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in watercress and cook mixture, uncovered, over moderately low heat 3 minutes more.
• Purée soup in 2 batches in a blender until very smooth, about 45 seconds per batch (use caution when blending hot liquids). Force soup through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on solids and then discarding them. Season with salt and pepper and let soup stand, uncovered, until cool, 45 minutes, then chill, covered, 1 1/2 hours.

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.

SPINACH VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a heavy Dutch oven and add potatoes, onion, and carrot. Saute for a minute, then add 2 quarts water. Bring to a boil, add salt, and cook until vegetables are tender, about half an hour.
• Add spinach and cook a minute or two, until wilted.
• Puree in a blender or food processor or use an immersion blender. The consistency should be mealy, not quite smooth.
• Return to Dutch oven. Thin with water or milk if too thick. Stir in yogurt. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper.

SORREL VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan cook the leek and the onion with salt and pepper to taste in the butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until the vegetables are softened, add the potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces, the broth, and the water, and simmer the mixture, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are very tender. Stir in the sorrel and simmer the mixture for 1 minute. Purée the mixture in a blender in batches, transferring it as it is puréed to a bowl, and let it cool. Stir in the cream, the chives, and salt and pepper to taste, chill the soup, covered, for at least 4 hours or overnight, and serve it sprinkled with the additional chives.

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.

GARDEN-GREENS VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large pot
• Add 3 peeled and cubed potatoes and 2 cups fresh spinach or other greens
• Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring, until softened.
• Add 4 cups stock. Boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes
• Purée, then let cool. Stir in 1/2 cup or more cream before serving.
• Garnish: Olive oil.

ASPARAGUS VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Put butter or oil in a large, deep saucepan and turn heat to medium. When butter melts or oil is hot, add vegetables. If you like, set aside 12 or 16 of the nicest pieces of asparagus; parboil in salted water for about 2 minutes and use as a garnish for the soup. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add stock and cook until vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes. You may prepare soup in advance up to this point. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
• Purée soup in batches until very smooth. Chill. (Though vichyssoise is served cool, this soup could also be served warm.) Stir in cream, if using, taste and adjust seasoning, garnish if you like, and serve.

VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• Melt the butter in the pressure cooker pot over medium-low heat. Add the leeks, celery leaves and 1 teaspoon of the salt and cook, stirring often, until soft, approximately 8 minutes. If the leeks start to brown during this process, reduce the heat.
• Drain the potato pieces and add to the pot along with the simmering chicken broth. Clamp on the cooker's lid, (according to the manufacturer's instructions) and bring to full pressure over high heat.
• Once pressure is attained (there will be a loud whistle) back the heat down to medium-low, just maintaining a hissing of steam for 8 minutes.
• Kill the heat and release the steam pressure by opening the dump valve or setting the cooker under cold, running water. When the lid can be removed, carefully transfer the mixture to a blender carafe. (If the mixture fills your carafe more than two-thirds full, work in two batches!)
• Top the carafe with the main lid but remove the center lid so that air can escape as it heats and expands. Cover the lid tightly with a tea towel and blend on low for 1 minute before slowly increasing the speed to smoothly puree the potatoes. (Although you want to increase the speed slowly, try not to puree the potatoes too long as they could become gummy.)
• Transfer the mixture back to the pot and whisk in the cream. Stir in the white pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning (I always need the rest of the salt). Chill thoroughly then serve garnished with a small spoonful of the roe and dill fronds.
• Tightly covered, the vichyssoise will keep a week in the refrigerator. The soup can also be frozen in ice-cube trays then kept in freezer bags for up to three months.

CLASSIC VICHYSSOISE

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven over medium heat, melt butter. Add leeks and onion; cook until translucent about 15 minutes. Add potatoes, broth, freshly ground black pepper, sea salt, tarragon, basil and lemon juice. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer; cook for 30 minutes.
• When time is up, turn off the heat, give a good stir and let it cool off a bit before puréeing with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in heavy cream and adjust seasoning if needed. Transfer the soup to a large bowl and cover with wax paper. When cool enough cover with a lid (leave the wax paper to prevent skin formation) and transfer to the refrigerator for 24 hours or until chilled.
• Just before serving, add a dollop of sour cream garnish with crumbled cooked bacon and fresh chives.
• Note: Submerge peeled potatoes in cold water to prevent from browning.